Building Brand Awareness on LinkedIn (Without Wasting Money)

Brand awareness campaigns are tricky. They don't drive immediate leads, but they do build pipeline. Here's how to do it without wasting budget.

When brand awareness makes sense:

You're entering a new market
You have strong customer success to showcase
You have budget for long-term investment
Your sales cycle is long
You're launching a new category

When it doesn't make sense:

You need leads now
Budget is very limited
You haven't proven lead gen works
Your sales team needs pipeline immediately

Brand awareness objectives:

Increase recognition in your target market
Build thought leadership
Stay top of mind
Support sales conversations
Make lead gen easier later

Content for brand awareness:

Customer success stories
Industry insights and trends
Original research and data
Founder or expert perspectives
Educational content with no gate

Measuring brand awareness:

Engagement rate (likes, comments, shares)
Video view rates
Follower growth
Direct traffic increases
Brand search volume
Sales feedback ("I've been seeing you...")

Budget allocation:

Start with 20% of total budget max
Prove value before increasing
Never let brand spend cannibalize lead gen
Track assisted conversions

Targeting for brand:

Broader than lead gen
Focus on reach over precision
Include all decision-makers
Consider lookalike audiences
Test competitor audiences

Creative for brand:

Focus on value, not pitch
Showcase expertise
Tell stories
Use video when possible
Make it shareable

Testing brand campaigns:

Set clear KPIs upfront
Run for at least 60 days
Compare lift in brand metrics
Check if lead gen improves
Survey audience awareness

Avoiding waste:

Don't target too broadly
Track everything you can
Set frequency caps
Connect to business outcomes
Kill if not moving metrics

Integrated approach:

Support with organic content
Align PR and content marketing
Coordinate with events
Connect to lead gen strategy
Measure holistically

Brand awareness isn't vanity:

It reduces CAC over time
It increases conversion rates
It helps win competitive deals
It builds pricing power
It compounds

But it requires patience:

Results take months
ROI is harder to measure
Faith in the approach needed
Data builds slowly

Stirling helps you create brand-building content that still provides value. Generate educational, thought-leadership style ads that build awareness while establishing expertise.

Brand awareness is an investment. Like any investment, be strategic about it.