7 online marketing strategy channels to skyrocket your brand awareness
**Updated 21st October 2026. First published in 2021.**
When I first wrote this article, Google+ still existed and press release sites were a popular way to build backlinks.
Google closed one, and its spam policies now cover the other. The channels have changed, and so has the way people find brands. Buyers ask ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode for recommendations, scroll TikTok for products and, in much of Europe, still trust a colleague's recommendation over any advert.
At Blu Mint, our best source of enquiries depends on the market.
In the USA, content brings in the most leads. In Estonia, the Nordics and the DACH region, word of mouth still does. The right mix for you depends on where your buyers are, what you sell and how much time and budget you have.
The most common mistake I see is trying to do every channel at once. You end up doing them all badly. Pick two or three you can do properly, then add more once they work.
| Channel | Best for | Speed of results | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO and AI search | Long-term visibility and trust | Months | The foundation for everything else |
| Content marketing | Leads and authority | Months | Our biggest lead source in the USA |
| Paid search | Capturing existing demand | Days | Works best where buyers accept ads |
| Social media ads | Brand awareness | Days | The fastest route to awareness |
| Video and YouTube | Engagement and trust | Months | Back it up with YouTube ads |
| Email marketing | Keeping leads warm | Weeks | Essential for B2B |
| Digital PR | Authority and AI citations | Months | Replaces old press release tactics |
1. SEO and AI search
I treat AI search as part of SEO, not a separate channel.
In my experience, it's 95% solid SEO and 5% new nuances. Pages that rank well, answer questions clearly and come from a trusted brand are the pages AI Overviews, AI Mode and ChatGPT tend to quote. Our AI search optimisation service covers those nuances, and our guides to GEO and brand visibility in LLMs explain them in more detail.
What wins has changed. Chasing backlinks from education and government domains has given way to earning links and mentions on sites people actually read. Volume tactics now count against you, as I explain in how to avoid a Google penalty. The on-page basics still matter, from one clear H1 to answer-first content, and I've set them out in the anatomy of a webpage.
SEO takes months, not weeks, and the results build on each other over time. Our guide to crafting a strong SEO strategy shows where to start.
2. Content marketing
Content is our biggest source of leads in the USA, and it powers every other channel on this list. It gives your SEO something to rank, your social ads something to promote, your emails something to send and journalists something to quote.
A three or four page website doesn't build trust. Buyers want answers before they speak to anyone, and the brands that give those answers freely make the shortlist. For clients who want to grow quickly, we recommend around six articles a month of 1,500 to 2,000 words, written from real experience. If that's too much, three or four strong articles still beat 20 thin ones produced with AI.
Publishing is only half the job. Our guide to content distribution covers how to get your content read, and content marketing ROI covers how to measure what it brings in.
3. Paid search
Paid search puts your ads at the top of Google or Bing for the searches you choose. Google Ads is the biggest platform, and Microsoft Advertising covers Bing. You can reach the top of page one within days, which SEO can't match, and you can pause, schedule and adjust campaigns whenever you need.
Google decides where your ad appears through an auction that weighs your bid against the quality of your ad and landing page. A relevant ad pointing to a page that delivers what the ad promised will cost less and convert better than a big bid on a weak page.
Paid search captures demand that already exists. It won't make people aware of you if they don't know to search for you, which is why it works best alongside the channels that build awareness. Our PPC team runs search campaigns alongside SEO, so the two share what they learn about which searches turn into customers.
4. Social media ads
If brand awareness is your goal, social media ads are the fastest way I know to get there. Organic social has become close to worthless for brands. In my experience, a company page post usually reaches only around 1% of the page's followers. Unless you put money behind it, very few people see it.
Choose the platform by who you sell to.
LinkedIn for B2B, where you can target by job title, company size and industry.
Meta and TikTok for B2C ecommerce, where visual products and short videos do the selling.
Add each platform's pixel to your site, with cookie consent in place, so you can retarget people who visited and build audiences that look like your existing customers. Our social media team sets this up before any campaign goes live.
