7 Key Steps to a Brand Awareness Strategy

About this guide: first published on the Pivony blog in 2022; updated in 2026.

Brand awareness is how well your target audience recognises your brand and remembers what it does. People are more likely to choose a name they know over one they don't, and brands with high awareness are the ones described as "popular" or "trending". Awareness also gives you room to stand apart from competitors.

Here are seven steps to build it.

1. Build a clear brand image

Decide how you want people to see you and make every touchpoint consistent with it: product, packaging, website, social media and support. A distinct image is what people remember.

2. Learn about your audience

You can't be memorable to people you don't understand. Read what your customers and potential customers say in reviews, on social media and in support conversations. That tells you how they describe their problems, what they value and what they think of your competitors. Use it to adjust your message.

3. Choose a tone of voice

Tone of voice is how your brand speaks: playful, formal, expert, warm. It should reflect your values and stay the same across every channel and format, so people recognise you before they see your logo.

4. Define your unique selling proposition

Your USP is the clear advantage that sets you apart from the alternatives in your category. A sharp USP focuses your marketing, shapes your messages and tells people quickly what you do.

5. Use social media actively

More than half of the world's population uses social media, which makes it the easiest place to reach new people and build a community. It is also where customers complain. Respond quickly and professionally, whether the complaint is on your page, in a direct message or anywhere else: how you handle problems in public builds awareness too.

6. Turn customer insights into action

Listening is not enough. Collect what customers say in reviews, social media, surveys and your CRM, find the recurring themes, and change something because of them. Then tell customers what you changed.

7. Measure brand awareness

There is no single awareness metric, so combine a few signals:

• Surveys: ask people in your target market which brands they know in your category.
• Branded search and direct traffic: more people looking for you by name.
• Social mentions and sentiment: how often people mention you and how they feel about it.
• Reviews: volume and sentiment over time.

Quick tips

• Put the customer at the centre of decisions.
• Talk with your customers, not only to them.
• Tell your story.
• Know your target group and sell your value, not only your features.
• Take feedback seriously and show that you do.

Measure what people say about you

• Sentiment analysis shows how people feel about your brand and each topic around it.
• Pivony Market Intelligence compares your brand with competitors across reviews, social and public data.
• If you'd like to see it on your own brand, book a demo.