We all know the importance of building a brand, from naming a business well to defining your target audience. But once a brand is established, what’s next?
At the end of the day, your real brand is how your customers perceive you. Your messaging, visual appeal, and marketing strategies are all means to one end: building a customer base that trusts you and supports your brand. And in today’s world, consumers are savvy and discerning. They will buy from brands when they trust their authenticity and believe in their authority.
Brand authenticity is built when your marketing aligns with both your products and your values. Consumers value transparency, and they feel connected to brands with whom they’ve built an emotional connection, instead of feeling like they’re in the midst of an endless sales pitch. Younger generations are especially concerned with a brand’s ethics, choosing to support brands that mirror their own values.
Establishing brand authenticity is important. In fact, it’s one of the foundational steps toward building brand authority — which should be a goal for every business.
If you want customers to view your brand as a trustworthy source within your industry or niche, you already know the importance of brand authority. Brands with authority take center stage in their field, sparking conversations and leading the way in innovation. Clients and competitors alike take note of what these brands do and say, and their choices influence the market as a whole.
According to Indeed, “A company with a high level of brand authority might enjoy trust from customers, a respectable reputation, and a high level of influence within its industry.” Even more importantly, this consumer trust goes beyond your specific services or products. Brands with high levels of authority are considered trusted voices about their field of expertise. “For example, if a sporting goods store with high levels of brand authority shares a statistic about sports injuries online, customers may be more likely to trust that statistic than they might if published by a company with lower levels of brand authority.”
Businesses that have built brand authority become thought leaders, trendsetters, and trusted voices, all of which can lead to a more successful business. Customers will remain loyal to brands they trust, even paying a higher premium for their offerings.
You’ve probably taken note of brand authority in popular companies without even realizing it. Consider these brands who have earned a lot of trust and influence in today’s market.
Nike has become the leader among athletic wear brands. They’ve secured exclusive deals with university sports teams and professional athletes, making their signature “swoosh” pop up on fields and in arenas all over the world. Their tagline, “Just do it,” has become one of the most popular encouragements in sports and fitness.
When you think of quality watches, Rolex probably comes to mind. They’ve established themselves as the leader in Swiss watches, creating international brand authority for everyday wear and luxury pieces alike.
Some brands have so much brand authority that language has evolved to include their name. Just think about it. When you say:
You’re actually referring to a brand, not a generic noun or verb. Kleenex is such a popular tissue brand that we use the word “Kleenex” when we request a tissue. Photoshop is an Adobe program, but we use it to talk about editing images on a large scale. Google is only one of the available search engines on the internet, but it’s so widely used that it’s become synonymous with the act of searching itself.
Establishing brand authority is an important part of marketing your brand effectively, but it doesn’t happen overnight. If you want to boost brand awareness and establish credibility, add these elements into your marketing strategy.
All brands know which industry they belong to, but not all brands know where they fit within it. To build authority, narrow your focus based on your values, goals, and ideal audience.
For example, Rolls Royce is in the automotive industry, but they’re in the luxury niche. Tesla is also in the automotive industry, but they focus on the environmental impact and tech niches. Jeep, too, is in the automotive industry, but they’re in the adventure niche.
When you hone your focus from a broad industry to a specific niche within it, you can become an authoritative voice for the customers who resonate with your messaging and values.
Before you can sell effectively, consumers want to know they count on your expertise. As you create social media campaigns, blog content, and promotional materials, remember to teach your audience something instead of just selling to them.
If you haven’t incorporated regular blog posts into your content strategy, start! They are an excellent way to boost SEO, expand your audience, and help both existing customers and potential ones get to know you. It’s a great way to show off your expertise and values in one place.
Consumers are understandably wary when a brand touts its own products or services without backup. If you’re a B2C brand, gathering positive testimonials and promoting user-generated content can provide browsers the confidence to click “buy now.” For B2B brands, this can be accomplished through case studies and a regularly updated portfolio. When you prove that you’ve already found success with your target audience, you’ll expand that audience and build authority.
Looking for a marketing partner to help you build authentic relationships with your audience and establish your authority in your niche? At Redstory, we love to help brands build authority through campaigns designed by humans, for humans. Just like you circle your favorite quotes in red, we highlight experiences and activate people to focus on what matters most: human impact. Everything we do is meant to highlight you and the impact you’re striving to create.
Get in touch with us today to become a trusted authority in your world.