Marketing is all about getting the right people to know, like, and trust you. Building brand awareness, then, is the first step in marketing your small business effectively. You must build brand awareness before you can install desire and trust in your brand.

What is brand awareness?

Brand awareness is how well your business is recognized and associated with a particular product or service. For example, if you’re a wellness consultant, you want people to know who you are and how you’re different from all the other wellness consultants out there.

When people in your target market think about a wellness consultant, you want them to think about you. You want your brand to come to mind first. You want your name associated with all things wellness.

Building brand awareness is more about creating association than it is about recognition.

6 proven ways to build brand awareness

So how do you build brand awareness? If you have a huge marketing budget, you can plaster your brand name on every billboard in town. But that strategy doesn’t always equate to brand awareness. And what if you’re trying to reach people in other cities? You’ll need a much bigger budget.

If you’re like most entrepreneurs (with limited budgets), you’ll need to be a little more creative when it comes to building brand awareness.

Here are six proven ways you can build brand awareness starting right now.

1. Establish your foundation

In order to build brand awareness, you need to start with a solid foundation. Why did you start your business? What’s the purpose behind your brand? People want to know your “why” so they can feel connected to you and your brand.

Here are two ways to establish a solid foundation:

Create a purpose statement. This is a simple explanation of why you do what you do. People want to know why you exist, so just tell your story.

Identify your big idea. What’s the one thing you do that no one else does? This is one of the easiest ways to differentiate you from everyone else.

2. Keep your messages consistent

Now that you’ve laid out your foundation you need to be consistent with all your messages. Share the same big ideas everywhere. You don’t have to use the same words, but you do have to communicate the same ideas.

One of the easiest ways to be sure you’re communicating a consistent message is to create a key messaging document. Your key messaging document is a list of your brand’s big ideas and a few supporting statements for each of those ideas.

For example, as a wellness consultant, one of your big ideas is that you believe we should all be eating organic. Being an advocate for organic is one of the things that sets your brand apart, it’s one of your core values and beliefs.

This becomes one of your key messages.

Next, you can create a few statements that help to clarify and support that key message:

* Eating organic has been proven to be better for your body and better for the planet.

* Eating organic helps support local farmers and the local community.

* Eating organic means no chemicals or pesticides, so your food tastes better.

* Choosing organic means you don’t have to worry about what’s in your food; you’ll know what you’re eating.

Now, whenever you, as a wellness consultant, need to share a message about organic, you can refer back to your key messages document. It’s a great way to stay consistent and build brand awareness.

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