Trillions of dollars are spent every year on brand campaigns, yet it is often the case that marketing teams are unaware of whether or not these campaigns have made a positive impact on brand awareness. That’s because it is notoriously difficult to measure brand awareness. Or at least it was.
In 2020, it is possible to accurately measure brand awareness.
Interested in how?
Keep reading to discover the three best ways to gather precise brand awareness data and make better marketing decisions.
Brand Tracking Software
By far the best, the most accurate way to measure brand awareness is by using brand tracking software.
Such software takes the guesswork out of brand marketing and really allows you to see which campaigns are making an impact on your brand awareness.
Fast-growing companies measure the success of their campaigns by evaluating the effect they have on brand awareness and brand perception.
The precise data provided by the software enables them to see if a campaign has improved brand awareness amongst their target audience.
Keep in mind that if you are running a few campaigns at the same time and across different channels, it can be tricky to tie success back to an individual element.
The best way to avoid this is to run local tests and then see if there are uplifts in regions where you are currently focusing activity vs. those where you are not.
Surveys
The thing about brand tracking software is that, while it is the best solution, you need to have a healthy budget to be able to cover the costs.
If your budget is minute but you like the idea of directly reaching out to your target audience to indicate brand awareness levels, running your own surveys with proactive customer service to back you up is one of the most cost-efficient options.
Surveys are a great way to determine if your target audience is aware of your brand. You can send them to a specific demographic and ask the exact questions you need to be answered.
While the insights gleaned from surveys will be valuable to your brand awareness goals, to really get an accurate measurement of performance, you need to have a marketing plan.
It is essential that you set measures in place before launching a brand campaign, and track the results during and after to accurately track brand awareness. This is essential with rebranding, as we know there are many failures in this area.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the companies running branding and marketing software have a team of researchers who write the survey questions on behalf of the brands in order to get the best possible insights. You don’t have this luxury when running your own surveys. Still, you can achieve your desired results if you make sure your surveys are fun to complete, easily understandable, and a reasonable length. And, very importantly, make it mobile-friendly to encourage completions.
Google Search Console
But what if you have no budget at all?
Then there is always good old Google.
Google Search Console is a free way to accurately measure brand awareness. Now, the tool does measure brand awareness in a different way to the previous two examples. Instead of getting insights straight from your target audience, you are dependent on tracking increases in website clicks and impressions around the time you are running a brand campaign.
Measuring impressions via Google Search Console is especially important in brand awareness campaigns.
Why?
Your target audience doesn’t necessarily have to click on something to become aware of your brand, they simply just have to see your campaign.
If you are using the Search Console to measure brand awareness and conversion rate optimization, Google recommends creating a cost-per-thousand-impressions campaign so you will pay based on impressions rather than clicks.
Additionally, you can get data for brand searches just one day after a campaign begins running. If people are searching using your brand name, you have reached the ultimate level of brand awareness: unaided brand awareness, where your brand is top of consumers’ minds.
There you have it – accurately measuring brand awareness is not as difficult as you once thought. Plus, you don’t need to have a big budget to get the insights your brand needs to grow. Dig into a few of the options mentioned in the article and determine which suits your brand the best. Have fun and enjoy making better marketing decisions!
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