In the business world of today, how a brand looks is everything. How people feel about your brand has a direct effect on buying decisions and word-of-mouth advertising. Because of the internet, even a small bit of bad news can spread like wildfire and hurt your sales and reputation in a big way.
The credibility of a brand is based on a chain of causes and effects. As a brand, you try your best to keep a good name through planning, making high-quality products, and giving great customer service. In return, customers, other businesses, and search engines all help your brand build its credibility. These steps will help the process move forward in the right direction:
- Read the business environment
Do you remember the buildings that used to be Blockbuster? Once upon a time, a great weekend was when the whole family went to the video store to rent the newest movie. Blockbuster’s failure to adapt to the growing trend of digital streaming was a big reason why it went out of business.
Blockbuster is remembered well because of nostalgia, but it’s also remembered as a brand that couldn’t make it. To keep your business from becoming a museum piece, you must keep up with the latest trends in your industry.
Plenty of examples from the Covid-19 crisis show how important it is to change with the business world, which is always changing. After the pandemic, more customers want restaurants and stores to offer better delivery and pick-up options. If companies work hard to make these changes and do a good job of it, their brand credibility will go up a lot.
- Pay attention to what people say about your brand.
Even if you haven’t gotten a formal complaint about your business in a while, that doesn’t mean people aren’t still talking about it. If you know what people are saying about your brand, you can use that information to steer the image of your company in the right direction.
Start by reading what other customers have said about the business on the Internet. Customers can leave reviews that will show up in searches if you have a Google My Business page. If your business has a mobile app, check app stores to see if customers have left reviews there. Websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor can also show you how locals and travelers feel about your business.
When you ask for feedback, use it. If you’re not going to change, it doesn’t matter if your customers think your brand logo is old. If you put the values of your customers first, they will see you as more trustworthy.
- Keep an eye on your site’s stats
It’s more important than ever to have a website that works well and looks good. Businesses that don’t have a website that works will quickly fall behind and may even be laughed at by consumers who are looking for new brands.
Make sure your website is up to date and works well. The most important thing is how the user feels. It doesn’t matter how pretty your site is if it takes a long time to load or is too hard to use. The quality of your website has a direct effect on how your audience and search engines see you and how they find your business.
Tracking a few key site metrics can help you figure out what needs to be changed on your site. Check out some of these numbers about your website:
Rate of failure. How many people went to your website, looked around, and then went back to their search engine?
Speed of loading. How long does your website take to load? If it goes on for too long, people won’t want to stay.
Page depth. Do visitors move past your landing page? If they do, that’s a good sign that your website works well and is interesting to look at.
You can and should also track a lot of other website metrics. Set goals for your website so you can collect the right information and use it right away to help your brand.
- Put out good content
You can’t say enough about how important online content is. Your brand will be more visible and have a stronger image in your space if you post high-quality, consistent content. Content is a strategy that can be used by any business in any field.
For example, a company that sells cookware will have a lot more credibility with customers if it keeps a cooking blog that shows how its products are used. People who visit the page will first think of the brand in terms of recipes and guides, then move on to buying the related products.
The same strategy will work for a fintech company that gives advice about money, a marketing company that talks about new advertising trends, or even a lawn care startup that gives advice about landscaping. Written, audio and video content will give your brand more depth, making it easier for people to connect with and understand.
- Embrace Transparency
No one gets hurt by secrets until they are found out. When it comes to your brand, one mistake that gets out could hurt your reputation for years to come. Because of this, more and more businesses are turning to transparency as a way to win over customers.
Patagonia is a great example of a company that uses honesty to build its credibility. As a company that makes clothes for outdoor sports, Patagonia has been telling its customers for a long time that they should take care of the earth by doing “green” things. But that wasn’t the end of it. Patagonia shows its customers where its materials come from and what it’s doing to make the world a better and cleaner place. The company has a lot of credibility because they do what they say it will do.
You want your brand to be linked to all good things, especially trustworthiness and credibility. But trust in a brand doesn’t just happen on its own. Customers will start to see your brand as more than just a logo once you make these changes.
