Building brand awareness – how to do it, tried and tested ideas

Creating a strong, recognisable brand is one of the most effective ways today to stand out from the competition, increase sales and grow your business. A well-known and easily recognisable brand is synonymous with market success. Therefore, companies today strive not only for the highest possible profits, but also for the highest possible recognition.

To achieve this, they invest in branding and brand awareness processes. Above all, awareness among customers will be crucial for image building. If it reaches a high enough level, this will translate hugely into the company’s business performance. What is branding and how can you increase awareness of your brand among the general public? How do you measure brand awareness? How does high brand awareness affect the day-to-day operations of a company?

What is a brand? Definition of a brand.

A brand is most often defined as a kind of business concept for an organisation that helps to make a product or service recognisable and memorable, to position it in a specific segment of the target market and to build relationships with consumers.

As defined by David Ogilvy, considered the father of advertising and branding and founder of the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, which has become one of the largest and most influential advertising agencies in the world:

“A brand is the intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, its packaging, its price, its history, its reputation and the way it is advertised.”

Thus, it can be said that a brand is a fundamental element of brand identity, regardless of the industry. It identifies a given organisation and, at the same time, is the first and main message it addresses to the market environment. Understood in this way, a brand is the intangible aspect of a company.

Every brand fulfils the following three functions:

• identification function – i.e. identifying the product with its manufacturer,
• promotional function – the brand as an element of the company’s communication process with the market and marketing,
• guarantee function – the brand as a confirmation of the quality of the product.

Brand awareness – what is it? Why is increasing brand awareness important?

What then is brand awareness, and why is it important to build it (in a process we call branding) in your company?

In a general definition, brand awareness is the ability of an audience to recognise a brand and associate it with a particular group of products or services. it refers to the extent to which consumers are aware of a brand.

Brand awareness indicates how well consumers associate a company’s name, the advertising slogans it uses, its logo, its accompanying visual identity or the characteristics of its individual products. It is influenced primarily marketing activities and (to a lesser extent) Public Relations, including recommendations from satisfied customers.

Brand awareness is often a key element of marketing and business management – brands with a high level of awareness are often perceived as more credible, more popular and better than the competition. High brand awareness can increase , market share or sales.

Brand awareness can be divided into several types, which differ in the degree to which consumers recognise and perceive the brand:

• Top-of-mind awareness (first choice awareness, spontaneous brand awareness) – the highest level of brand awareness. It means that the brand comes to the consumer’s mind first in the context of a product or service category. Brands at this level have a strong position in the market and often dominate their industry.
• Brand recall (brand memory) – this level refers to the ability of consumers to recall a brand on their own when asked about a category of products or services, but without specific cues or names. A high level of brand recall indicates good brand memory among consumers, which can lead to higher loyalty and a greater chance of choosing a brand’s products.
• Brand recognition – describes the ability of consumers to recognize brand identity based on a logo, slogan, packaging, colours or other visual elements. This is a lower level of brand awareness than brand recall, as the consumer may recognise the brand but may not be able to recall the brand name without additional stimuli.

In order for a brand to become widely recognised, it is necessary to have a regular audience and a good reputation. It allows consumers to make quick purchasing decisions that will not require much effort on their part.

High brand awareness also brings other benefits, which include:

• building trust in the eyes of the public and providing credibility to the brand,
• gaining new, loyal customers,
• easier building and strengthening of relationships with existing customers,
• increased brand value and competitiveness,
• reduced advertising costs,
• better positioning when negotiating with investors, suppliers and contractors,
• increased sales.

It is also worth mentioning in passing that some consumers only buy products from brands they know well.

The power of a strong brand is best demonstrated by the examples of brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike or Apple. The emotions they (or elements of them, such as the fonts used) evoke in consumers and the associations they create in their consciousness and subconsciousness determine their position as global leaders in their respective industries.

Brand awareness research

To find out a brand’s position in the market, in relation to competing brands, brand awareness studies are carried out. Checking brand recognition also brings numerous other benefits. Above all, however, it allows strategic planning of brand marketing and effective shaping of brand image.

The results of brand recognition research serve as a basis for preparing solutions that will translate into greater customer loyalty to the brand and give it a competitive advantage.

The most commonly used brand awareness research methods include:

Market-based brand awareness studies

Provide an assessment of the level of brand awareness among consumers through surveys, individual interviews or focus groups, where any questions can be asked in the areas of top-of-mind awareness, brand recall and brand recognition. The most common methods used are:

• CATI – telephone surveys,
• CAPI – field surveys using mobile devices,
• PAPI – traditional paper surveys and focus interviews.

