Awareness vs. CTA - What is Best for Your Marketing?

It takes 5 to 7 brand impressions on average before a prospect will remember your brand. So it’s no surprise that 89% of B2B marketers say brand awareness is their most important goal, even more than sales or lead generation. Though awareness campaigns don’t necessarily generate revenue, they can have a major impact on whether or not a prospect decides to learn more about your company and what you have to offer. 

The trick to awareness campaigns is finding the right balance of promoting your brand and getting a potential customer or client to take action. If your calls to action (CTA’s) are too sales-y, you’ll come across as pushy and intrusive. Too generic and they’ll click away to a competitor. So what is the right mix? We can help you figure it out.

DECIDE WHICH CAMPAIGN TO RUN

Awareness campaigns are long-term initiatives and can take a significant amount of time to yield results. Use them if:

• You’re new on the block.
  Use this type of campaign to build familiarity and trust in the minds of your customers and prospects, not sales.

• You want to establish/re-establish your position.
  If you’re making a big change (how your products are sourced, the variety of services you offer, etc.), use this type of campaign to educate your audience and work on changing opinions.

• You need to stay top of mind.
  Even if they’re not ready to work with you yet, you’ll want to remind customers that your company is not only out there, but attentive and available. 

THINK POSITIVE

Driving awareness doesn’t just mean getting your name in front of your target audience. You’re dictating how consumers perceive your company, products, and services, and where you stand among your competition. Focus on creating positive associations you want people to have with your brand.

ESTABLISH EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS

Even though B2B purchasing decisions are typically made by a team, that team is made up of people. So take a page out of the B2C handbook and use emotion to connect with your potential customers on a human level. The way a prospect feels about your brand can determine whether they choose to work with you or not.

CREATE CONTENT

Content marketing can generate 3 times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing and costs 62% less than traditional marketing efforts. That’s why 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to promote brand awareness. 79% of companies with an active blog report a positive ROI, so long-form blog content is a great way to introduce your brand and grab referral and organic traffic. E-books, white papers, reports, and infographics are other great ways to promote your company. This content also can be used in other marketing efforts. For example, a video about your brand can be included in case studies, a LinkedIn leadership piece, and other long-form content, or repurposed as an audio intro for a podcast guest appearance.

CREATE CTA’S THAT CONVERT WELL

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for CTA’s. You can’t just slap the words “Click Here” or “Buy Now” on a red button, put it everywhere on your site you want people to click, then sit back and wait for the leads and customers to pour in. Match your CTA’s to the intent of your audience and use these tips to maximize conversions.

• Use only one.
  Don’t split your audience’s attention with multiple CTA’s. Best practices say to use only the one call to action you want them to take.

• Use an eye-catching design.
  Step outside of your brand’s style guide with colors that contrast with the rest of your content and are large enough to stand out.

• Make the copy brief and use strong verbs.
  90% of visitors who read your headline will also read your CTA copy. So ditch those generic click/buy phrases and channel your inner thesaurus (“Discover your best life,” “Join our community,” “Book your next adventure”) to make your CTA copy pop.

• Make them personal.
  Personalized CTA’s like “Start my free 30-day trial” vs. “Start your free 30-day trial” can result in a 90% increase in conversions. 

• Place it below the fold.
  Most of us have it drilled into our brains that CTA’s are placed “above the fold, above the fold!” By placing it below the fold, you can increase your conversions by 20%.

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Brand awareness is valuable and necessary. And when used properly, CTA’s can convert a passive follower into an active participant and (fingers crossed!) a new customer. A “mix” blessing, to be sure.

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This is a time for marketers to step up to the challenge and get creative in meeting current demands and behavior changes. Creatives On Call supports your business through this. Contact us here.  We have Marketing professionals ready to start in areas including:

• Strategy & Advisory

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