Brand Awareness Strategy Guide

When you start your own business, there are a lot of tasks that must be completed. You probably have to set up a website, create the actual product or service to sell, figure out finances, and get the word out about your brand. Skipping any of these steps might hamper your ability to grow and turn a profit. No matter what industry you are in, startups take a lot of hard work.

Getting the word out about your business is known as marketing. For people to discover who you are and what you do, you have to put messaging into the public sphere that answers their questions and shares why your company can solve their needs. No brand can survive without significant marketing efforts, even if it relies solely on word-of-mouth marketing.

What is Brand Awareness?

Informing consumers about the existence of your business and what you offer increases brand awareness. The more people that know about the company, the more exposure you have to potential customers.

There are a few levels to brand awareness. The first level is brand visibility. In other words, do people know that you exist and see your name or logo in public? The next level is brand recognition when people are familiar with who you are and what you do. The last level is deep knowledge of a brand. Not only do consumers know who you are, but they know about the quality of your product/service and what your company stands for.

For a new business, creating brand awareness should be your top priority in a marketing strategy. After all, you are a new name in the industry, which means you need to catch up with your competitors to have a chance of success. So how do you run an effective brand awareness campaign?

A Guide to Running Brand Awareness Campaigns

Increasing brand awareness for your new business is not as simple as a plug-and-play formula. Whether or not your campaign is effective will depend on factors like audience, industry niche, budget, product/service quality, geographic location, etc. There are, however, a few building blocks that can get you started on the right foot.

Determine Target Audience

Your target audience is the group of potential customers that you want to hone in on with your marketing strategies. They are the group that is most likely to want what you offer and they share many of the same characteristics from person to person. You will need to determine where your target market is before planning out brand awareness strategies. Without a target audience in mind, your resource allocation may go to waste, and messaging may not reach the right people.

Establish a Brand Identity

Creating an identity for your brand (opens in a new window) is critical for all your marketing needs. People want to see consistency across messaging, otherwise, your communication efforts may come across as disjointed or confusing. Consistent brand image and brand voice will make it easier for consumers to connect with your business. Plus, it will present a united communication strategy that can improve brand recognition.

Choose Specific Goals to Build Brand Awareness

Before you start putting out content or messaging to increase brand awareness, you need a roadmap to guide you. Coming up with specific and realistic goals will light the path forward and prevent aimless marketing. Do you want to increase brand recognition? Then lay out a plan with specific milestones to chase.

Select KPIs to Track

Tracking your progress is a key aspect of reaching your brand awareness goals. KPIs, or key performance indicators, can give you specific data points to track whether or not your efforts are making a difference. Plus, they give you a way to measure brand awareness and how much it has grown since you began the campaign.

What Channels can Increase Brand Awareness?

Now that you have laid out your goals, KPIs, and brand identity, and you have zeroed in on a target audience, it is time to decide what marketing channels you will use to increase brand awareness. Here are a few options to take a look at.

Social Media Platforms

One of the most effective ways to reach high brand awareness is to leverage social media. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even TikTok can target specific audiences with social media posts, pay-per-click ads, influencer marketing campaigns, and other customer engagement strategies. Building a strong social media presence can quickly boost brand awareness if you know what social media channels your target audience uses.

Other Digital Marketing Efforts

Bringing your brand online is crucial for success in 2022. Most if not all companies have a website, or a presence on social channels at the very least, to interact with consumers who are using their devices. New audiences can be found through optimization for search engines, website traffic, emails, and other online methods.

Print Advertising

Want to raise brand awareness with physical collateral? Then you should consider print advertising. Brochures, billboards, direct mail, newspaper ads, magazine ads, and other materials can all build awareness and increase brand exposure, especially in the local service area where you operate.

Promotional Products

One unique method to drive brand awareness with offline marketing is the use of promotional products with your branding. By selling or giving away free swag that contains your company logo and name, you can achieve brand awareness, leave an impression on new customers, and earn additional customer loyalty. Research any established brand and you will probably find that they use promotional items like shirts, hats, mugs, bags, pens, and more to achieve strong brand awareness.

How Will You Implement a Brand Awareness Strategy?

As stated before, increasing brand awareness can look different based on factors like your brand message, ideal audience, geography, and more. When you are running a marketing campaign focused on brand awareness efforts, the planning stage is just as important as the implementation.

As you are building brand awareness, are you using channels that your target audience is connected with? Do your digital marketing strategies move your website up the search results to generate more organic traffic? Are your brand awareness metrics being tracked effectively to measure success? Could a referral program or better content marketing build brand equity?

If you are still unsure about how to implement a campaign focused on building awareness, consider doing some extra research on the front end. Try running brand awareness surveys to measure the current status of your company. Take a look at other brands that represent effective brand awareness examples, either on a global scale or in your service area.

When you create positive brand experiences for potential customers, your brand visibility, recognition, and knowledge increase. Focus on your brand messaging and start attracting new audiences to your business with a well-crafted awareness campaign.