Brand awareness: The idea 99% of business owners get WRONG about marketing.

The world of marketing can seem exceedingly confusing and straight up scary even to seasoned entrepreneurs. Because of this, many look to the titans of the business world to get an idea of how to market. Coca-cola, Nike, Pepsi, Apple, etc. When you look at companies of this size, what you’ll notice is nearly all of them focus solely on brand awareness. In other words, blasting their name out into the mainstream media as much as they possibly can. THey do this with ads that may simply be their logo and slogan, ads that entertain, funny ads, dramatic ads, ads with movie quality production. The list goes on. All of that is fine, but you know what almost none of those companies try to do? SELL THEIR SHIT. And that is exactly where 99% of business owners in today's world (and in history) go wrong. You could make one of the most beautiful ads in the world, heck, you could go as far to win an AWARD with your ad. That’d be nice wouldn’t it? Sure it would, but absolutely none of that matters if your ad doesn’t bring in MONEY.

Yes, ads should be memorable and if you can get your sales pitch across in an enjoyable way for the audience, that's great. But crafting an effective marketing strategy involves more than just creating memorable ads—it's about driving tangible results. While it's tempting to mimic the tactics of industry giants, small and medium-sized businesses must recognize the crucial difference in their goals. While big players primarily focus on brand awareness through lavish advertising campaigns, smaller businesses need to prioritize generating sales.

The key to successful marketing for smaller businesses lies in the strategic combination of brand building AND sales promotion. While brand awareness can lay the foundation for buyer recognition and trust, it's the compelling offers and value propositions that ultimately drive conversions and revenue. Because of this, every advertisement, whether it's a social media post or a billboard, needs to incorporate a clear and enticing offer that urges potential customers to take action. Utilizing this balance between brand building and direct response tactics, businesses can maximize their marketing efforts and achieve truly sustainable growth in today's extremely competitive landscape.