Gain a Competitive Edge Through a Killer Brand Awareness Campaign UK

Did you know that, apart from ‘ok’, ‘coke’ is one of the most recognisable words in the world? It’s so well-known that even in the most out-of-the-way corners of the globe, people know exactly what it means.

Coca-Cola is just one example of a brand that’s made it big—it’s achieved what many consider the ultimate goal in branding: becoming a generic trademark, or a proprietary eponym, if you like the fancy term.

But even with a brand as colossal as Coca-Cola, they’re always splashing out millions each year on promoting their products. Why? Simply because they want to stay top of mind for their consumers, no matter what.

And here’s the good news: your business could reach that level too. Believe it or not, Coca-Cola started as a small, relatively unknown company. What set them apart was their knack for crafting effective brand awareness campaigns.

If you’re keen to see your company head in that direction, stick with us—this guide will give you a much clearer picture of everything you need to know about brand awareness.

The Benefits of a Brand Awareness Campaign

Brand awareness is all about how well your company connects with its target market and how easily your customers recognise you.

Some business owners might measure success purely by their financial reports, which is fair enough. However, brand awareness, while a bit of an abstract concept, can greatly enhance your marketing and promotional efforts. Though it’s harder to pin down with a number, a well-designed brand awareness campaign can work wonders for your business.

Promotes Trust (and Sales)

We all know how much popular opinion can sway buying decisions. Brand awareness gives your products a genuine personality and presents solutions to people’s problems. When your campaigns convince consumers that your brand delivers on its promises, trust follows.

A successful campaign turns your products into a household name, making them a staple purchase. Achieving this level of reliability is a valuable milestone that offers long-term benefits.

Establishes Positive Associations

You’ll know your brand’s making waves when people start associating it with a general action or task.

For example, ‘Bubble Wrap’ is actually a brand name for a type of cushioning, but you don’t hear people asking for “inflated cushioning” for their packages, do you? Or if someone mentions a ‘Jet Ski’, they’re referring to a brand, not just any personal watercraft.

Building brand awareness over time can lead to your product or service becoming not just the best option but the only one in people’s minds.

Builds Brand Equity

Brand equity is the perceived value of your brand. If users have a consistently positive experience, they’ll naturally attribute a high value to it. As more consumers provide excellent feedback, your brand equity grows.

Increased brand equity brings significant benefits. A product with high brand equity can command higher prices, have a greater societal impact due to its perceived value, and its market value will likely rise.

The key to boosting brand equity is effective brand awareness. When customers see your brand as reliable, their purchasing decisions become automatic, and they’ll even recommend you to their friends and family—essentially doing the marketing for you.

These are some of the reasons brand awareness is crucial for your business.

But remember, powerful brand awareness shouldn’t be a one-off effort. It needs to be a core part of your overall marketing strategy to highlight the exceptional experience of your brand, rather than just aiming to get paying customers.

If you’re eager to launch a stellar brand awareness campaign, here are some fab options to consider:

1. Use Content to Tell Your Story

Having a brand name, logo, and products isn’t quite enough. To connect with your audience on a deeper level, you need to give your brand a personality. Using content to humanise your brand bridges the gap between your target market’s needs and the solutions you offer.

Provide free content through your blog to shape your brand’s character. Ensure it resonates with your audience by mixing in engaging videos, images, and positive feedback from past and current clients.

Guest Posting

Writing articles for other websites is a subtle way to contribute quality content and boost brand awareness.

There’s plenty of space on the web, so don’t limit yourself to just your site’s blog. With a bit of searching, you can find opportunities elsewhere.

Tap Popular Sites that Allow Brand Mentions

Look for well-known sites relevant to your industry. If they allow brand mentions, offer to write a blog post for them and include your company’s name and contributions.

This has a twofold benefit: you tap into their market share to promote your brand and gain credibility because a trusted site has backed you up.

Tap Popular Sites that Allow Visible Author Bios

Offer to write for sites that will let you include your name, company, and website link in the author bio. This can help increase brand awareness significantly.

Sponsor Posts in Local Publications

Paying for posts in local publications is another option to raise brand awareness. It might be easier than guest posting if you want to use it as part of your strategy.

2. Give Out Freemiums

Many online products offer free versions with fewer features or watermarks. Even if users don’t upgrade, the watermark keeps your brand visible every time they share their work on social media.

And who knows, the next person to sign up for the free version might choose to go premium! Providing free versions lets prospective customers see the value of what you offer in a controlled setting.

3. Give Away Freebies

Everyone loves free stuff, right?

Another great way to build brand awareness is by giving away freebies. Get your logo printed on binders, pens, mugs, stickers, phone and tablet cases, or laptop sleeves. Hand them out at corporate events or local fairs to spread the word about your fantastic brand!

Looking for creative giveaway ideas? We can help you customise your laptop sleeves, iPad cases, or corporate phone cases!

4. Try Out Podcasting

Podcasting is a lot easier these days. What used to require professional studios and expensive equipment can now be done with minimal gear.

Like videos and images, podcasts engage your audience and can help establish your expertise in your field.

Produce Your Own

You can build your brand by producing your own podcast episodes. Aim to follow the Pareto rule: 80% of the content should offer valuable information, tips, or advice unrelated to your brand, while 20% can focus on branded messages. Remember, listeners aren’t tuning in for sales pitches—they want entertainment or valuable insights.

Partner with Famous Podcasters

If your niche is highly competitive, consider collaborating with established podcasters who already have the audience you want to reach.

For example, Buffer.com, a company that helps build brands through social media, invited experts from HubSpot and Moz to guest on their podcast. This not only provided valuable content but also extended Buffer’s reach when HubSpot and Moz shared the episode with their followers.

