Establishing brand authority doesn’t happen overnight. It takes consistent effort in digital marketing and a comprehensive focus to build up credibility over an extended period of time. But that hard work will pay off in the end.
The value to authority is difficult to quantify, but think of it this way: When a customer is looking for recommendations, they turn to those they trust. In an age of information overload, many customers don’t want to compare and contrast dozens of options and agonise over making the right decision. If a customer knows they can trust your brand to be a voice of reason in the decision-making process, that’s invaluable for both them and your brand.
But how exactly can your brand go about building authority? And how does content marketing fit into the equation? Let I Concept Singapore walk you through the creation of quality content that helps gain trust.
The key elements of authoritative content
To start, there are some common characteristics that can help build brand authority. Strive for content that is:
- Altruistic (i.e., it doesn’t push your brand’s product, instead focusing on the audience and their needs)
- Accurate (i.e., it cites relevant information, data, and statistics that can be verified, whether by recent third-party research and studies, or industry experts)
- Credible (i.e., it comes from someone who’s experienced in their field or who can demonstrate that their advice work with clear results or evidence)
- Consistent (i.e., it doesn’t recommend a best practice in one piece of content that contradicts another piece of advice you’ve suggested elsewhere)
- Practical (i.e., it provides real-world answers and solutions to problems that readers can try in their own lives)
Incorporating these traits into each and every piece of content through smart digital copywriting requires a thoughtful content strategy – one that aims to build a robust content ecosystem that solves customer pain points and builds trust at every stage of the customer lifecycle. To help you achieve that goal, we’ve compiled the following best practices for building brand trust and authority through content marketing.
- Implement a content pillar strategy
In order to convey authority in every piece of content you create at scale, you need a holistic strategy that envisions this bigger picture and builds a foundation to get you there. While many business leaders take a simplified, siloed approach to content marketing – focusing on only the highest performing channels – a more successful strategy relies on content pillars.
Content pillars are the core themes of your brand. They are a helpful way to organise and strategically anchor your content on what matters most to your brand and audience. Once you’ve identified these themes, you can branch all your content from your pillars, ultimately creating a content ecosystem in which every asset has a specific focus that matches different touch points along the customer journey.
This level of comprehensive coverage around your identified pillars builds brand expertise, awareness, and authority as even new customers realise they can turn to your brand for advice in those areas.
- Showcase expertise
Another great way to build trust and authority with content is to make use of your most valuable asset – your in-house experts.
Consider this: the world’s biggest brands highlight the quality of their products and services by featuring their designers or expert collaborators. Sports brands, for example, would bring on pro athletes to help them create the best shoes, as in the case of Nike’s long-standing collab with LeBron James.
But even if you’re not a giant like Nike, you can still drive consumer trust and industry authority by showcasing expertise. And it can be done in surprisingly simple ways.
If yours is a cookware brand, or a food brand, rope in well-known chefs who are able to lend your brand credibility, or food specialists or dieticians who can speak about your products. Or take a leaf from the fashion world and see how ambassadors and in-house models make the clothes talk.
- Provide answers
One of the best ways to build brand authority with content is to start thinking about said content from your audience’s point-of-view (POV). Incorporate the answers people may have into your digital copywriting.
Ask yourself the following question: what is it that your target customers want to know? Regardless of your niche or target audience, you should aim to direct your content marketing strategy by optimizing for search intent. That is, identify the most relevant questions in your industry and provide valuable answers.
- Invest in case studies
It’s possible to base your entire branding strategy on content and a shoestring budget. But that’s not to say that investing in the right things wouldn’t provide a higher ROI.
Case studies are commonly overlooked as they can be tricky to put together. Business owners and marketers often find themselves on the fence about what type of data they can share. Or, they feel like they don’t have enough info to put together a great resource.
But here’s the thing. A data-driven case study doesn’t have to put a decade’s worth of data into perspective for it to be valuable to your audience. You can get just as strong of an effect with short-term results.
It’s a simple approach in digital marketing, but it works.
If you choose to take this route to build your brand’s trustworthiness, make sure that you have permission to share the data you’re using. Moreover, make it your point to give credit where it’s due.
Finally, remember that you’re not producing content for the sake of publishing another post. You’re doing it to provide your audience with something valuable. So always start by asking the following: how can your content help your clients achieve their goals?
The most likely scenario is that they’re not after numbers. They’re after actionable advice that will help them get where they want to be.
- Explore various formats
A great thing to remember about content and digital marketing that aims to build trust and authority is that there’s more than one format that works.
Yes, the human brain is wired in a way that permits more authority to the written word. But it is also true that having a face to associate with a message helps us relate more easily than just reading.
That’s why so many brands invest in video testimonials. (Or, they go out of their way to provide visual social proof, like the websites that show off integrations, media mentions, and reviews on its homepage.)
Knowing that visual and auditory formats help drive trust, it’s not a bad idea to consider using them for your content. And yes, this approach takes a more significant investment than putting together a blog post based on your experience. But it also has the potential to reach a wider audience, being more engaging, and, ultimately, positioning your company as the authority in your niche.
Let quality content help your brand gain authority
Taking inspiration from these tips and tricks will help your brand build authority through content. Just remember, the journey to achieve this goal is a long one, so set your sight on the horizon and enact a strategy to get you there.
Need help in creating a strong and solid branding strategy and digital marketing direction? Let I Concept, a top creative agency Singapore, guide you through. From developing branding concepts to designing websites and e-Commerce portals, to taking care of your digital marketing strategies and crafting quality digital copywriting, the team at I Concept can also assist with helping you navigate through SEOs and hitting SERPs right.
Be in touch with I Concept today.
