Top of Mind Awareness | The What, How and Why.

When it comes to business and marketing in particular, there is one place that every company strives to reach. And that valuable position is your mind. 

Or in marketing terms: Top-Of-Mind Awareness.

Having such an influence on the market and understanding consumer behavior is every company’s dream. However, getting to this stage is no small feat.

What is Top-Of-Mind Awareness?

 Top-of-Mind Awareness is a concept that measures a brand’s position in the consumer’s mind. To be more specific, it is the product or service most people think of when they want a desire satisfied or a problem solved.

You can find out which brand holds more awareness in your mind by answering the question: What product or service pops into your mind when you have a problem or desire?

Although Top-Of-Mind Awareness is a remarkable place to be in, it can also work against the brand’s reputation. How? By having a negative effect. For instance, the company is caught up in a scandal where they are exposed for not sticking to its values. (For example, claiming to be environmentally friendly only to find out that they’re not.) 

7 Examples of Top-of-Mind Awareness

Here we can see Top-of-Mind Awareness in action. Each desire or need is associated with a brand’s product/service. And although there might be other arguably better options in the same category, they rarely get, if ever, at the top of the food chain to collect the plethora of benefits.

We can safely assume that being at the top of the consumer’s mind is incredibly difficult. In particular today, due to fierce competition and a continually decreasing attention span (somewhere in the area of 8 seconds, I believe).

By now, you might be asking yourself:

How did these companies become market leaders? Furthermore, how do they manage to keep such a position? 

How brands achieve Top-of-Mind Awareness:

There are a couple of methods companies use to stand out from the competition and consolidate their position as market leaders:

• Providing quality content, and educating the consumers creatively will establish you as a domain expert and you guessed it: 
• Having slogans or catchphrases: a simple yet powerful way for people to remember your brand and the products/ services you sell. 
  •  The ultimate driving machine, I’m loving it, Just do it, Eat Fresh, For everything else, there’s Mastercard, and so on…
• Connecting to people and engaging with them: Aligning with people’s values. It has never been easier to engage with people that express an interest in your brand. This can be done via social media, email, blog posts, surveys, etc. 
• Providing superior customer experience: Because mistakes always happen, it is important to show accountability and openness towards solving the issues when they arise. Exceptional customer service is a sure way to stand out as a brand that cares about its customers.
• By having a distinct image and voice: With so many companies competing in the same industry, looking apart will make you stand out and draw attention. Having an identity makes it easier for consumers to identify you in the sea of competition.

All the methods I’ve described above, need channels of distribution to build awareness. Think about it: What good does it do for a brand that offers quality services or outstanding products, if nobody knows about them?

How to build brand awareness

Have you ever asked yourself why companies spend so much money on advertising? (With some of them being outright intrusive?)
You guessed it: To make you aware of their product/service that resolves your problem or satisfies your desire.

The distribution channels that brands use to enhance their brand awareness are: 

1. Online: 
   • Paid: advertising on Google [PPC or Display Ads (such as banners or pop-ups)], Social Media Ads, or Email Marketing Campaigns.
   • Unpaid: Blog Posts, Social Media Posts, Case Studies, etc. With the purpose of educating the consumer not to sell.
2. Offline: Television, Radio, Billboards Ads, Magazine Ads, Ads on Vehicles, etc. These are advertising pieces you see when your eyes are not glued to your phone.

However, spamming advertising everywhere and to everyone will unlikely have a positive impact. In fact, it will have the opposite effect and end up throwing money out the window, annoying everyone in the process.

Brands must tailor their campaigns based on their target audience (or buyer persona) and the stage of the customer journey. Only then, do brands consolidate their position in the market and stay relevant.

Why is it important to achieve Top-of-Mind Awareness:

It’s quite obvious that this awareness is leveraged to grow even more dominant in the market: 

• The brand will be seen as a trustworthy company.
• The marketing campaigns will be more efficient.
• Would develop a base of loyal customers – that will promote your products/services by word of mouth.

Conclusion

Achieving Top-of-Mind Awareness is, first of all, a result of consistency. And second, it’s accomplished by crafting relevant marketing campaigns, where the story, distribution, and quality of products/services are backed by thorough planning and execution.

If you found this useful, send me a message on socials or Email. (Whatever works for you.)