Traditional, digital and social media monitoring

Ongoing monitoring allows you to track brand mentions and

user engagement on social media using tools such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social or Brand24. With these, it provides information on the level of brand awareness among the final audience.

In turn, tools such as Mention or Google Alerts help track brand mentions in online and offline media, and the number and tone of mentions can indicate the level of brand awareness and reputation.

Website traffic statistics

Google Analytics and other analytical tools allow you to monitor the number of visits, traffic sources, user behaviour or e-commerce conversions, an increase in which can indicate successful brand awareness.

Brand sentiment

Analysing consumer opinions on social media, blogs, forums or business cards makes it possible to assess brand perception, both using sentiment analysis tools and by manually checking emerging content.

Once data on brand sentiment has been collected, companies can take appropriate action to better understand their customers’ needs, improve their current branding and strengthen their image.

and performance indicators for advertising campaigns

Studying the performance indicators of a brand’s marketing campaigns, such as CTR (click-through rate), ad recognition, conversion value or engagement rate, for example, allows a fairly reliable assessment of the effectiveness of marketing activities in building brand awareness.

Comparison with competitors

Comparing your own brand’sperformance with competing brands in terms of mentions, user engagement on social media, search engine position or other industry-specific metrics allows you to assess how your brand is performing against the competition.

What is branding?

Brand awareness (branding) is a complex and long-term process that primarily affects whether and how a brand is perceived by its audience.

It consists of creating and consolidating in the minds of the target audience the fact that a brand exists, its specific image and the values it represents.

A brand, in the context of branding, does not necessarily mean a company or a product. We can also distinguish between:

• personal branding;
• branding as an employer, in which case we speak of employer branding;
• building brand awareness of a place, which can refer both to an establishment (e.g. a hotel or restaurant) and to an entire town, region or country.

However, no brand, regardless of what it relates to, will have the opportunity to exist in the minds of consumers if the elements that co-create it do not correspond with each other. A brand recognition strategy should therefore be based on interacting activities that contribute to the development of a unified brand image. The brand experience should remain as consistent as possible, while being tailored to the customer’s needs in all touchpoints (both online and offline).

In the branding process, it is also crucial to choose channels for communicating with the audience that are actually popular in a particular industry. This will influence users’ perceptions of your brand in a way that you care about.

What influences brand awareness? Elements of branding.

Brand trust can be built through a variety of means. The most important elements that can build brand awareness and identity are:

USP

One of the most important elements of effective branding is the USP (from Unique Selling Proposition), a characteristic that distinguishes a brand, product or service from its competitors and thus has a huge impact on brand awareness.

The USP of strong brands should not be an empty phrase or an exaggerated description (e.g. “best quality”). Specific, tangible and verifiable benefits for the consumer should speak for interacting with the brand and ultimately purchasing. An in-depth analysis of the customer’s needs and expectations makes it possible to highlight this characteristic, unique to the brand, which plays an important role in the customer’s decision-making process.

Pricing policy

The pricing policy applied by a brand also influences brand awareness to some extent. The attractiveness of the offer in the eyes of customers largely depends on it – it is the main point of reference when comparing our brand with the competition.

In the battle for the customer, those brands that offer the best prices often (although not always) win. Not necessarily the lowest, which can, for example, be equated with poor quality.

Customer and user experience

UX plays an important role in the branding process. is a term that refers to how a brand’s product or service is experienced and evaluated from the point of view of usability and intuitiveness of the solutions used.

It applies to a company’s overall marketing and branding efforts. A simple example illustrates this. If an online shop’s website works quickly and seamlessly and gives the impression of being secure and easy to use, the brand behind it will also be judged in a similar way.

Social media

To increase brand awareness, it is worth using social media, preferably those in which your target audience is present.

Being active on platforms such as , Instagram ,Twitter, LinkedIn or TikTok is an important part of your communication and marketing strategy to reach a wide audience, engage them and create a loyal community around your brand. Social media allows quick and direct communication with customers, so it effectively builds brand awareness as an approachable partner. Building engaged communities on social media is social proof that your brand exists and is doing well.

Remember, it is not worth taking shortcuts and buying fans on Facebook or buying followers on Instagram will do more harm to your social profiles and brand than good.

On the other hand, thanks to the analytical tools available on most social media platforms, a brand can monitor the effectiveness of its branding activities, check how much it is already recognised, measure user engagement and analyse campaign results in detail.

It is important to ensure that the marketing message is consistent and that such content is regularly published in line with the brand’s communication strategy and that responds to the needs of the audience, as well as allowing the brand to establish itself as an industry expert, a social media leader and a reliable business partner.

There is no definitive answer to the question “When to publish social media posts?”, but there are a number of ways to determine when your fans spend the most time on Facebook or Instagram.

