Establishing credibility in your industry is an absolute must when it comes to sculpting a successful brand. The more efficiently that you can demonstrate to the public why you are an authority in your field, the more trust you’ll naturally build between your company and potential consumers.
One of the best areas to work on showcasing your worth is through your content marketing strategy. By now, it’s hard to find anyone in the professional sphere who hasn’t heard the infamous saying, “content is king”, and utilizing this crucial marketing element the correct way will help you easily communicate to your readers why your brand is reputable.
All this being said, here’s how to develop your brand’s credibility with your content:
Pay Attention to What Types of Content Work Best for Your Readers
When you’re trying to build trust through content, it’s important to be aware of what formats and topics will resonate best with your target client base. You can discover this simply by paying attention to what blogs seem to attract the heftiest readership, but there are also tools out there (such as this one) that highlight what content performs the best based on social media metrics.
It’s easy; you enter a keyword that relates to your industry, and the database will bring up which articles under that category have the most shares, likes, comments, and retweets. You can use this information to develop an impressive content marketing strategy.
Also, you’ll want to create various pieces of content to attract readers who are in different stages of your buying cycle. For example, those who are just learning about your brand (the awareness stage) will respond better to something that is more informative and straightforward, whereas you can get away with a slightly more salesly approach with a reader who has already invested in what you offer. Ideally, your content strategy will be diverse enough to speak to anyone, no matter where they’re coming from.
Provide Thorough Advice
If you only use your content platforms as outlets to give sales presentations, it will be difficult for you to connect with the public on a beneficial level. While the sales aspect should still be a fundamental part of any marketing strategy, you’ll have a better chance of convincing your audience that you are worth your weight in gold if you showcase your expertise by giving them something useful to work with. After all, any brand out there can say that they are the be-all and end-all, but it’s when you can show off your knowledge and skills that people might start to believe those statements are accurate.
It’s true; over half of business-to-business buyers reported that they would respond better to brands’ content strategies if they eased up on the sales spiels.
So, if you shouldn’t solely brag about how your brand is the best option around, what should you write about?
At the end of the day, you should focus on drafting content that can be called valuable, purposeful, actionable, etc. You want to provide your audience members with tips and tricks that they can aptly put into use, or put together opinion pieces that help them understand an industry topic in a more meaningful way.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Opinion pieces (e.g. Do you think a current trend in your niche is overrated?)
- Reviews of other (non-competitive) products/services that relate to your niche
- How-to-style video and/or blog tutorials
- Advice on common issues that pop up in your industry
- Podcasts where you discuss current news and affairs
Highlight Case Studies and Link to Statistics
Whenever possible, it’s best to back up your statements using statistics or case studies, as doing so allows the public to trust that what you’re saying is valid. Anyone can say anything on the internet these days, and your content will be significantly more impactful if you show visible evidence of why your points hold merit.
While citing any case study or statistic that supports a claim you’re making will do the trick, it’s also immeasurably valuable to have your own case study highlighted on your website so that you can reference it in your blogs, link to it when publishing your videos, etc.
Creating your own breakdown of why your products/services will give prospective clientele what they’re looking for will help you reel in those hard sells much more effectively than if you had no tangible proof of the results you provide.
Guest Post on Authoritative Websites
A simple and free way to help yourself grow into an industry leader is to guest blog on authoritative websites related to your offerings.
An authoritative website can be summed up as any website that embodies most or all of the following characteristics:
- Ranks highly in search engines
- Is consistently updated with high quality content
- Has a large following (many comments on blogs, shares on social media, etc.)
- Has a favorable domain authority
Getting your article published on a well-known website that clearly relates to your brand is an excellent resource to utilize when you’re trying to gain brand exposure, and additionally, when the public sees that other respected professionals in your niche endorse you, they’ll immediately be more comfortable giving your brand a chance.
Turn Consumer-Engagement Into Content
Customer service is a critical determining factor when evaluating a brand’s level of trustworthiness, and unfortunately, it’s one many brands are quick to brush off.
When consumers fail to feel appreciated and listened to, their trust for the company-in-question diminishes dramatically, and they are quick to find someone new to conduct business with. On the contrary, in order to build up your clientele’s faith in you, you need to offer top-notch service, and you should reflect this concept back into your content marketing strategy.
You can do this by paying attention to the consumer-engagement that is happening on your published content, whether it be videos, blogs, webinars, etc. You can utilize this information to help steer your content marketing campaign in a successful direction.
Start by asking yourself these questions:
- Are there any overlapping questions commenters are asking? If so, answer these questions in your next blog post or podcast.
- Do you have any requests for videos or blogs? Many online users will make suggestions on what topics they’d prefer to see covered next, so take a few minutes per day to get caught up on the new wave of comments.
- What posts seem to be the most popular? Use the pieces of content with the most comments and shares as a blueprint for future material.
Closing Up
Hopefully the above advice gives you a solid starting point if you’re looking to strengthen your content with credibility. Trust is a delicate, necessary element of effectively marketing your brand to consumers. Without it, no amount of marketing magic will help the conversions take place, so always be sure to prioritize your relationship with the public above all else.