How to Use Memory Triggers to Increase Brand Awareness

Memory triggers are powerful tools for developing brand awareness. We all have those buttons inside of us. Any song from Green Day's American Idiot instantly transports me to 2005. My best friend is in the car, and the two of us are singing along. Her voice is loud and on key, mine softer and...less exact in its notes.

Brands try to harness the power of these memory triggers as they craft their brand identity. The goal is to cultivate brand awareness and turn that awareness into recognition and independent recall. You want your audience to think of you at the right moment even if you aren't currently in front of them.

Fortunately, you don't need a hook as catchy as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" to use memory triggers to increase brand awareness.

How Do You Create a Memorable Brand Identity?

Whether you're looking to scale your content brand or move more products, the initial branding process is largely the same. Start with a deep understanding of your target audience, their values, and what you can offer them.

Then you can flesh out your brand with fitting elements, designing an aesthetic, voice, and narrative that appeals to your market. Consistent and appropriate branding turns scattered noise into a coherent brand identity that people can recognize and engage with.

What Are the 3 Types of Brand Awareness?

The three types of brand awareness are brand experience, brand recognition, and brand recall. These are more like levels or steps than distinct types, all building toward top-of-mind awareness — the state in which your audience is continually ready to think of you in relevant contexts.

Brand Experience

The first step in building brand awareness is getting your name out there. Your audience needs to be exposed to your brand — preferably often — before they can begin to recognize it.

Brand Recognition

Once you have established initial awareness, the next step is recognition. When people see your brand, they know what and whom it represents. They can identify your logo and content as part of something familiar.

Brand Recall

The final stage of brand awareness is brand recall, in which people remember details about your product or service without prompting from outside sources. When they think about a particular product or service, they think of you.

What Are Brand Awareness Techniques?

Brand awareness techniques include the strategies that go into your development — your branding — and into your marketing — the channels you use to spread awareness.

To foster brand recognition, develop your logo, slogan, palette, and any other visual elements that reach your audience. Collect all of this material in a visual style guide, so that you remain consistent across content types and channels.

For inspiration, check out some of beehiiv's top performers. Quality content may be the most important attribute of a successful periodical, but strong brands also think carefully about the way they present themselves. Take a look at The B-Side, a newsletter created under the umbrella of The Boston Globe. The backward B is simple but effective, easy to remember and clever in the way it ties its form into the meaning of B sides, i.e., flip sides.

How Do You Trigger Brand Awareness?

Memory triggers are stimuli that can evoke a powerful emotional response or bring back memories of past experiences. They help your audience advance between the stages of awareness.

If brand elements are memory aids or prompts, then triggers go one step further. They often have strong emotional associations attached to them. For example, the smell of freshly baked cookies may trigger memories of childhood and bring back feelings of comfort and nostalgia.

Most memory triggers that brands use are visual or audio as both formats are easier to integrate into digital content. Ask yourself how you can develop brand experiences that will spark interest or emotional attachment. Tell stories about your products or services that invite customers to connect with you on a deeper level.

You also want to link your brand elements to emotions or solutions. A company selling outdoor gear might want to convey a sense of adventure or freedom, while a blog focused on tax law would likely portray itself as trustworthy and conservative. Tap into color psychology and consider the connotations of your graphics.

If you want to tie your brand to a solution, consider the slogans of major brands. They’re concise, and many are solution-focused. I don’t always buy Bounty paper towels, but I do instantly associate the brand with its product largely due to the slogan “the quicker-picker-upper.”

Pull the Trigger

Brand awareness is an essential part of any marketing strategy. It’s the degree to which consumers recognize a product or service by its name, logo, or other identifying features.

You can increase brand recall with a strategic design or slogan. Give your audience an easy-to-remember element that packs a mental or emotional punch.

To find the right memory triggers for your brand, answer a few guiding questions:

• Is your distinguishing feature practical or emotional?

• In what context do you want your audience to think of you?

• How do you want your audience to describe you?

Then, you can get to work designing the brand elements and brand experiences that will best foster the connections you want to create.

Already done? For more on psychology-based marketing, read about how to use psychology to design a welcome email.

Why Trust Us

In addition to being a member of beehiiv’s content team, I write for other digital marketing sites and do marketing work for local businesses in the Twin Cities. Articles on branding are a specialty.