5. Video and YouTube
Video is worth it, small businesses included. People trust what they can see and hear, and a short video of the person they'd work with does more than a page of copy. Google also shows videos in its search results and AI answers, which gives them a second route to new viewers.
Organic video grows slowly on its own, though. Back it up with YouTube ads, which put your videos in front of the audiences you choose from day one. Our guide to video SEO covers how to get your videos found in search.
6. Email marketing
For B2B, email keeps leads warm. Most people who visit your site or download a guide aren't ready to buy yet. Email keeps you in front of them until they are, with useful content and a clear next step, not a stream of promotions.
Segment your list by what people are interested in and where they are in the buying process, then write for each group. In Europe, make sure everyone on your list has opted in, as emailing people without consent damages your brand and breaks the rules. Our email marketing service builds these sequences, and seven emails that attract more clients gives you a place to start.
7. Digital PR
Press release wire services were once a quick way to get links from news sites. Google's spam policies now treat optimised links in press releases as link spam, and journalists ignore releases that aren't news. Digital PR has replaced them, and AI search has made it more valuable than ever.
At BrightonSEO San Diego, Kelsey Libert showed that a small group of publishers, including Forbes, the BBC and Business Insider, dominate the sources AI tools cite. I covered her research in what I learned about AI search. Coverage in the publications your buyers read now shapes how AI tools describe your industry and your brand.
These approaches work now.
Original data, such as surveys, index reports and studies that journalists quote.
Reactive commentary, responding to breaking news in your field within hours with expert comment.
Interactive tools, such as calculators and data maps that earn links over time.
Expert sources, putting founders and specialists forward as named voices journalists can quote.
Combine channels, don't spread yourself thin
The channels work best together. A typical example starts with a strong piece of content, such as an industry report, promoted through paid search and social ads to the people most likely to want it. Those who download it join an email sequence and see retargeting ads, while the coverage and links the report earns strengthen your SEO. No single channel would do all of that alone.
Doing that well takes a team across several disciplines, which is why many businesses weigh up in-house versus agency marketing.
How the mix changes by market
Audiences in the USA are more accepting of ads, so paid search and social ads tend to work well there alongside content. In Europe, and especially in Estonia, the Nordics and the DACH region, people are more wary of advertising and rely on recommendations. Word of mouth, digital PR, LinkedIn and strong content carry more weight there, and ads work best when they support a brand people already know.
Where to start with a small budget
If your budget is limited, start with content and social media ads. Content builds a lasting foundation, and social ads put it in front of people now. Add paid search once you know which searches turn into customers, and email once you have leads to nurture. Whatever you choose, make sure the pages you send people to can turn them into enquiries, as our guide to winning B2B clients faster explains.
How to measure brand awareness
I measure brand awareness primarily with two numbers.
The first is AI citations, meaning how often AI tools mention or cite your brand. The second is branded searches, meaning how many people search for you by name. Both show whether people know who you are, not just whether they clicked an ad. Our article on AI citation tracking explains how we measure the first, and Google Search Console shows the second. Treat daily rankings with care, as poisoned SERPs have shown this autumn.
If you'd like help choosing and running the right channels, our SEO, content writing, PPC, social media and web design teams work together, so every channel supports the others.
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Social media ads are the fastest way to build brand awareness, because they put your brand in front of a chosen audience within days. For lasting awareness, combine them with content, SEO and digital PR, which keep working after the ad budget stops.
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Not on its own. Company page posts usually reach only a small share of followers, often around 1%. Organic posts help keep your profile active, however you need paid social ads to reach people at scale.
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No. AI search is around 95% solid SEO and 5% new nuances. Pages that rank well, answer questions directly and come from trusted brands are the ones AI Overviews and ChatGPT tend to cite.
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Start with two or three you can do properly, such as content and social media ads. Trying to run every channel at once spreads your budget and time too thin, so add more only once the first ones work.
