Ask any business owner what their most pressing problem is and ‘building awareness’ is sure to be on the list. Maybe it’s on your list too? In a world where it’s harder to get attention, gaining mind share is a priority for everyone.

We think that if we can just get a few more people to know about us that we’ll be all set.

I often tell the story of the two side-by-side cafes in our neighbourhood. On days when there is a line of twenty people waiting for either a table or a takeaway coffee at one, the other is virtually empty. We all know the empty cafe is there, we can’t miss it…and yet nothing changes. It’s not that the owners don’t care, it’s that all of their energy is focused on tactics that get people to notice.

Perhaps the bigger questions for them to consider (and maybe us too), before building awareness with more signs and new menus is—why will one person care that we’re here in the first place? What are we doing that’s going to compel that person to tell two friends and then come back tomorrow?

What’s more important than building awareness is what you plan to do with it once you’ve got it, because top of mind is not the same thing at all as close to heart.

Image by Patrick Gage Kelley.