Creative Ways to Increase Your Company Visibility

You want your company to reach all possible audiences. You want your brand to be familiar to (and loved by) all your customers. However, to achieve this reach and familiarity, you must increase your company’s visibility. It’s not enough to simply offer great products and services—you must also draw attention to them.

Here’s how to do it.

Understand Your Company Audience

To build company’s visibility, you need to thoroughly understand your audience. Otherwise, you could spend time and resources chasing customers that have no interest in your product. Some companies are extremely successful in this realm. For example, JetBlue understands its low-budget, younger customers, and knows that they want cheap tickets and like to be reached through social media. By understanding its customer base and their needs, JetBlue has been extremely successful.

Other companies misunderstand their audience, with disastrous consequences. To avoid this fate, take the time to analyze your customer demographics. This will help you develop an effective strategy for increasing visibility.

Ask yourself questions like:

• Is my audience tech-friendly? The answer will help you determine if using social media is a good strategy.
• What are my audience’s key values? Answering this enables you to ensure that your values align with your customers’ values.
• Is my audience physically active? This can help you decide what type of events you can use to build company’s visibility.
• Is my audience local or globalized? Knowing the scope of your audience can help you determine whether investing in your local area would be effective.

Depending on your answers, you could try using some of these creative techniques to build your company’s visibility:

Pursue Service & Volunteer Work

This is a great way to serve others while promoting your company at the same time. Find an organization which aligns with your own company values, and ask them what you can do to help. If your company cares about sustainability, for example, your team could volunteer at a local farm or greenhouse. If you value compassion and family culture, you could staff a soup kitchen or walk dogs for a pet shelter.

Volunteering builds team unity and promotes the company’s reputation while doing good for others too—a match made in heaven. Salesforce has leveraged volunteering to build its company’s visibility. It pays employees for seven days of volunteer time off each year, encouraging them to improve the world in whatever way they see fit. This focus on service has helped Salesforce build its glittering reputation as one of the best workplaces for giving back.

Host Community Events

Especially if your company is local, community events are a great way to engage with your audience and build goodwill. Are your customers young, active professionals? You could host a 5k race in your city. Are your customers parents with young children? Put on an easter egg hunt for local families. Do your customers have a taste for the arts? Sponsor a play at a local theater. Figure out what type of event would appeal to your demographic, and make it happen.

Patagonia, an outdoor clothing and gear company, has used this approach effectively. It hosts an annual 5k run, giving all profits to local environmental nonprofits. Events like this appeal to Patagonia’s target demographic—outdoorsy adventurers interested in sustainability—while also building strong community ties.

Be an Expert

One great way to improve your company’s visibility is to position yourself as an expert in your field. Have your top-level employees lead seminars, attend conferences, and write blog posts and articles. This builds your company’s reputation as a thought leader in the field. It signals that your company is effective and groundbreaking, which can attract new employee talent. After all, everyone wants to work for companies that lead the field. Showing expertise can also draw customers who research your product or service thoroughly. They see that you know more about it than your competitors, which gives you an edge.

Build Your Mobile Presence

If your target demographic uses technology, you should be aggressively pursuing a strong mobile presence. Last year, mobile Internet traffic constituted nearly 50 percent of worldwide Internet traffic. To improve your company’s visibility, you need to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and accessible. You may want to consider developing an app to serve your audience and keep them engaged with your company.

Offer Shipping Benefits

In the era of Amazon, quality shipping has become an expectation. Customers are dissatisfied with slow, expensive, or complicated shipping. Having a quality shipping system is one way to keep your customers satisfied and drive new customer acquisition. Some companies are turning to shipping services to stay competitive. These shipping services can negotiate rates with carriers for lower prices and can quickly compare shipping rates across carriers to display the cheapest options. This can help companies offer better shipping prices and stand their ground against Amazon.

Start Contests and Giveaways

This can be an effective way to quickly increase company’s visibility. Pick a contest theme or a giveaway prize that you think will spark interest. More expensive prizes present more of a cost burden but are more likely to gain attention. If your target demographic uses social media, contests and giveaways are especially easy to start and run online.

For example, National Geographic Channel ran a campaign where contestants shot and submitted a picture of a beautiful landscape, then entered for the chance to win cameras and other prizes. This enhanced National Geographic Channel’s visibility while also increasing consumer engagement.

Attract Attention by Earning Attention

The best way to attract company’s visibility is to understand your audience and cater to their interests. Figure out what your customers are like, and then decide what type of events, contests, and company partnerships would serve them. Pursue expertise in your field and serve the community. Don’t just create great product and services—make them seen.