How To Use Brand Advertising To Build Awareness and Loyalty

In a world saturated with countless brands vying for consumer attention, it’s critical to make a memorable connection with your audience. Often, capturing the hearts and minds of customers has less to do with the specific products you sell and more to do with how you make them feel. Brand advertising is key to influencing how consumers feel about your company.

Learn how to build a brand using brand advertising strategies to create connections and build long-lasting relationships with your customers.

What is brand advertising?

Brand advertising is the process of building a consistent brand identity rather than selling specific products or services. It aims to increase brand recognition and brand credibility by using compelling messaging and easily recognizable visual elements across different channels.

Effective brand advertising also creates an emotional connection between a company and consumers, fostering long-lasting relationships. This strategic approach not only boosts brand awareness but also contributes to sustained customer loyalty, ensuring the brand remains top-of-mind when consumers make purchasing decisions.

Brand advertising vs. direct response advertising

While brand advertising builds a foundation for long-term customer loyalty, direct response marketing drives immediate, measurable results. You can use both approaches in a balanced marketing strategy. Here’s how they’re similar and different:

Goals

• How they’re similar: Both strategies aim to increase engagement and make connections with potential and existing customers.

• How they’re different: With brand advertising, marketers focus on building a strong brand identity to build a long-term relationship with the target audience. The primary goal is to increase brand awareness and foster brand loyalty over time. Direct response marketing is designed to provoke immediate action from the target audience. This type of advertising is highly focused on generating quick responses such as purchases, sign-ups, or inquiries.

Method

• How they’re similar: Marketing teams can use similar channels, like newsletters and social media, to implement both strategies.

• How they’re different: Brand advertising campaigns often use emotional storytelling, consistent messaging, and memorable visuals to create a lasting impression. These ad campaigns aim to establish trust and credibility, encouraging customers to pick your brand over competitors. On the other hand, direct response ads are more to the point, often including clear calls to action (CTAs), such as “Buy now,” “Call today,” or “Click here.”

Success

• How they’re different: Brand advertising campaign performance is difficult to measure, as the goal is brand recognition and customer loyalty rather than immediate sales. Measuring success in direct response campaigns is more straightforward, as you can use metrics such as sales and conversions.

How to use brand advertising

1. Establish an emotional connection
2. Use strong visuals
3. Personalize your marketing strategy
4. Align your brand with a cause
5. Use content marketing
6. Collaborate with influencers
7. Connect through experiences

To create long-lasting relationships, brands must build trust and connection with their customers. Here are seven brand advertising strategies to help you do just that:

1. Establish an emotional connection

Tap into consumers’ emotions to foster a strong connection that goes beyond the product. Think of Subaru commercials, which typically feature families connecting in nature. In these brand ads, the product is in the background of an emotional story that leaves the consumer with a warm, fuzzy feeling. This bond can increase customer loyalty, as your target audience feels understood and valued.

Emotional advertising resonates on a deeper level than obvious calls to buy a product, making the brand more memorable and relatable. When consumers associate positive emotions with a brand, they are more likely to choose it over competitors.

📚Learn more: Emotional Persuasion: The Key to Getting People To Do What You Want

2. Use strong visuals

Compelling imagery can capture attention quickly and convey messages more powerfully than words alone. By creating a memorable brand image using visual elements like logos, trademark colors, or specific aesthetics, you can help potential customers recall the brand.

Strong visuals evoke emotions and can simplify complex ideas, making the advertisement more engaging and easier to understand. This visual impact can differentiate the brand from competitors, strengthening the brand’s identity. Additionally, customers are more likely to share memorable visuals on social media, increasing reach and visibility.

One of the most famous brand advertising examples is Nike’s swoosh, because it is immediately recognizable. Or think of how Glossier uses millennial pink and trendy minimalist packaging, as well as fun stickers and bubble wrap bags to create an aesthetic that is both recognizable and attractive to its target audience.

3. Personalize your marketing strategy

By tailoring messages and offers to individual preferences and behaviors, brands can create a more relevant and engaging experience for consumers. Understanding and leveraging a detailed buyer persona allows companies to deliver targeted content that resonates with specific segments. This approach fosters a deeper connection and builds trust, as customers feel understood and valued.

For example, Spotify leverages user data to create personalized playlists and its end-of-year Spotify Wrapped campaign, which customers share on social media. By addressing the unique needs and desires of each customer, brands can stand out in a crowded market.

4. Align your brand with a cause

Cause marketing can be a highly effective brand advertising strategy. By aligning with social, political, or environmental causes, brands can demonstrate their values and commitment to making a positive impact.

Think of Patagonia’s Environmental Responsibility Programs or Always’s Like a Girl campaign, which tackles sexism and aims to build young girls’ confidence. This type of approach resonates with consumers who share similar values, fostering a deeper emotional connection and enhancing brand loyalty. Cause marketing differentiates the brand from competitors, showcasing its social responsibility and ethical stance. It can also attract positive media attention and generate goodwill, boosting brand reputation.

5. Use content marketing

Content marketing can strengthen your brand’s story and foster strong connections with consumers. By creating and sharing valuable, relevant content, brands can engage their target audience and build trust over time. A well-crafted content marketing strategy allows a brand to tell its story in a compelling way, showcasing its values, mission, and unique offerings.

For example, the cookware company Our Place has a blog with recipes that encourages using its products. This approach helps establish the brand as an authority in its industry, driving organic traffic and fostering customer loyalty. Consistent high-quality content keeps the audience informed and interested, enhancing the brand’s visibility and reputation.

6. Collaborate with influencers

Another way to connect with potential customers is through influencer marketing. According to a Matter survey, 69% of consumers report they’re more likely to trust information coming from a friend, family member, or influencer than if it came directly from a brand.

Healthish, an ecommerce company that sells time-marked water bottles to help users keep track of their water intake, collaborated with influencers to launch its first product. The brand sent its bottles to relevant content creators, including fitness and fashion bloggers, and asked them to share an honest review, but only if they genuinely wanted to. By allowing the influencers to choose what they wanted to say (if anything), consumers received an authentic review of the product, which fostered greater interest and trust in the brand.

7. Connect through experiences

Connecting with customers through in-person experiences can be a powerful brand strategy. Community events and pop-up shops help brands engage directly with their target audience, creating memorable experiences that digital platforms can't replicate.

For example, Lululemon often hosts community events, such as yoga classes and run clubs, from its stores. This not only gives people a reason to show up to their stores but also fosters a sense of community amongst customers and strengthens the brand’s reputation. If physical storefronts aren’t yet part of your business, you can test the waters by setting up a pop-up shop, which can generate awareness and excitement for your brand.