Introduction

Some brands are just truly unforgettable, like Nike, Apple, or McDonalds. They all share one main thing, which is brand awareness. The reason that these brands are recognizable and you tend to know them without seeing their name is from brand awareness. Brand awareness is typically created through organic social media! But...what is Organic Social Media? Organic social media is when a brand is posting to social media platforms without the use of paid-advertising. Think Hard-Posts, Stories, Reels, TikTok', and more. Organic social media plays the long game to build long-term relationships with their audience. One of the biggest questions I get asked is...why does brand awareness matter in an organic social strategy?

What is Brand Awareness?

Brand awareness is described as how well people recognize and remember your brand. When people are more familiar with your brand the higher the chance when they need something they will reach out to you first. Brand awareness goes beyond recognition but it also helps build trust, increase sales, and boosts social proof. Examples of amazing brand awareness are Coca Cola, Starbucks and Amazon. I know you can see those logos and brand colors in your mind right now!

Organic Social Media in Brand Awareness

Organic social media is crucial for long-term growth for your business. Why? Being a brand like Coca-Cola, or Starbucks, it takes TIME and a LOT of effort in organic social media. Sales don't happen immediately, it takes awhile for people to trust that your brand is legit and worth purchasing from. Algorithms typically favor engagement, which leads to greater visibility without paying for ads. A major tip to help build brand awareness through organic social media is posting to all platforms that align with your brand, and make sure you are being consistent with your content. Linkedin, TikTok, Meta,and Google all are great examples.

People buy from brands that they know and trust. Social proof, the idea of how followers and word of mouth boosts credibility is important. The more brand awareness you are creating, the higher social proof goes up. For example, Rhode Skin is a brand I really want to try because of what the Rhode followers say about the products. The more people are recognizing your brand, the higher chance they are to engage.

How to Build Brand Awareness through Organic Social Media

When building brand awareness through organic social media, there are some things to take into consideration. One of the biggest things to pay attention to is the usage of your brand guidelines across social platforms. That means your tone of voice, brand colors, and logo and keeping a consistent schedule to abide by. People will eventually grow to know that you post on a certain day, or release products on a certain day if you are strict with your consistency. People will also eventually remember your brand by the use of your brand guidelines. Again, think Starbucks, or Target!  Replying to the comments you receive and using your brand voice with that can build a community through your audience! What do they like to see? What do they want to hear from you? All of those are great questions to ask yourself to help build your community online that will advocate for you. Creating valuable and shareable content is important as well. Examples of that include tips, behind-the-scenes, and UGC content. UGC will be SO helpful when it comes back to Social Proof. You want your audience to get their friends and family to engage and convert with your business.

Conclusion

To wrap things up, if you gain anything from this blog let it be that brand awareness is ESSENTIAL for your organic social media success! Brands should be focusing on consistency, engagement, and community-building to ensure brand awareness is occurring with potential customers or followers. Brand voice/tone, brand guidelines, font, and colors are all incredibly important to pay attention to when posting on socials. Try to get your brand on all applicable social media platforms, and use them to your advantage! This process won't be overnight, but the reward is sweet and makes the rest of your marketing a LOT easier to manage.