Brand Recognition vs Brand Awareness
Brand recognition is all about someone’s ability to recognize visuals, images, symbols, and phrases and associate them with your brand. Choosing recognizable branding is a building block for brand awareness.
Although brand recognition and brand awareness are often used interchangeably, they have two different meanings. With a brand recognition strategy, your goal is to showcase your branded artistry in a consistent way so as to make people aware of your brand, imagery, tone of voice, product/service, etc. Brand Awareness is the following step, where you aim to create relations with your audience and utilize the recognition you’ve built to further connect your brand with your fans.
The following tips, used in tandem, will help you put forth a consistent and thoughtful presence online, enough to be recognizable and easily searched without overwhelming your audience. It is important to note that, although I am primarily writing for musicians, it is important to increase brand recognition no matter what type of business or brand you own and the advice given here is applicable to any business or brand.
Brand Guide
Organizing your visual brand identity is a wonderful place to start when building a brand because it outlines integral design decisions for you to make without bogging you down with unnecessary work.
A brand guide is a document that includes your brand typography, color scheme, logo usage, watermark, biography, mission statement, and any other assets or information that pertains to the identity and positioning of the brand. This guide will help you when you go to design new content and functions as an easy way for you to produce consistent branded content. You can also send your brand guide to graphic designers or post it on your website as an outline for others to create content using your brand assets.
Even though there are elements that are commonly found in the brand guide, you can always adapt yours to include what you need for your brand. Make sure to continuously update your brand guide as time goes on to reflect the changes that occur within your business.
Below you will find the original version of my brand guide!


Google My Business Profile
A Google My Business Profile is a very powerful branding tool, especially as an independent musician. When you create and claim your GMB profile, it is showcased every time anyone googles your artist/brand name. The profile includes a discography of your catalog, social and streaming links, and a panel to the right-hand side of the screen that includes photos, your biography, and more.
Not only does claiming your GMB profile enhance your Google search results, but it is also a platform for you to post branded updates, links, and images to further align your brand across all channels.
Claiming this profile ensures you are properly listed and present on Google! Below is an example of the profile of a client’s profile that I created, CAROLENA.


Create Branded Hashtags
Branded hashtags are a great way to get your brand voice and name out there. Attaching self-made hashtags allows potential fans to click on your brand tags to find other posts only from your brand and associate a thought or feeling with the word(s) you choose to include in your hashtag.
You can create hashtags for various types of content you post; For example, I attach #GARBMGMT to every single post but only add #GarBlog to posts talking about my blog. This way, your audience can engage with the parts of your brand that they are most interested in.
When creating your tags, make sure to choose worthy and descriptive phrases to showcase your personality and brand voice! It can also be helpful to create a hashtag excel sheet database where you have an abundance of brand-related hashtags to choose from each time you post.
Obtain Own Domain
Purchasing a domain name in relation to your brand name is crucial in your branding process. You want to make sure that the artist name people type into a search engine is attached enough to your website’s domain name that it pops up as a search result.
This can be done using multiple tactics, for example, using SEO to increase search rankings. But the easiest way to appear in the search results is to purchase a domain name that is recognizable and related to your brand or artist name!
Get Your Brand Recognized Today!
Finding useful ways to increase your brand recognition as an independent artist can be a full-time job! These tips will benefit you on their own, but the most beneficial brand recognition strategy is also combined with an active content and marketing strategy.
There are always more ways to get your name out there! If you have any questions about the advice given in this post or need help with claiming or Google My Business profile or creating a domain name, reach out! I am more than willing to set up a consultation call to discuss how to improve your brand recognition and eventually brand awareness!
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