What is brand awareness?
Brand awareness is a marketing term for how consumers recognize products and services in the market. It represents the level of consumer awareness and familiarity with a particular brand and customers' perception of it based on its values, reputation, quality, and social status. Establishing brand awareness is valuable when launching and marketing products and services, especially when the brand or business is new.
Many businesses use media monitoring software to measure and track mentions of their brand online. Monitoring customer sentiments allows enterprises to enhance the customer experience and build loyalty.
Types of brand awareness
Building brand awareness is one of the best investments businesses can make. Below are the common types of brand awareness:
- Brand recognition refers to a consumer’s ability to recognize a brand through identifying characteristics such as logos, slogans, or brand colors. Successful brand recognition occurs when an individual recognizes a business based on visual and auditory cues without clues about the company’s name.
- Brand recall is the likelihood that an individual remembers a brand when considering a relevant product category. That is to say when consumers think about a specific type of product or service, a particular brand that makes that product or performs that service automatically comes to mind. For example, if someone is thinking about buying a vacuum, Hoover or Dyson might automatically come to mind.
- Brand dominance happens when consumers can name only one brand in a particular product or service category. Brand dominance, also known as top-of-mind awareness, indicates that people associate an entire category with one brand.
Benefits of brand awareness
Building brand awareness is crucial for creating a memorable and unique brand and long-term positioning in the market. Businesses that invest in a solid brand awareness strategy may experience numerous benefits, including:
- More trust with consumers. Brand awareness fosters trust with consumers. When someone purchases from a brand and has a positive experience, they’re more likely to return to the brand for future purchases. Brand awareness enables consumers to have relationships with brands and adds a flavor of personality to the purchasing process.
- Increased association. Strong associations due to brand awareness efforts may cause consumers to replace the name of a brand with a product. For example, many people refer to all bandages as Band-Aids, and the brand dominates the market.
- Positive brand equity. Brand awareness builds brand equity or the overall value of a brand. Positive experiences foster positive brand equity, which leads to benefits like higher prices as a result of higher perceived value, higher stock prices, and increased social impact.
Tactics for building brand awareness
Organizations can use a variety of tactics to increase brand awareness and build an audience. Some common examples of tactics include:
- Building a social media presence. When used correctly, social media is an effective tool for attracting and engaging with potential customers. Brands can share information about their products and services to educate customers and participate in conversations with audience members.
- Starting an email list. Email marketing allows brands to engage with and nurture their audience. Incentives and exclusive deals are great ways to grow and build email lists.
- Launching a referral program. A referral program rewards existing customers and incentivizes new ones. Referrals build a positive first impression and, in turn, spread brand awareness.
- Allocating budget for advertising and marketing. Advertisements with the right messaging can yield beneficial outcomes and increase brand awareness. For the highest likelihood of success, brands must consider their target audience and which channels are more likely to reach their desired audience.
- Engaging in co-sponsored partnerships. Partnerships increase reach and help companies build brand awareness. Companies can engage in many types of partnerships, including co-authored content, exclusive product bundles, educational webinars, and events.
Brand awareness best practices
Creating strong brand awareness takes time and thoughtful planning – it doesn’t happen overnight. Below are some best practices for businesses to consider when establishing an effective brand awareness strategy.
- Prioritize creating a consistent brand image. Strong branding sticks when consumers can recognize a brand or its products. Creating a consistent brand image across all channels and platforms is essential. Brands can create a cohesive and recognizable image using the same colors, fonts, and design styles.
- Understand the target audience. Building and increasing brand awareness requires knowing who follows the brand and what they expect to see. Social listening strategies and social media monitoring help brands identify and engage with their audience to get to know them.
- Create easily shareable content. Brands with strong brand awareness create content that’s easy for their audience to share with their networks. Blog posts, videos, social media posts, and easy-to-navigate product landing pages are examples of shareable content that can inspire word-of-mouth marketing.
Building brand awareness is only part of the battle. Learn more about brand safety to avoid damaging a brand’s reputation, messaging, and integrity.
Alyssa Towns
Alyssa Towns works in communications and change management and is a freelance writer for G2. She mainly writes SaaS, productivity, and career-adjacent content. In her spare time, Alyssa is either enjoying a new restaurant with her husband, playing with her Bengal cats Yeti and Yowie, adventuring outdoors, or reading a book from her TBR list.
