The Best Marketing Strategies to Build Brand Awareness and Loyalty

Know. Like. Trust.

These three simple words are at the core of growing your brand.

It’s the path you take your audience through as they interact with your brand from that initial first impression to become a loyal devotee.

It's how you bring in new clients and customers.

It's how you become a trusted expert in your field.

Whatever your business goal is, it's likely met through this funnel.

Because let's face it - everything comes down to people and human connection.

Unless they are your close friends and family, you aren't going to have loyal devotees to your brand right off the start. You need to woo them, to impress them, to relate to them, to cultivate a relationship with them. They need to be seen and heard. That you understand their problems and have the solution for them. They want to be needed also. And once you've hooked them, well that's when the money starts rolling in.

This path is your golden ticket to a successful brand. It builds over time. And every step is important. But the payoff is huge.

Ok, so exactly what is the know, like, trust path?

Imagine this:

You are on vacation wandering a new city.

You see a bar across the street and are immediately drawn to it. The exterior, the signage, the windows. You are drawn in.

This is Know.

Now you are inside. The ambiance is just what you are looking for. It’s like the bar was designed for you for this exact moment. So you decide to grab a barstool and order a drink.

This is Like.

You chat with the bartender as she makes your drink with care and before you even take your first sip, you already feel like you are old friends. You take that first sip of your cocktail and relax even deeper into your seat. You are supposed to do more sightseeing, but instead, you stay and order another round.

This is Trust.

Sounds great right? And the best part is that this path is really a loop! Because when someone is in the trust phase, they will start spreading the word about you. That moves people into the Know step and they keep going from there.

Great right? Guess what - you can do this for your brand!

Creating a know, like, trust funnel to grow your brand sounds complicated but in fact, it’s the reverse!

Because when you narrow your focus to these 3 elements of the brand experience, you can create an action plan that is doable, sustainable and that works.

KNOW. First, you need people to be aware of your brand, know you exist, and then start following you. It’s making that good first impression that will move people from know to like.

LIKE. Like is when the magic starts to happen. You start building a real connection with them. They are engaging with you on social media, clicking on your emails, sharing good things about your brand with their friends. It’s during this time that you start earning their trust.

TRUST. You know you’ve gotten hooked when you’ve become a trusted source and they’ve become a customer, client or evangelist of your brand.

Think about how you move an audience through this path.

What marketing tools are you putting most of your effort in? What does it mean for someone to trust your brand? What action is it that they take? Where does that action take place?

Now, what's the step right before that? What's the feeling that will make them pull that trigger and show you they are loyal? Where are they learning more about you and connecting with you?

There are so many ways to move someone through the know, like, trust path. I'm breaking down just some of the marketing strategies here.

It's important to know that not every strategy or marketing channel is right for every brand. Especially if you are just starting out. It's better to choose just a handful of marketing strategies to tackle and do it right rather than trying to be everywhere at once. Quality over quantity always. If you don't have the time to put in the effort across many channels, your message is diluted and weakened. But more on that another time!

However, if you choose 1-2 strategies in each of the steps below, you'll be well on your way to moving your audience through the path!

KNOW: How to Get Noticed and Make a Great First Impression

First things first, we need people to discover our brand!

People will either be told about your brand from those in the Trust step, or they will hear about you or discover you on their own.

So you need to be out there and easy to find! Here are some of my favorite strategies for getting noticed:

• Hashtags: If you are active on Instagram (or Twitter), you need to be using hashtags smartly. They are a great way for your account to be discovered. You get 30 in each post so use them! Just make sure they are the right size and align with the photo you are posting.

• SEO: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps your website rank higher in Google searches. When you rank higher, you get noticed! Start by optimizing your website for SEO and if you really want to take it a step further and grow your audience organically, start blogging.

