Who Cares?
No one doubts the importance of a brand. Your brand is your company personified because it evokes a complex image from a simple name and equates it to a value. The brand image positions the brand in the public’s mind by the recall of reputation, quality, price, and value.
Quality is principally the responsibility of the production arm of your organization. Still, marketing controls the perception of the brand using tools like price, positioning, and reputation to communicate the brand’s value to the consumer.
Creating Brand Awareness
Brand awareness sits at the intersection of demand generation and promotion. For example, your developer audience may not be aware that they need a text editor until they discover that you offer one that reduces product development time by 10 percent. In this case, you have surfaced the need, and to amplify it, you promote a two-week trial to build brand awareness and hopefully close some sales.
You can put different marketing spins on the approach over time, but the concept remains the same. The vehicles you use to promote brand awareness include developer newsletters, advertising, social media, product trials, and promotions.
The Positivity of Brand Awareness
Consider the concept of value, which is defined as relative worth or usefulness compared to other alternatives. Value is subjective. For example, both BMW and Ford sell quality products, but their value is relative to how much consumers want to spend for the brand and its perceived value. As another example, a degree from a specific university may hold more value for someone whose parents matriculated there, or somebody may prefer Lindt chocolates over Hershey based on taste.
Value is also associated with the price of the product. People find value in high-priced products as well as low-priced products because the price someone is willing to pay is relative to competitive products.
Creating brand awareness relies on content and promotion. If you provide developers with the content they crave, they will share it and create the buzz all marketers yearn for. Evans Data Corporation says the most appreciated developer content is technical and informative. Developers love to learn new things, so offering tutorials, trials, or references are effective. The faster a developer can learn to use your product, the more they will like it and promote it.
Shall I Serve?
Delivering it authentically to your developer audience is central to building brand awareness. According to the Evans Data Survey, developers can be reached by mail, email, or web advertising, with a preference towards learning about new brands via newsletters or associations with trusted sources. Trusted sources can be anything from an endorsement from a key opinion leader to an evaluation or advertisement in a context-correct developer community newsletter. Context plays a big part in supporting the credibility of content and advertising.
Making it Real
Developers expect content that helps them solve problems wherever they find that content, whether on D2D community sites, in newsletters, or through references and support groups. Supporting these communities by providing technical and engaging content that solves problems will go a long way toward making your brand and your capabilities “real.”
Developers value credibility, authenticity, references, and support from fellow developers who know your brand. So look at your awareness campaign and ensure it maps to developer values. If you need help developing brand awareness, reach out to DeveloperMedia. Our team has the experience and expertise to help you shine the most developer-friendly light on your brand!
Authenticity
How can you tell if your brand is authentic? Inherent in your brand is a promise to deliver on the image you have created – the persona of the brand. The key to authenticity is alignment starting at the top with the company’s mission statement. Is the mission aligned with the culture, and are rails in place to keep the culture aligned? Many brands become successful but lose sight of what made them successful such as customer service, delivery, and delivering on the brand promise. While no one knows your company better than you, sometimes it helps to have an independent perspective your brand’s performance. Whether this takes the form of a consultant, a survey program, or direct customer feedback, be prepared to adjust as you grow. The key to growing your developer audience is staying real and relevant.
References
DeveloperMedia
https://developermedia.com/
Evans Data Corp
https://evansdata.com/
DeveloperMedia – How Technical Content Influences Brand Awareness
https://developermedia.com/technical-content-influences-brand-awareness/
DeveloperMedia – Put Brand Awareness First
https://developermedia.com/brand-awareness-first/
DeveloperMedia – Best Ad Platforms
https://developermedia.com/best-ad-platforms-provide-brand-protection/
