How often have we heard the expression “if we could only increase our brand awareness we could increase sales?” Awareness has a wide range of meanings. Some people may assume when I am “aware” I know everything about a brand or a product. Others assume that if I am aware I have only heard of the brand or product. That’s a wide range of understanding, so what is the difference? There can be all levels of awareness – from I just heard the name and I don’t know anything else all the way to a high a level of understanding of the brand or product.
Questions that measure levels of awareness provide some insight. A typical research question to measure awareness is “have you heard of brand X? Yes or No”
The percent of people that answer yes gives an estimate of awareness. Unfortunately, our past studies have shown that awareness has a low correlation to purchase. Being aware that a brand exists is not enough to stimulate purchase. Since the goal is raising sales we must have a measurement that can predict sales.
Our preferred measure is “familiarity.” Familiarity means “I know something about the brand or product. Familiarity means I have an impression or point of view about your product or brand. It is possible to have high scores for awareness and low scores for familiarity.
If your business is under-performing you may want to look at the level of awareness and familiarity you have. You must create awareness to get familiarity. However, awareness alone is not sufficient to drive purchase! Familiarity is the beginning of engagement with a brand that leads to purchase.
Ryan Adams Group is here to help you. We are committed to a better customer car buying experience. Call if you are curious or visit us at RyanAdamsGroup.com.
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