• Lead Magnet: Email is still a hugely effective marketing tool because your message gets delivered straight into your audience’s inbox, instead of hoping they see it as they scroll their feed. So we want to get people on your email list! The best way to do this is through a Lead Magnet - a hook that entices them to sign up. Something you give to people for free in exchange for their email address. Maybe it’s a webinar, a whitepaper or a list of resources for your field. Here is an exhaustive list of lead magnet ideas.

• Facebook Groups: Get your name and your brand out there by being active in Facebook groups where your target audience hangs out. Keep an eye out for posts where you can comment and offer advice or good solutions. It's a great way to start establishing yourself as an expert.

• Linkedin Networking: Linkedin is no longer a career board! Chances are you have lots of connections on there that are either looking for your services or know someone who is. Start posting more about your brand on there and reach out to your contacts individually to connect more one-on-one.

• Pinning: Pinterest is great for all types of businesses and is a great way to be found. By creating pins for your business and growing your Pinterest page, you can direct a lot of traffic to your website.

In every step we want people to take action. The action here is to start following you on social, sign up for your emails, or visiting your website more frequently.

It takes 5-7 impressions for people to remember a brand so make sure you are giving people something good in your brand that triggers a positive reaction. That will move them to the next step.

Like: How to Create a Lasting Impression

We all know that first impressions are important. As humans, we size things up pretty quickly and make judgments sooner than we realize. In fact, it takes less than 0.2 seconds for a visitor to make an opinion about a brand based on a webpage.

And while first impressions are an important first step, we want that impression to last and turn to like!

So what goes into our impressions?

• Appearance: Your visual identity should reflect who you are and show that thought went behind a cohesive look. You can have a professional, quality look and feel without spending a ton of money!

• Authenticity: Brands should have personalities and show that real people are behind them.

• Audience Connection: Are you clear about your target audience? In order to attract the right audience, they need to see something in your brand they can connect to.

You should nail all of that when you craft your brand recipe before you launch! (and if you aren't clear on your brand identity, then let's chat!)

And then there are the marketing strategies that help:

• Email Welcome Series: When people sign up for you email list, you should funnel them into a series of emails that introduce yourself, give them a few nuggets of what they can expect from you and offer some free advice or solutions that will keep them coming back for more.

• Compelling Content: At this stage, you want people to be engaging on your content - whether it be through social media or commenting on your blog. So the content needs to be compelling enough that they do! Give advice or tips, be relatable and show them a more personal side of your brand. Make sure you always include a call to action to encourage them to comment, share or save your posts!

• Engage with your Audience: When you are dating someone and trying to get them to like you, you don't do all the talking and make it all about you do you? The same goes here. Engage with your followers! Comment and like on their posts, add polls and surveys to your Instagram Stories and in your emails. Share their posts to your feed or stories. Find out what drives them. Listen to them. And show them you like them also!

Trust: How to Convert Followers to Customers

The biggest step to moving people from LIke to Trust is so simple, but sometimes the hardest to do: Give them a reason to show their trust!

Yes, that means actually selling to them. Pitching them what you have to offer. Maybe it takes a small offer before they bite the bullet on a larger purchase. But you've teed them up to want to be part of your community. So make sure you give them opportunities to do so!

Here are some ways to do that:

• Join your Community: Do you have a membership site or a private Facebook group? As them to take your relationship to the next level by joining that.

• Ask for a Testimonial: Reviews and testimonials are so helpful for a growing brand. Don't be afraid to ask your active followers for a testimonial!

• Get in their DMs: So many business connections are developed in Direct Messages these days! Send a DM to follow up on their comment or a post, or simply ask how you can help them!

• Send Personal Emails: Same goes for emails. Has someone been on your email list for a while, quietly opening and clicking on your emails but you don't know much about them? Reach out personally and let them know that their support means a lot to you!

• Sell, Sell, Sell: And again, don't forget to sell your product and services! And when you do get that sale, ask for a review, a referral or a share. That's how we create the loop and find new people to enter into the Know step!

Which Know, LIke, Trust strategy is already working for you? Which one are you going to start implementing? Let me know by sending me a DM.

Cheers!