6 Techniques to Grow Brand Awareness and Drive Sales

When it comes to growing a business, there are no hard and fast rules to follow; what works for one company may not necessarily work for yours. However, there are certain tried and tested techniques that are definitely worth trying out, whether you're a startup or an established company. Here's Global Database's introduction to six of the best, and the reasons why you need to add them to your marketing strategy sharpish.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

First introduced in 2015, AMP enables businesses to create speedy, scaled back mobile versions of their sites using very stripped back HTML. It's backed by massive companies like Google, Twitter, WordPress, and LinkedIn, and is basically another version of Facebook's Instant Articles or Apple News. These pages are much faster than ordinary mobile sites; Gizmodo notes that they load around three times quicker than non-AMP ones.

AMP Benefits:

• More Engagement - According to Google, 53% of mobile visitors will leave if a webpage doesn't load within three seconds. AMP offers a clear solution to this problem; its super quick speeds mean you're likely to see a big increase in engagement and ultimately conversions.
• SEO Friendly - Ranking and indexing it still vital to getting your brand out there, and the fact that Google favours SEO-friendly AMP pages means more organic traffic coming to your site, along with lower bounce rates and more clicks and impressions.
• Control Over Content - You're able to choose how to present your content and which technology vendors you wish to use. You can pick the one that is the best fit for your brand and will have a larger reach to your target audience, and you can also test out several in the process, whilst improving KPIs.

Dynamic Remarketing:

A large proportion of businesses will probably have had some experience in remarketing by now, but it's its slicker, more targeted younger sibling that is set to have a bigger impact on future marketing techniques. Dynamic remarketing involves getting ads in front of people who have already visited your site, but unlike its traditional counterpart, these ads are based on the specific products that the person has viewed. This not only means you can give them a gentle reminder of whatever it is they were looking at, but also use it to entice them with similar products or special offers. You can even use it to reach out to previous customers who haven't interacted with your brand for a while.

Dynamic Remarketing Benefits:

• Personalisation - Personalisation is key to higher engagement levels when it comes to content marketing nowadays. A study by Janrain & Harris Interactive found that 74% of consumers become frustrated when content appears that has nothing to do with their interests. Dynamic remarketing definitely doesn't have this problem; the ads are highly personalised for each individual, and therefore see better engagement.
• Effective Lead Nurturing - Nurtured leads produce a 20% increase in sales opportunities according to the Demand Gen report, so why let them go to waste? A large majority of your potential customers are not ready to purchase when they land on your site, so a gentle reminder of the product they were interested in now and again can work wonders.
• Brand Awareness - Creating a strong sense of brand awareness can take time; research from Action Card found that it takes an average of five to seven brand impressions before your business is remembered. Dynamic remarketing is perfect in this regard; it creates a familiarity with your brand without you having to contact the lead directly.

Lead Ads:

Facebook first introduced its Lead Ads tool in 2015, but many businesses have been slow on the uptake. If you haven't given it a trial yet, you really should. It enables you to place ads as normal in Facebook and Instagram, but the big difference is that when click on the ad, instead of being taken to an outside site, a form pops up in-app and is automatically populated using their social media profile. By using this tool, you can gain customer data through sign-ups, with fields such as full name, email, address, phone number, company name and job title all being filled out without the user having to lift a finger.

Lead Ad Benefits:

• More Conversions - Unlike Lead Ads' rival of landing pages, potential leads aren't put off by having to fill in a form manually; a particular nuisance when doing so on mobile. The fact that everything happens in-app is also a big bonus because it means less people becoming distracted during the process, or abandoning it altogether when the mobile page takes ages to load.
• More Information - Many consumers are reluctant to give too much of their personal information away online, resulting in either incomplete or abandoned forms. Because everything is filled out for them, and it is done so through their social media app rather than a website they may have never heard of, they are much more likely to go ahead with the sign-up.
• Less False Data - Sign-up forms are somewhat notorious for garnering fake information, particularly those that are asking for details in exchange for something, for example a free report. Lead Ads use the info from the user's social media account, making it more likely to be accurate and up to date.

Instant Articles:

With the huge rise in mobile usage, came the need for faster, more responsive ways to deliver content. First came AMP and Apple News, and more recently Facebook's Instant Articles feature was rolled out, allowing publishers to keep their content in-app. After a few teething problems - namely the inability to place ads on the articles, content is now monetised and more and more publishers and advertisers are getting in on the feature.

Instant Articles Benefits:

• Better Reading Experience - Like AMP, Instant Articles don't require the reader to leave the comfort of their social media app, making them more likely to stick around and engage with the content.
• No Waiting - As the name suggests, Instant Articles are immediate. Internet speed isn't a worry because they're built with a custom code, making them both fast and responsive.
• Shareable - According to Facebook, Instant Articles are shared 30% more than ordinary mobile web articles, and they also state that they now pay out over $1 million each day to publishers - clearly the feature is gaining serious traction for many businesses.

Email Drip Campaigns:

Even with the development of multi-channel marketing, email is still one of the most valuable tools in driving sales. Drip campaigns take your email efforts one step further: they allow you to send out highly personalised, semi-automated messages set to a pre-arranged schedule. You can use this technique in several ways; to send out confirmations after form opt-ins, post-click campaigns to nurture leads and also as a CRM tool to manage sales, all without taking time away from other activities.

Drip Campaign Benefits:

• Increased Engagement - The personalised and timely nature of these messages means more opens and clicks; Silverpop found that open rates for drip emails are on average 80% higher than single sends.
• Helpful Analytics - These campaigns enable you to collect a range of specific data surrounding customer interaction, including opens, clicks and conversions. Having access to this information enables you to adapt and improve your future campaigns accordingly.
• Brand Familiarity - Building a strong sense of brand awareness is incredibly important in pushing sales forward; research from Nielson found that 60% of buyers choose to purchase products from a familiar brand. Drip campaigns help to increase your audience's awareness of your business without giving them the hard-sell.

Prospect Lists:

When using all of the tools above, you need to focus on decision-makers, to avoid the gatekeepers and reach the businesses or customers you want to target. Global Database can offer just that. Our innovative business intelligence platform contains millions of records for both individuals and market-leading companies worldwide. Whether you're a startup or an established enterprise we can give your next marketing campaign a serious boost.

Benefits of Global Database Lists:

• Accurate Data - Thanks to a range of consistent validations checks, including those done manually by our team of in-house staff, we have one of the highest accuracy ratings in the industry, as well as an impressive email deliverability rate.
• Highly-Targeted Lists - With more filter options than any other product on the market, you can easily create contact lists based on specific demographics such as location, industry, sales volumes, staff numbers, and more, allowing you to target the exact audience you're after.
• Direct Contacts - Don't waste time and resources dealing with gatekeepers; our records all come with direct email addresses and phone numbers, so you can reach right out to the decision makers you need.
• Regular Updates - The fast-changing nature of business information today can pose a challenge when trying to contact leads. For example, a study by Target Marketing found that 70% of businesspeople had made some kind of change within 12 months; the graph below breaks this down further. Global Database's directory is updated regularly, so you can be sure that you will have the most accurate and up-to- date data ready to go.

The constant changes in marketing can be daunting, particularly for new businesses, so finding techniques that work well for your business is vital. Ultimately it's best to give these methods a shot, and then use your analytics to decide which you want to implement continuously in your strategy. After all, there's only so much that reading about each technique can offer - in the end the real proof comes with putting it into practice.

To learn more about Global Database's global B2B directory visit us as  www.GlobalDatabase.com