How do I raise awareness of a new brand online?

[directcost4]

I have recently started to sell my own brand of cosmetics, Postquam, and would like to find non-intrusive ways to raise awareness of the brand. I don't want to use spam or expensive Google ads, but would like to use social media and as many free online tools as possible to let people know of this new brand. Any ideas? Thanks!

[phia]

make friends as many as possible and intro ur brand lines whether u use on line , media, or personal.... word of mouth is the best ad ever....public ur own profile w/ ur brand line by pics on web, blog, chat and etc

[Arjun Anand]

directcost4's,

Here are some things you can do create awareness of your brand online. Considering that you are running a cosmetics company your potential market is huge and can be found on literally any social media site you can think about. Start by creating a Facebook Page and a Twitter Account. Have links to them on your website.

1. SEO, you dont have to hire expensive service providers. You can start doing it yourself by ensuring that your website (http://www.postquam.com/, i assume thats your website) is frequently updated with fresh, keyword rich content. I notice that your website does not have too much content. You could even create a resources section on your website where you could provide beauty tips, articles etc for free.
2. Create a You Tube Channel for your company and post videos. As mentioned above you could create videos providing beauty tips, product reviews or product demonstrations. You could do the same with images.
3. Start or Participate in discussions relating to cosmetics on websites like Yahoo Answers, Answers.com, facebook etc.
4. Integrate a sharing widget like sharethis.com on your website, article pages etc. This will allow others to share interesting information with their respective networks.

There is a lot more you could do, but the above should be enough to get you started.

Thanks
Arjun Anand
http://www.veristlabs.com
Online Reputation Management solution.

[Tyler Murray]

Start by creating a Social Media POA and figure out what you want to get out of this campaign. Higher conversion rate, brand awareness, consumer interaction? All of which will help grow your business. Start reading blog postings on trusted sites such as Mashable.com/social-media or Hubspot.com. Read a few books on building an online reputation and earning trust (Trust Agents - Chris Brogan & Julien Smith, The Whuffie Factor - Tara Hunt). Using social media effectively is not an instant gratification type of thing. You have to engage people and start joining the conversation. Once people trust you they will begin to listen just as you have been listening to them. Start by creating a Facebook Fanpage, Twitter, and start blogging, if you have time. Make sure you monetize the message across these platforms and don't project or advertise. Focus on interacting with people and try and start conversation. This will promote you and your brand. A little hint, interact with influential people for the best reach on your message. People will recognize these influencers and will be more likely to begin interacting with you.

Good interaction tools:
Hootsuite
Tweetdeck

Free Analytics tools:
Klout (influence reach)
Twittersheep (find trends amongst your followers)
Google Reader
bit.ly (track click throughs)