18 Sneaky Ways to Build Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is important if you want people to know who you are and what you're selling. But in today's busy and digital-centric world, how can you make your business stand apart from the crowd?

If you want to be a proprietary brand name, you need to work hard at creating an image for yourself and your company. Even if you don't get there, you can still do a lot more than most companies to raise awareness of your brand.

Regardless if you're starting out or already a well-established company, brand recognition will be important to your success. It’s never been more important for brands to know their audience.

Today, we’re increasingly buying products from online retailers rather than brick-and-mortar stores. As most consumers browse the aisles at brick-and-mortar stores, they're able to more easily discover new products than when they start their online shopping trips by searching specific brands.

If your brand name isn't well known, then there will be fewer people looking for you and you'll make less sales. 

Also, brands have never faced so many competitors before. That is why it is imperative that you focus on creating the best brand building strategy to get your business the recognition it deserves.

How will you know if your brand is gaining recognition?

To assess how well your brand is known, it's important to measure its brand awareness across three key metrics:

• Brand name recognition
• Product offer recognition
• Brand quality awareness

It’s important for you to be aware of your audience, but it’s even more important to understand who your target market is and what your product or service offers them.

Yes, it’s true there’s no easy way to become a household name. However, with the following brand building strategies, you can start off right.

We've written up some of our most important tips for building brands here. Read on.

1. Referrals.

People love getting something free. They'll happily give out their email address if you offer them a freebie. However, people also hate spam. Offering them something for nothing without any information about who you are or why you're offering it can lead to a lot of complaints and unsubscribes.

Instead, offer something useful and relevant - say, a discount code, coupon, or exclusive deal - just make sure you clearly state what you're giving them and why they should care.

2. Infographics.

Infographics are a great way to communicate important marketing data and statistics in an engaging format. They’re also a good way to promote your brand by increasing exposure and sharing.

3.Guest blogs.

Another great way to spread awareness for your business is through guest blogging. Despite what some people may say, guest blogging is still an effective strategy for spreading awareness within your industry.

However, if you just write ordinary content, it isn't going to impress anyone. You need to create useful, engaging, valuable content and people will notice.

4. Freemium. People love them!

Many awesome online products allow users to choose from a free version, which includes a watermark or credit line, or the option to upgrade to the paid version, which allows users to remove the mark or replace it with their own logo.

While many users will opt for the free version, they’ll also be promoting your brand to others users. Some of those new users who see your product will go with the paid version! Giving out freemium products means getting yourself in front of more people, building your brand, and bringing in paying customers.

5. Social media promos/contests.

It is already established that people are online almost 24/7 and spend around 80% of their time on social media. What best way to promote your product than to create a contest on different social media platforms?

Create a social media contest where participants post photos or videos, and others vote for their favourites. Participants will share the link with their social networks to gain more votes, helping increase your brand awareness as a byproduct.

6. Tell your story in a creative way.

People love a compelling story. You need to come up with interesting ways to tell stories if you want to become a memorable brand. Tell stories that resonate with people so they remember your company long after they've stopped using your product.

7. Integrate a bit of fun!

A good way to get people interested in your band is to give them something funny to remember! Being outrageous and humorous in your branding can help make your brand stand out.

It might not work out for most brands, but you can always find ingenious ways to make your brand more eye-catching and those that follow the current trends.

8. Paid Social Ads.

Social media has become increasingly crowded, which makes organic marketing even harder than before. But, thanks to paid social advertising, this remains an effective tool for helping to increase awareness and ultimately sales.

If users don't immediately convert after viewing your content, each additional exposure helps to grow familiarity. Growing your brand through ads is definitely a win-win situation for you and your company.

9. Partner up with local businesses.

Another great brand building tactic is to seek out partnerships with other local businesses. Sponsoring local sporting teams and donating to charity events is an excellent way to build relationships with potential clients.

Holding collective introductions or seminars is another way to connect with people. These events give people a chance to meet others who share similar interests; like donating products or services to charities helps raise awareness about social issues and gives back to the community.

10. Brand your cars, delivery vans.

If your business has any type of vehicle (cars, trucks, vans), make sure they're branded with your logo/signage.

Not only does this create free advertising for your company but also helps promote your brand. You could even get creative and use your own vehicle to advertise your business.

11. Publish on LinkedIn.

We've already discussed the benefits of guest posting , so we'll move on to another option: posting through LinkedIn and sharing your posts through it. In addition to being a great way to build traffic and brand awareness, LinkedIn also lets you share articles with others directly through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. You can also use the links in your posts to link back to them, or create a "share" button that people can click on to send out the article to friends and followers.

12. Create a podcast.

If you want to start an industry podcast, consider interviewing people who are already doing something similar. You may not get far if you're competing against established popular podcasts, but if you focus on a specific niche, you might stand out among the crowd.

You can also guest on an already established podcast and talk about your products and services.

13. Utilise PPC ads.

As Google continues to tighten its belt on organic traffic, paid ads (PPC) continue to be a strong option for gaining visibility online. With targeted keyword research and well-written ads, you could be showing yourself at the top of the page for highly relevant searches. Even if people aren't clicking on your ads, having your name show up at the top of the results has huge benefits for branding and increasing your credibility.

14. Remarket your ads.

Remarketing is an effective way to boost conversions. Make sure your audience knows you’re targeting them by placing your remarketing code where it belongs. You may also consider remarketing to those who haven’t converted yet, especially if you offer a compelling product/service.

15. Link building.

Link building involves attaining links to your site from established, authoritative sites. Generating these links essentially comes down to creating quality, useful content which sites will want to share, as well as outreach to relevant sites to build links.

Local link building, in particular, can greatly improve your local SEO, improving brand awareness through search engine results, as well as driving organic traffic to your site.

16. Make your users promote you on social media.

You can even get your followers to help you out by having them upload pictures or posts related to your product. By encouraging others to share their content, you will automatically gain exposure.

17. Team up with influencers.

In the past couple years, we've seen the rise of the Social Media Influencer. These days, people are much more likely to trust recommendations coming from someone who they know, rather than just an anonymous company. But instead of trying to sell products directly to customers, companies are turning to influencers to make those sales for them.

18. Make your own, unique branded packaging.

When the customer's shipment arrives, it is packaged using specially designed branded wrapping. This creates the feeling that the package contains something special sent directly from the company itself. Small or medium sized companies who ship their products to their customers can use this tactic by making sure they use branded boxes and labels.

Create the best brand awareness strategy today.

Brand awareness means making sure people know who you are and what you're doing. To do this, you need to invest in one or more of the following brand awareness strategies.

Utilise the power of referrals.

Create infographics.

Post as a guest.

Give away freebies.

Run social media contests.

Tell your story creatively.

Put fun into your content.

Use paid social media ads.

Partner with local businesses.

Brand your vehicles.

LinkedIn publishing.

Create a podcast.

PPC ads.

Remarket.

Build links.

Use your followers to promote you on social media.

Partner with influences.

Create your own branded packaging.

With these brand awareness techniques, you'll become an instant superstar within no time at all! What else would you need help with? Get in touch with our expert digital marketing specialists now.