15 Simple and Clever Ways to Build Your Brand Awareness

By Nancy Young. in Startups. Updated on July 13, 2022.

Have you ever thought of camera film and Kodak is the first thing that comes to your mind? Or you think of a fizzy drink and the name that pops up is Coke? Some brand names become so popular that they become synonymous to the actual name of the product. It is a dream of every brand to replace the actual name of a product with their own name. And this is exactly what brand awareness means.

Brand awareness is a result of deliberate actions taken over time on a constant basis. In this post, I am going to talk about tips and tricks on how to raise your brand awareness and make people talk about it.

1. Figure out how people see you

Your brand is not about how you see it, it is rather about how other people see your brand. So, the very first step in building your brand is to figure out what other people think of your product or service.

You can hold a focus group discussion, ask a business coach to conduct a 360 analysis, google yourself and so on.

2. Give your product for free

Yes, you heard me right. Giving your product or service for free you will make people know about your product and its quality, especially if your business just got started. Sampling your product for free or offering pro-bono services are two of the oldest tricks in the book of marketing and brand awareness.

Don’t worry you can get your profits later when more people will know about your brand. Just make sure your product is so good that people would pay to get it.

3. Create Infographics

Branding is all about visuals, and so, well-designed Infographics can be a great way to introduce people to something and give boring information in fun creative way. Spend extra time to include valuable information into your infographic and don’t save money by hiring an amateur designer.

Especially for online appearance, Inforgraphics play a vital role in creating brand awareness. The more creative and beautiful it is, the more it will get shared on social media.

4. Grow your community online

For small businesses, the online world is a heaven, and a way to have lots of opportunities to build their own community online. You can find your audience and build community on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media platforms. The key is to share useful information regarding your niche and connect with your clients or customers.

However, remember, that you can’t be at all places at once, it’s better to choose one social media network and put all your effort in growing your audience there.

Photo by Brooke Cagle<

5. Create Referrals

To encourage people to try your product or service, you can also create referral programs. Offer some incentive to anyone who refers your brand to another person.

This is the same approach behind Dropbox’s growing popularity. By giving out a specific amount of free space to the one who refers their service, they have increased their clientele to millions.

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6. Create a strong name and logo

A strong brand should be memorable and recognizable. The name and logo of your product or service will be the first impression of your brand on your potential customers.

7. Tell your story

Everybody likes a good story, so when you have a great emotional story behind your brand, it will automatically attract people’s attention.

For instance, you can tell people about the problems you faced that made you create your product in the first place. This way, your story will help people see your brand as a solution provider for their own needs.

8. Don’t try to please everyone

Be prepared that not everyone will be a fan of your brand. We are humans and we all have our own tastes and needs.

Instead, learn to be the best option for a specific group of people – your target audience. Develop your brand’s own voice and focus yourself on your target audience. Remember that you’re task is to grow your business, not to please everyone.

9. Spread the word through guest posts

Writing guest posts can give credibility to you and promotion to your brand. How so? Well, when you’re in a business for some time you get to know a lot about that specific field and its dynamics. So when you’ll share genuine knowledge that you gained through your own experiences, curious readers will value it a great deal.

Create an article that digs deep into a topic related to your brand’s niche (you can also try to mention your brand as a problem solver, if the host platform allows you). It will ultimately prompt readers to know more about you and your brand.

10. Collaborate with other businesses

No matter how small or young your business is, you can always try to collaborate with other more established businesses in your niche to get exposure to your name.

Devise a strategy to work with similar startups to share experience on promotion or events. This way you both can double your effects and get noticed by the audience of other business, and vice versa.

11. Run a contest

It’s the same as giving away a freebie, but with one a few conditions. Running a contest is a great way to bring attention to your brand through a prospect of getting rewarded.

You can ask people to take selfies as they use your product and share on social media in exchange for a discount or a gift pack, offer them to win prizes by following you on different social networks or writing good comment about your brand.

12. Seek endorsement from influencers

There are people in every field that have great influence on its audience. They can be celebrities or experts of the specific niche, and getting them to endorse your brand can affect its reputation a great deal.

Send the influencers in your field a sample of your product and ask them to share their honest review on social media, for instance, Instagram or Youtube. This trend greatly prevails among Youtube beauty bloggers. Brands that seek promotion send them their products over for review. So, you too can take a similar route.

13. Get associated with a social cause

The world will never run out of social issues that need peoples’ cooperation. Getting your brand associated with a social cause will be a two-prong strategy i.e., helping that cause and getting your name out through it.

You can select a cause that is close to your area of work. For instance, a fashion-related brand can work for equal wages or to stop child labor, or a household brand can get associated with environmental issues or something like that.

14. Use “You” Not “We”

A lot of brands still use the words “we do this” or “we do that”. People, in general, are not tempted to listen this kind of communication. Make your brand all about people not about you, and start talking about their problems, not yours. So, use “you need this” or “it will be in your own interest” instead. This way you’ll show that you care about customer’s needs.

15. Show Gratitude

You can’t imagine the power of the word “thank you” and what wonders it can do for your business. Each time a person orders something from your store or website, adding a simple “thank you” card with 5-10% discount for their next purchase can boost your brand’s favorability manifolds.

This way you will not only show your gratitude but make sure people will come back to your product and use the discount if they really like it.

Ending note

I hope these tips will help you build brand awareness and grow your business. The key to amazing brands and a successful businesses is doing what you love. As a quote says, “The only way to do great work is love what you do”.