Successful brands have two big things that set them apart from the rest — clear brand awareness and visibility.

Think about all the visual content your customers are scrolling through on a daily basis. Visual imagery is bigger now more than ever, and your company’s mission is at risk of getting lost in all the noise.

In a crowded market, it's important that businesses have clear brand awareness and visibility to ensure they don't get lost in the noise. So when it comes to brand visibility vs brand awareness, how can you ensure that your business stands out?

Let's first identify the differences between the two and then discuss how you can enhance both to effectively promote your brand.

What is Brand Awareness?

When considering brand awareness vs brand visibility, brand awareness is like being recognized in a crowd. It’s about how much consumers know and remember your brand and the value it could offer to them.

Brand awareness in action is the simple act of walking down the cereal aisle in the store and being able to spot your favorite brand among the others.

Companies measure this by aided recall and unaided recall, the former being customers remembering your brand when they see it. The latter is customers remembering it without any prompts; immediately thinking of a brand when someone mentions a product category.

When talking about brand awareness vs brand visibility, brand awareness is the glue that keeps customers coming back. Because they trust and recognize your brand, they’re more likely to choose your products over competitors. Take Nike’s swoosh logo, for example – it’s instantly recognizable as one of the world’s most iconic logos, which helped propel them towards becoming a billion-dollar brand.

What is Brand Visibility?

Now, let's talk about the importance of brand visibility.

Imagine your brand as a spotlight on a stage. Brand visibility is all about how brightly that spotlight shines and how many people can see it. Companies increase brand visibility through ads, having a strong online presence, or through having a killer website with on-brand imagery and photos.

But why does having a strong brand visibility strategy matter?

The more people see your brand, the more likely they’ll remember it when they need something you offer. Just like how you might remember a catchy jingle from a commercial, good visibility sticks in people's minds.

Knowing the difference between brand awareness vs brand visibility is one thing — but how can we actually apply it to your brand so it can stick out from the crowd?

How to Enhance Brand Awareness

We’ve covered brand awareness vs brand visibility — now, let's dive into some actionable steps to help boost both for your organization.

1. Cohesive Brand Colors

Color theory and psychology evoke emotions, trigger memories, and create strong associations with your brand. Focusing on consistent branding and cohesive colors and images will strengthen your brand’s identity not just from its underlying color psychology, but from its consistent color schemes throughout your logo, website, LinkedIn banners, etc.

Brand colors are there to help your audience remember a feeling when they’ve interacted with your brand.

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2. Consistent Messaging

Your brand is a story, and consistent messaging is the plotline that ties it all together.

Consistent messaging means that no matter where customers interact with your brand — whether it's on your website, social media, or in-store — they should always get the same vibe.

Strong branding starts with consistent logos, fonts, design elements and branded corporate photography. Strong institutional messaging is about using stories, phrases, and even words that clearly and simply portray the story of your brand.

We shot a Forbes event that had their name displayed in a popular spot for attendees to take photos. It was a great example of organically encouraging interaction with the brand, eventually leading to people posting the Forbes name on their social media.

3. A Strong Social Media Presence

Pair your brand’s colors and messaging together, and you already have what you need to get started on social media channels like LinkedIn. Take Coca Cola – on nearly (if not) all posts on their Instagram, there’s an instance of their iconic brand red. It’s familiar, it’s distinctive, and when their followers scroll, you bet they know exactly who the post is from before even looking at their handle.

Many organizations have brand collateral just sitting in their document folders, not knowing how to use it. But you can use these to define your brand’s voice and tone on LinkedIn by telling stories and establishing a brand personality on these platforms.

LinkedIn posts from your brand can include:

Thought leadership articles from your VPs and execs
Company updates
Employee spotlights
Case studies
Unique use cases for your product or service

Plus, if your team members recognize clear branding on your platform, they’ll be more likely to share their stories right along with you, boosting brand awareness even more!

How to Enhance Brand Visibility

1. Content Marketing

Content is king; it’s the key to boosting your brand visibility in the 2020s and ‘30s.

Brand visibility content includes:

Informative blog posts that provide value to your target audience about your industry (even if it’s not “selling” anything). Including shots of your team in action can be a great way to lend a branded feel to these posts!
Employee features and interviews showcasing the diverse talent in your org. These can be paired with professional headshots that authentically capture your brand identity.
Podcast episodes surrounding your industry

Pick one platform to get started on and consistently post. The more you post, the more visibility and awareness you’ll bring and the more you’ll learn about how you want to best represent your brand.

Content marketing also comes in the form of influencer marketing, like Bri Hall partnering with Special K for their #fuelyourresolution challenge.

2. Partnerships and Collaboration

They say two heads are better than one, and the same goes for brands!

Strategic partnerships introduce your brand to new audiences and lend it credibility and authority in the eyes of consumers. The key to successful partnerships is finding brands or influencers whose values align with yours and fostering mutually beneficial relationships that can lead to sustainable growth for both parties.

Let’s say your brand is a SaaS product for sports professionals – is there a shoe or clothing brand you can partner up with? Are there influencers in the fitness space you could collaborate with to promote your product and, even more, use your brand messaging?

3. Emotional Brand Storytelling

Emotions are at the root of every buyer’s decision-making process.

By weaving a compelling narrative through your institutional messaging, you’ll forge deep connections with your audience and leave a lasting impression.

Crafting a brand story is about sharing your values, beliefs, and experiences in a way that resonates with your target audience. Authenticity is key here; consumers are overwhelmed and tired of run-of-the-mill, generic storytelling. They want you to get deep, be vulnerable, and even a little bit daring about your mission.

Tell Memorable Visual Stories Through Corporate Lifestyle Photography in NYC

Capturing the true essence of your brand requires a collaborative photographer who understands your brand identity and knows how to bring it to life.

Whether it's to create corporate headshots that highlight your brand's values, marketing assets that speak to your mission, or any other visual needs to set your brand apart, we'd love to help you find ways to differentiate.

Brand Awareness vs Brand Visibility: What’s the Difference?