5. Leverage Social Media

Social media platforms have been around for over 40 years now, but it was really Facebook’s arrival in 2004 that made everyone—including business owners—sit up and take notice. It turned out to be an incredible way to connect with customers.

Social media is a powerful tool for building brand awareness. Ignoring it would be a missed opportunity, as it’s one of the few platforms that delivers excellent, long-term results in a relatively short space of time.

Focus on Relevant Platforms

Maintaining a plethora of social media accounts can drain your resources. Regular posting and creating content campaigns to keep your audience engaged require careful planning and timing.

So, it’s crucial to focus on just two or three platforms that are most relevant to your niche. For example, if you’re in the home improvement sector, Pinterest and Instagram would be ideal. If you’re offering software development or web-based services, Twitter and LinkedIn might be your best bet.

Publishing on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is great for establishing your brand’s personality. Publishing content here can spark conversations, boost brand awareness, and showcase your expertise in your industry, helping you position yourself as a thought leader.

Plan your LinkedIn content carefully and track engagement. This will help you understand what types of content resonate with your audience, allowing you to refine your strategy.

Make Use of Hashtags in Posts

Hashtags are an effective way to boost brand awareness on social media. You can use hashtags in two main ways:

Branded

Brands often create their own hashtags. For instance, Lay’s has #DoUsAFlavor, KFC promotes #NationalFriedChickenDay, and Domino’s uses #LetsDoLunch.

The success of branded hashtags depends on their popularity and public usage. If you manage to create a successful branded hashtag like Hyatt’s #WorldofHyatt, you’ll benefit from long-term brand awareness. Hyatt continues to encourage guests to share their experiences using this hashtag.

Non-Branded

You can also use popular industry-related hashtags such as #lookgoodfeelgood, #glutenfree, #travelbug, #applevsandroid, and #fitfam.

Non-branded hashtags are easier to use because they’re already popular, so you don’t have to do all the legwork to get others to adopt them. While they might not focus solely on your brand, they still provide valuable visibility within your industry.

Organise Contests to Encourage Engagement

Another creative way to build brand awareness is through contests and giveaways. For example, post a funny, brand-related photo on Facebook, ask your followers to comment with their best caption, and let them tag friends. The caption with the most laughs wins a prize.

Or, celebrate milestones like anniversaries by giving away one of your best-selling products or a selection of your services. Ask followers to like and share the post, and then randomly pick winners. Announce it on your feed to create a buzz.

6. Influencer Marketing

Partnering with influencers could be just what you need to boost brand awareness. Look for reputable profiles who align with your company’s values and are already posting quality content similar to your brand message. This way, you avoid targeting the wrong market segment.

7. Advertising

Advertising is a classic marketing technique that’s still effective and budget-friendly. Here are several ways to approach it:

Native

More brands are turning to native advertising to promote their products and services. Unlike traditional ads that stick out, native ads blend seamlessly into a website’s format, reducing banner blindness and ad blocking. This makes the ad experience less intrusive and more engaging.

PPC

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a good option for gaining visibility on specific search queries. With proper research and targeting, your ads can appear at the top of Google’s search results. Even if people don’t click, you’ll still gain visibility and build credibility.

Social

If organic social marketing isn’t working out, consider paid social advertising. Ads on Facebook and Twitter are relatively inexpensive and can increase your brand’s visibility, even if they don’t lead to immediate conversions.

Remarketing

Remarketing helps you re-engage users who’ve seen your ads but didn’t take action. Google can show your ads to these users as they browse other sites, creating the impression that your company is larger and more successful due to its wide ad reach.

8. Foster Complementary Partnerships

Partnering with companies that offer complementary products or services can be a great way to build brand awareness. Collaborate on campaigns that benefit both brands.

A famous example is McDonald’s and Hello Kitty’s partnership. McDonald’s sold limited-edition Hello Kitty carriers and collectibles with Happy Meals, creating huge demand and increasing brand awareness.

Referral Programs

Referral marketing targets customers efficiently and amplifies your customer base. It’s been a popular technique even before the internet. If you ask your customers for referrals, they’ll market your products to their circle of family and friends, often in a more convincing manner.

For instance, PayPal used a referral program in 2000, paying people to invite friends to join. This strategy spurred its growth to 7-10% per day, leading to hundreds of millions of members.

9. More Innovative Ways

If you’re looking for additional ideas, here are a few more to spark your creativity:

Sponsor Local Events

Sponsoring local events like festivals, fairs, marathons, or concerts can boost your visibility in the community. Look for events that align with your brand’s message so that people make positive associations between the event and your brand.

Create Mobile Billboards

If you use company vehicles, consider digital mobile truck advertising to promote events, special offers, or new branches. This turns your vehicles into moving billboards.

Car Wraps Advertising

Custom design wraps for your company or personal vehicles featuring your brand’s identity can attract attention and help familiarise people with your brand as your vehicles travel around.

Ensuring Your Campaign’s Success

No matter which methods you choose, how you implement them is as important as the techniques themselves. Understanding your buyers and where they spend their time online is crucial.

Keep an eye on your budget, set measurable goals, and monitor your campaign’s progress. If you encounter challenges, review and adjust your strategy as needed.

Formulate a Strategy that Works

The value your brand offers can significantly impact your marketing efforts and profits. By effectively implementing one or two of these techniques, you can attract your target market, boost sales, and even get customers singing your praises to their friends and family, amplifying your brand’s market value.

Want to learn more about how to create a brand that fits you? Check it out here.

Bhushan Lele

Bhushan spent the last 15+ years building businesses and learning what really matters to customers. At Custom Logo Cases, we help brands turn everyday tech accessories into high-quality, on-brand marketing tools.