Content marketing

Content marketing, provided you maintain high quality content, can make a huge difference and increase awareness. Attractive content can attract the attention of potential customers, build a brand’s authority in a particular area and influence consumer loyalty and trust in a brand. Content marketing activities also influence SEO effectiveness and search engine visibility.

Articles, blogs, e-books, podcasts, webinars or videos can increase a brand’s presence in search results, resulting in more traffic to a website. They can be used on social media. Creating valuable content can also be used in an omnichannel strategy.

Influencer marketing

By working with , companies can effectively increase brand awareness and reach new groups of consumers.

Influencers, especially those who have built a strong relationship with their followers, are seen as authentic and credible. By choosing an influencer who has a connection to the brand’s industry or values, it is possible to better match the offer to consumers’ needs and expectations.

Social proof

The best advertisement and laurel for a brand are recommendations from satisfied customers – few things have such a large, positive impact on image as social proof. Effective brand awareness should also be based on reviews, social media posts or blog-posts.

Promotions

Special offers, discounts, competitions and loyalty programmes can encourage consumers to get to know a brand and its products, which contributes to brand awareness.

Sponsorship

Supporting events, organisations or sports teams related to your brand values is one branding strategy that can help increase your company’s visibility and build a positive image. Sponsoring events or sports players can be perceived as a sign of success and stability and provide a connection to new potential business partners.

Public relations

PRactivities , such as communicating with the media, organising events or working with brand ambassadors, help to build a positive image and increase brand awareness among consumers

.

The key to effective brand awareness building in this case is consistent and coherent communication of professed values and message. It is also worth monitoring the effectiveness of individual actions and adjusting the strategy as necessary to achieve the best possible impact on brand image.

Advertising

A properly planned, configured and optimised online advertising campaign can nowadays effectively support branding. This is especially true for advertising systems and – that is – the most popular.

In order to reach the widest possible audience with your brand, it is also worth bearing in mind more traditional means of advertising. To build brand awareness on an even larger scale, use television, radio and outdoor advertising. You could also consider being present at industry meetings, conferences or events to promote brands.

Extremely important in all cases and in each channel will be, again, image consistency. Both the idea behind the brand itself and the tone of its communication, visual identity, etc. are important.

Impact of brand awareness on sales performance

The greater the awareness of a brand, the greater the chance that customers will associate it with certain products or services.

This increases the likelihood that they will choose your brand when they make a purchase decision.

High brand awareness is often associated with positive associations and trust. Customers are more likely to choose products and services from brands they trust, which also influences brand loyalty. Loyal customers will be more likely to repeat purchases and recommend your brand to others.

Brand recognition increases the effectiveness of marketing activities and can evoke specific emotions and evoke specific values. This allows brand information to spread naturally, potentially leading to greater interest from new customers.

Recognised brands often have lower customer acquisition costs. The savings can be used for further marketing activities or investments. Strong brands can also more easily conquer new markets and launch new products. They are also rated higher, which influences customers’ willingness to pay a higher price for products or services – Apple being a prime example.

How can customers build brand awareness?

Although companies and their marketing efforts are primarily responsible for building brand awareness, customers can also play a significant role in this process. Here are some ways customers can help build brand awareness:

• Recommendations – recommending a brand to friends, family or colleagues increases brand recognition and influences brand reputation. This is one of the most effective marketing tools – people often trust the opinions of relatives and friends.
• Social media reviews – positive reviews and mentions of a brand increase its reach and can influence the purchasing decisions of others.
• Participation in competitions and promotions – customers can enter competitions and promotions to increase their engagement and help spread the word about the brand.
• User-generated content (UGC) – brand-related customer content, such as photos, videos or blog posts, can attract the attention of other consumers and increase interest in the brand.
• Collaboration with influencers – where clients are also influencers, they can promote the brand to their followers.
• Participating in loyalty programmes – participating in loyalty programmes encourages people to recommend the brand to others.

How do you increase brand recognition?

Multi-faceted advertising and communication, carried out across different channels – this is exactly the best way to succeed in branding. It is important that all activities accentuate specific brand characteristics that are attractive from the audience’s point of view and are consistent with each other.

Becoming memorable to customers is a long and arduous process, but well worth all the costs and sacrifices. Just look at brands such as Coca-Cola or Google – hardly anyone remembers this, but they were not always market giants and had to do a lot of work to ensure high brand awareness.

It’s worth bearing this in mind when undertaking any brand awareness activity with your audience – the results can exceed your expectations.

It’s worth remembering that brand awareness work never really ends. Particularly in an age of fierce competition and advertisements influencing consumers from many sides, it becomes necessary to constantly “” our brand to convince the audience.