How to drive brand recall

If you have already read the importance of building brand awareness (and finding ways to measure it), you’re aware that driving brand recall consistently is a major driving factor.

Especially in a highly competitive market, where companies have established buyers, and significant marketing budgets—focusing on brand recall in your market is an absolutely necessary growth strategy.

In short, establishing a strong and memorable brand identity is crucial for success because when your market needs your service, you’re going to be top-of-mind.

Key term here: brand identity.

Let’s come back to that later.

This article takes a deep dive into the importance of brand recall, but, more specifically, how to incorporate a brand recall strategy in your overall marketing toolkit.

Understanding brand recall

First, let's take a moment to understand what brand recall truly means.

Brand recall refers to the consumer's ability to remember a brand when prompted with a specific product or service category.

Think—laptop?

MacBook.

That’s brand recall.

Specifically, you’re imagining the features and benefits of a specific brand as an answer to your category prompt.

It goes beyond mere recognition and taps into the deeper perception and association that consumers have with a brand—how it makes you feel, and what it does for you.

The importance of brand recall in marketing

Brand recall is a shortcut to help your customers tell you apart from the competition.

Because, let’s face it: your ideal clients are probably not going to a database of 100 companies to pare them down, and then make a purchasing decision.

No.

They’re remembering: 

• That project they saw
• That thing they heard from a trusted friend or connection, and
• That time your business was all over the radio, newspaper, and targeted online ads

Earning strong brand recall not only enhances credibility, but also builds trust, making your brand the one customers consistently choose over others.

And, an industry heavily reliant on referrals and word–of–mouth?

Positive brand recall is key to securing a steady stream of business opportunities.

Key elements of brand recall

To maximize brand recall, it is essential to focus on key elements that resonate with your target audience—we would call them your Ideal Client Profiles (ICP).

And, before you start thinking about revamping your visual brand identity, such as your logo, colour palette, typography, and so much more, you need to nail down your messaging.

Because, more than anything else, your brand narrative and your core brand messaging are the factors that give people something to latch onto—to believe in and relate with.

Yes, logos and colours are absolutely important, but without a basis in messaging, no visual strategy will drive effective brand recall.

A logo will not forge an emotional connection with your ICP.

Messaging will.

And when you tie your core message to unique visual elements and deploy it with consistency?

That’s where you start to drive long-term brand recall.

Strategies for enhancing brand recall

With a solid foundation of brand recall in your back pocket, let's explore some strategies to help your business leave a meaningful impression on your ICP and in your market.

Creating a unique brand identity

A distinct brand identity that reflects your company's personality is a powerful tool for brand recall.

But, hold on.

Again, people often confuse “brand identity” with “cool logo.”

And, it’s just not.

Your brand identity is comprised of many pieces, the most important of which are actually message-focused:

• Your brand voice (there’s 9 of them, by the way)
• Your brand archetype (there’s 12 of those by the way)
• Your unique market offer, and
• Your message-market fit (which comes from completely unpacking and knowing your ICP)

Once you have those pieces in place, by all means—invest in a professionally designed logo and brand assets that represent your values and differentiate you from competitors.

Your unique style (enforced by a style guide) should ensure consistency across all touchpoints, including signage, online presence, and your marketing materials.

But, never ever never confuse your style for your brand.

Because your market certainly won’t.

Leveraging emotional connections

Emotions play a pivotal role in brand recall.

In fact, emotions play a significant part in the whole buying process.

In his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini, PhD, discusses tactics that salespeople (or as he calls them, “compliance professionals”) use to build emotional connections.

This includes everything from gift-giving to leverage innate needs for reciprocity, to sharing your client testimonials to build social proof and trust.

It’s more complicated than just that, but at our core, we are all beings driven by functional and emotional needs.

When every competing service can deliver on the functional need, the brand that best satisfies the emotional needs of clients has a distinct advantage.

Things you can do with very little investment to start building emotional connections:

• Showcase your projects in a way that evokes positive emotions, whether it's through images, videos, or customer testimonials
• Leverage storytelling to enhance brand personality and create a lasting impression on potential customers, and
• Under promise in your messaging and over deliver in your execution to create a positive reputation

Consistent brand messaging

You may be starting to sense that your brand messaging is pretty damn important.

Thus, your consistency in messaging is vital for brand recall.

If you ensure that your brand messaging aligns with the unrealized pains and gains of your ICP, and then you communicate that at scale to them, chances are they will begin to make strong, positive associations with your brand.

What does scale look like?

Think of the various channels at your disposal, including websites, social media—even the words your sales team uses or speaking opportunities you can line up.

Various formats, timings, and marketing campaigns are all a part of the game of driving positive brand recall.

Role of digital marketing in brand recall

It should be no surprise that digital marketing plays a pivotal role in driving your brand recall.

Online channels are hands-down the easiest to consistently scale and deliver your message to the right people.

Take LinkedIn, for example.

Or even YouTube.

Or perhaps Spotify (did you know ads here are surprisingly cheap?)

Wherever your ICP is spending time, that’s a chance to be in front of them with your message.

Yes, digital marketing costs money.

But, so does the missed opportunity of losing market share when it was yours for the taking.

Digital marketing strategies, such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), earn you attention and engage with your audience.

In turn, your brand becomes more authoritative and omnipresent, and thus easier to recall—even if your ICP isn’t in buying mode when they come across your business online.

Overcoming Challenges in Brand Recall

While establishing and maintaining brand recall is essential for companies who aspire to grow, it’s not always easy.

Let's explore some common hurdles and strategies to navigate them.

Dealing with market saturation

“Oh, but my market is so saturated—there’s no way to stand out without spending a million dollars!”

Sure there is.

Competing with established brands and navigating market saturation is just part of the process.

To overcome this challenge, focus on differentiating your brand through a unique value proposition—an unbeatable brand promise, perhaps.

There are always new customers entering the market, even in B2B, and you have an opportunity (or even the obligation) to show them the benefits of working with your brand.

This doesn’t just mean “make a lot of noise” online and at trade shows.

It means you need to develop a cohesive strategy to leverage your natural advantages against your competition and hone in on how you deploy that in your communications.

Final thoughts

Focusing on driving brand recall is a powerful strategy for companies who are looking to grow and take more market share.

Because when your customers positively recall your business in their moment of need, you have a competitive advantage over any other similar business.

And when you realize this and strategically and proactively drive brand recall in your market?

Your revenue growth will speak for itself.