Tips and strategies for increasing brand awareness

Did you know that the right choice of signature colour can increase brand recognition by a remarkable 80 percent? Statistics show that even nuanced decisions have a significant impact on brand perception. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, perfecting every element of your brand strategy is essential.

For executives and marketing teams, the ongoing task is to develop distinctive strategies that make the brand stand out and build customer loyalty. The following information and tips will help you sustainably increase your company's brand awareness and ensure long-term success.

Brand awareness describes the extent to which consumers can recognise and identify with a brand. High brand awareness leads to better recognition and can promote brand trust and loyalty. The overarching goal of brand awareness is to anchor the brand in the minds of the target group and build a strong brand identity that supports the brand image and ultimately leads to higher sales.

Brand awareness encompasses various dimensions, including the ability of a brand to remain present and memorable in the customer's mind (mental presence), as well as the emotional connection that customers develop with the brand. These dimensions include:

• Brand recognition: how present is the brand in the target group's mind?
• Brand associations: which attributes and characteristics are associated with the brand?
• Brand trust: to what extent does the target group trust the brand and its promises?
• Brand loyalty: to what extent does the target group develop a long-term bond with the brand?

Strengthening these dimensions leads to an overall more positive brand image and promotes your brand's success.

In order to evaluate the success of brand awareness activities, it is important to measure their impact. Various tools and key figures are available for this purpose, such as surveys on brand memory or analysing search queries. In addition to measuring brand awareness, it is also crucial to identify the influencing factors that shape it. These include:

• Brand communication: how effective are the brand's marketing activities and PR measures?
• Product and service quality: to what extent do the products and services offered meet the expectations of the target group?
• Brand presence: how well is the brand represented in different marketing channels?
• Distinguishing features: To what extent does the brand stand out from competitors and offer added value for the target group?

Identifying the relevant influential factors allows targeted measures to be developed to increase brand awareness and ensure the long-term success of the brand.

In order to increase brand awareness and the level of recognition of your company, there are a few tried and tested methods and concepts to consider. The following tips and suggestions will help you successfully increase brand awareness.

When building a strong brand presence, it is crucial to define a unique brand identity that is characterised by a distinctive style, a clear brand message and memorable visual elements. You should ensure that your brand stands out in its product category and leaves a lasting impression on consumers to positively influence their purchasing decision.

Tip: Create structured branding guidelines to ensure a consistent visual and content presentation across all marketing channels. Use tools like Canva to create easy-to-use templates for your brand design.

A thorough target group analysis makes it possible to tailor your marketing measures precisely to the needs and requirements of your users. By segmenting your target group and developing different user profiles, you can create personalised approaches and thus efficiently drive brand awareness.

Tip: Use the buyer persona methodology to create detailed user profiles and segment your target groups effectively. Tools such as MakeMyPersona from HubSpot can provide valuable support.

Your potential customers can be reached via different channels, be it social media or email. To optimise the chances of increasing brand awareness in marketing, you should rely on a multichannel approach – i.e. a targeted marketing mix – and always ensure continuous, consistent brand communication.

Tip: Use marketing automation tools such as Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign to coordinate your multichannel communication and utilise resources efficiently.

Influencers and partnerships expand your reach and increase the credibility of your brand. When influencers or other companies recommend your products or services, it can significantly increase brand awareness and strengthen trust among potential customers.

Tip: Use platforms such as AspireIQ or Influry to find suitable influencers for your brand and build successful collaborations.

Emotional and targeted storytelling creates a stronger bond between consumers and your brand. With the help of appealing stories and messages, you can bring your company to your target groups' minds and increase "recall", i.e. people remembering your brand without much effort or reference – an important component for the success of brand awareness surveys.

Tip: Get to know tried and tested storytelling techniques to communicate your brand successfully. Integrate them into your content on the website, in blog articles or social media posts. AI tools such as ChatGPT can help you write engaging and error-free texts.

The longevity and sustainability of brand awareness are crucial for increasing brand value and the success of your company. Therefore, consider the following relevant aspects.

Consistent communication and interaction with your audience builds trust and increases the likelihood that your brand will remain in the target group's memory. The key here is to be present on the right platforms for customer and audience interaction and to engage with your customers in line with your brand strategy.

Tip: Use CRM systems to send automated and personalised messages. Schedule regular newsletters, social media posts and targeted campaigns to stay in touch with your customers.

Event and experience marketing can raise awareness of your brand in a variety of ways by creating unique and lasting memories. Use innovative and creative approaches to amaze your audience and get them involved.

Tip: Promote awareness of your brand by creating unique events or product presentations, for example through VR or AR applications, interactive exhibitions or gamification elements.

Satisfied customers are loyal customers – and loyal customers are an essential asset for building brand awareness. Make sure your CRM strategies are focussed on loyalty and customer retention.

Tip: Implement customer loyalty programmes such as bonus points, discounts or even exclusive benefits for regular customers and thus ensure long-term customer relationships.

Success in the area of brand awareness is measurable: use analysis tools and define KPIs to keep an eye on the progress and effectiveness of your activities and make adjustments if necessary.

Tip: Use monitoring tools such as Google Analytics, social media analysis functions or brand monitoring solutions to track the performance of your brand and identify potential for optimisation.

Flexibility is important in the dynamic business world. Recognise changes in the market – be it through new technologies, competitors or customer needs – and adapt your brand strategy accordingly. Remember: the tried and tested can be useful, but should always be reviewed and developed further if necessary.

Tip: Use market and trend analyses to better understand the behaviour and expectations of your target group and be open to changes in your strategy to stay up to date.

In today's competitive marketing landscape, increasing brand awareness plays a crucial role in a company's success. To build a successful brand, it is essential to develop a unique brand identity, realise targeted audience appeals and use innovative strategies that adapt to current market changes.

• Brand identity: a unique and coherent brand identity with clear values and messages creates the basis for sustainable brand awareness.
• Target group analysis: a deep understanding of the target group enables differentiated segmentation and effective communication strategies.
• Sustainable strategies: Continuous adaptation and optimisation of branding measures in combination with analysis tools ensure long-term brand awareness.

If you want to build and promote customer trust and loyalty in your brand in the long term and improve visibility and the customer experience, you should include all dimensions of brand awareness. A well-planned strategy and implementation of various measures such as multichannel marketing, influencer marketing, experiential marketing and CRM strategies are just as essential as consistent communication with creative ideas to convey a feeling for the brand and company to (potential) customers.

Image: Evgeni Tcherkasski on Unsplash, acquisa

About the guest author:
Steffen Grigori is firmly rooted in the dynamic world of modern marketing and sales. As Head of Service at acquisa, the specialist medium for marketing, sales and e-commerce, he has deep insights into the ever-changing landscape of trends and best practices in this industry. His work reflects his commitment to high-quality content and up-to-date information. He is committed to providing tangible value to the marketing community and is proud to contribute to the ongoing education and expertise in the industry.