Events provide an excellent opportunity to increase brand awareness. How can you leverage your next event to boost your brand’s presence and build your target market? Let’s first take a look at what brand awareness actually is and why it matters, then look at some ways to build brand awareness through event marketing.

What Is Brand Awareness?

Brand awareness refers to the extent to which your target audience is familiar with your brand, understands it and recognizes it. If your target market doesn’t know you exist, it’s difficult to sell them products and services. Establishing brand awareness is crucial in marketing. In fact, most of your other marketing efforts will be built on the foundation of brand awareness. Creating a brand with high brand awareness means generating a name and product that trends on social media, is surrounded by “buzz” and rising in popularity and recognition. Brand awareness is not a specific metric, it cannot be measured in facts and figures, but it is still of central importance for successful marketing campaigns.

Brand Recognition vs. Brand Awareness

While brand recognition and brand awareness are closely related, there is a very important distinction between the two concepts. Brand recognition refers to the visual, audio and textual cues that people use to identify a brand. Examples might be the Coca-Cola logo, the McDonald’s golden arches or the Nike swoosh. Brand awareness is the simple knowledge that a brand exists. Brand recognition can only be effective after brand awareness has been established.

Why Does Brand Awareness Matter?

If your target market doesn’t know about your brand, how will they ever become your customers? Brand awareness is about more than simply raising a brand’s public profile. It also helps to build a business and brand by fostering trust, association and brand equity.

Brand trust is everything in a highly competitive market where consumers are better informed than ever. This has become even more important in the Internet age as you can find hundreds of companies offering a product or service with a single search, but which ones should you trust with your hard-earned money.

Brand awareness helps you to forge a bond with your customers so they develop a well-established trust in you and your products. A business that has built up strong brand awareness usually also manages to create a strong association between certain actions, products and feelings, and its brand. Think about how brands such as Kleenex, Band-Aid and Xerox have become synonyms for facial tissues, self-adhesive bandages and photocopying respectively. Finally, brand recognition helps build a brand’s equity, or value, as determined by consumer experiences and preferences.

Can Events Increase Brand Awareness?

Events are perfect brand awareness opportunities. Whether you are hosting an event, sponsoring an existing one, or attending one, festivals, concerts, sporting events, fairs and exhibitions can all help you push your brand out in front of hundreds or thousands of people – maybe even millions in some cases.

4 Event Branding Tips to Get Your Business Noticed

Here are four event branding tips that will help you establish and build your brand awareness:

Be Smart with Your Marketing

#1. Use Your Online Footprint to Get People Involved Early

Use your website, email marketing and social media marketing to build awareness and hype around the event far in advance. Build conversations around subjects that matter to you and your audience and maintain event hashtags that will get people talking.

#2. Share Your Brand’s Personality in Every Aspect Possible

Don’t limit yourself when it comes to marketing materials you can use to build your brand. Infuse your brand identity into everything you can: branded giveaways, pop-up tents, retractable banners, flags and backdrops are obviously essential, but think deeper. What about food and beverage containers, tablecloths, and seat covers? You can go even further than that. What is your brand really about? How can you make its personality, with all its quirks, shine in your branding materials? Make your decor, souvenirs, and educational materials as creative and unique as you can.

#3. Use Your Logo in Creative Ways

One vital point is to make sure you make creative use of your logo when doing event marketing. It isn’t enough to just print your logo on marketing material. The best event marketing campaigns find new and interesting ways to customize their logos for each event. Perhaps you can create an interactive version, use digital signage displaying animated versions, or embed your logo in visual materials of all kinds.

#4. Make Your Space Unique

Company event venues are generally blank canvases on which sponsors can paint their brand identities. Transform your allotted space into something unique that speaks and to and for your brand.

At Red Iron Brand Solutions, we take pride in handling our clients with special care. Our experience in the industry of 30 years allows us to offer great ideas to our clients. We can help you with effective and memorable brand marketing for events of all kinds. Contact us for help if you want to increase your brand awareness. See our product offerings and chat with us online today at https://redironbrand.com/, call us at 800-325-3824 or email us at sales@redironbrand.com for more information.

For more tips on how to get noticed and increase brand awareness at events, check out The Only Event Branding Guide You Will Ever Need.