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How to build brand awareness with display advertising

Brand awareness is an important part of a customer’s purchase journey and fundamental for your business’s long-term success. Building brand awareness using online advertising solutions, such as display ads, introduces your small business to new customers at the beginning of the purchase funnel. This article will help you learn more about boosting brand awareness with display ads and other online solutions to grow your business.


A hand placing blocks with letters forming the word “brand” over a solid blue background.

What is brand awareness?

 

Like the name suggests, brand awareness is the degree to which consumers are familiar with your company and offerings. Brand awareness increases visibility around your business’s vision, purpose, and products. Some examples of brand awareness include your customer’s knowledge of your product or their decision to frequent your brand specifically over other similar brands.

Building brand awareness is essential for small businesses, as consumers can’t interact with a brand that they’re unaware of. Once a consumer forges a bond with your brand, they’re more likely to return and make repeat purchases. Brand awareness sits at the top of the marketing funnel, right above consideration and conversion.

A tablet placed on top of a table displays the wording “Increase brand awareness” along with a “Start” button.

Brand awareness vs. brand recognition

 

While they might sound similar, brand awareness and brand recognition have a few differences. Brand recognition is the extent to which a consumer can correctly identify a company and its products by looking at imagery or listening to audio cues associated with the brand. While building brand recognition via logos, jingles, or a catchy business name is important, brand awareness is even more powerful. Unlike brand recognition, brand awareness elicits feelings from a consumer and impacts their purchasing choices. One of the best ways to increase brand awareness is via digital marketing, such as display advertising.

What is display advertising?

 

Display ads are an ideal way to increase brand awareness. Even if you don’t know the definition of a display ad, you’ve probably encountered one while browsing the web. Display ads are clickable ads that attract customers to your website, social media platform, or other digital medium, sometimes to perform a specific action. They can consist of video, images, or creative copy, and you can place them on third-party websites, apps, and social media.

Display ads are an effective form of digital marketing, as most internet users encounter them while going about their day. Display ads can appear anywhere on a webpage, usually at the top, bottom, or side, and they can remain static or scroll down the page with the user. Most display ads are rectangular or square, such as banner ads—an advertisement that spans the length of a webpage or other online media property. Video ads are another form of display advertising. They increase brand awareness by highlighting your product or brand in a short, informative video.

A person’s hands are seen, one placed on the keyboard of a laptop computer while the other one is holding a phone.

How to boost brand awareness with display advertising

 

Display ads are targeted towards the audience that’s most likely to want your product or service. Many display ads are created through an ad network and rely on pay-per-click advertising, meaning your business pays for display ads based on the number of clicks each ad receives from potential customers. By using an ad network such as the Microsoft Audience Network, you can connect to your target audience and acquire new customers using AI technology.

Thanks to their ability to reach a targeted demographic, display ads are a great way to build brand awareness. Even if the ad’s initial click-through rate is lower than expected, display ads still garner visibility while being less disruptive than TV and radio advertisements. Putting the ad in front of your target audience familiarizes them with your brand and product, increasing search ad conversion and leading to organic traffic in the future.

The benefits of display advertising

There are many benefits to display advertising, especially when it comes to brand awareness, including:

 

VISUAL APPEAL

 

Display ads come in several shapes, formats, and sizes, so your small business can choose an advertising style suited to your audience. Clear branding or logos, high-quality visuals, and keyword targets grab your viewer’s attention.

 

TARGETED CAMPAIGNS

 

Tailoring your target audience to your brand is the best way to ensure your ad’s placement on relevant sites. Location, demographics, and specific interests can all be factors in setting an audience, while performance metrics can help you continuously refine said audience.

 

PERFORMANCE-TRACKING ABILITY

 

Tracking clicks, impressions, conversions, and engagement with your ad network can help you decide which ads are working and why.

Additional ideas for building brand awareness

 

While display advertising is one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness, there are many other opportunities to familiarize your audience with your brand.


A hand holding a pencil and writing the words “brand awareness”.

Online advertising solutions

 

Display ads are still the standard, but additional online advertising solutions make it easier than ever to prioritize brand awareness. Search engine marketing, including paid search ads and organic search, help your business’s website rank higher on the results page. You can place paid search ads on search engine pages and retarget ads on specific websites.

Native advertising is a form of online advertising that emphasizes user experience by tailoring ads to mimic the look of the platform they appear on. Native advertising, when done correctly, fits into the natural flow of an app or website in a way that doesn’t disrupt the visitor’s experience. Visit our blog to learn more about online advertising solutions.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

 

Both organic social media and paid social media advertising are excellent tools for building brand awareness. Organic social media is a cost-efficient opportunity for small businesses, as organic social media marketing is usually free. Creating relevant, highly shareable content for and with partners and other well-known, local brands and publications can help you build your social media presence. Quality content with a high virality garners more likes and shares while increasing brand awareness and reach.

 

CONTENT MARKETING

 

Creating and sharing online materials related to your company, such as blogs, articles, social posts, podcasts, newsletters, videos, and others, are other effective ways to increase awareness around your brand. Your content doesn’t need to explicitly promote your brand, but instead, position your small business as an expert in your chosen subject matter. Tending to SEO considerations is the best way to ensure your brand gains more awareness by being present organically on the search engine results page.

 

SPONSORED EVENTS

 

Sponsoring or hosting local or online events, such as conferences or a speaker series, is an engaging way to improve brand awareness. Sponsoring a brand increases visibility around your own brand while reinforcing your company’s values. Events are a great way to showcase your product and forge ties with customers and even potential partners, all while enhancing the image of your brand.

Improve brand awareness with Microsoft Advertising

 

Brand awareness is integral for the success of a small business. You can have the best brand on the market, but customers won’t interact with that brand if they aren’t aware of it. Display advertising is an effective way to build this awareness while funneling potential buyers towards making a purchase.

Microsoft Advertising for small businesses is here to help you accomplish your company’s goals. Let us grow your small business and increase conversions with engaging display ads, while you save time and focus on other business endeavors.

If you already have an ad campaign running in Google Ads, you can import your materials directly to Microsoft Advertising. You have control over your budget, and you only pay when a customer clicks one of your ads. We also provide hands-on support to help you optimize campaigns and boost performance around the clock.

Get started today or visit our blog to learn more.