In the age of social media and online reviews, it is more important than ever to establish your brand authority. Authority leads to trust, which in turn will lead customers to buy from you. But what if a company doesn’t have an established brand? How can they build one for themselves? The following 7 tips will help you do just that!
First we have to understand exactly what authority is, then the value behind it, and finally how you can build authority for your business.
Brand authority is the combination of the following three things – Fame, Trust and Competence. Authority is what we think about when it comes to an established brand. Authority creates trust in a company or product, which leads people to buy from them because they know that there will be no surprises with quality. Finally competence means that you have the right experience for your business and can deliver on promises made by customers.
The value behind building authority is worth much more than just creating another corporate logo as companies are now judged based on their ability to do good not just make money without consequences (such as pollution). The customer has all the power if they come across a new competitor who offers better deals but does so responsibly; this gives customers peace of mind and confidence in buying products
To help you establish your brand authority, let’s start from the beginning. Here are 6 tips to build brand authority for your business in 2021.
1) Be transparent about your business
Another way to establish your authority is by being transparent. Share with the world what it’s like inside your company, from products and services to personal experiences that may be relevant to their life issues or concerns.
A good example of a business that is sharing transparency on social media channels are Nike in relation to wages for employees around the world, as well as difficulties they might face every day such as safety at work and access to medical aid when needed. This helps build trust between customers and brands because people feel more confident in purchasing goods without fear of exploitation or unfair benefits packages offered by competitors.
2) Promote a cause or foundation you support through your business
Another way to build your brand authority is by being generous. Volunteer, donate and provide support as often as possible with a genuine interest towards the cause or organization. This helps establish in the eyes of potential customers that you are truly interested in helping them out when they need it most instead of just trying to make money off their misfortune.
Authority isn’t something that can be given through wealth or power alone- it has to come from within through empathy and caring for others without expectation of anything in return.
People want to do business with brands who have what they’re looking for on an emotional level – not necessarily because we happen to offer what they want at this moment but because we demonstrate care, compassion and understanding where.
3) Train your team to be great business brand representative
Another way to build authority for your business in 2021 is to focus on customer service.
Customer service helps establish you as a company who values the needs of their customers and will go out of their way to make sure that they’re happy, even if it costs them time or money.
This approach sets up trust with potential customers so when they need help from you again, they’ll be more likely to come back than going to another company. This also improves chances for referrals from current customers since people are typically much happier dealing with companies who provide great customer service like this- not just because it’s easier but because we know our friends want what we have and don’t want us wasting time looking elsewhere!
Another major advantage: improving levels of empathy among employees. If they feel aligned with your mission, they will be happier and spread their enthusiasm to your customers.
4) Use social proof to build trust with your customers
Social proof is critical in business because it builds trust with potential customers, which is a valuable commodity these days.
In fact, you can use your existing customer testimonials to show social proof and create new business opportunities by reaching out to influencers or partners who have similar goals as you do- I’m sure they would be happy for the additional support!
Some great brands who use social proof to get more traffic to their website are :
– Warby Parker, who has an entire page dedicated to testimonials and reviews from happy customers.
– Zappos is another company with a lot of social proof for their customer service by talking about how they respond within 24 hours if you call them or email them!
It’s also important to have some way for your current clients to offer testimonials so that potential customers can see what other people are saying before making the decision to work with you. This will not only help grow your business in 2021 but create long term success as well!
5) Get endorsement from established authority leaders
Authority is naturally associated with credibility. This means that if people see others (especially well-known figures) endorsing your brand, they’ll be more likely to believe in what you are doing.
For instance, when a business has an endorsement from Oprah on their product packaging or in the media ads for the company, there’s going to be a higher chance of consumers feeling drawn towards buying that particular item because of her fame.
The definition of the Oprah effect is the ability of a person, typically with large numbers of followers on social media, to strongly influence what other people are interested in purchasing.
The term “Oprah’s Effect” was coined on an episode of Entertainment Tonight when Oprah Winfrey announced that she couldn’t live without her daily dose of Nutella and viewers subsequently purchased over 95% more jars than they had before this endorsement!
Authority is also closely related to your personal brand because it reflects how others perceive you. When someone has authority and openly supports your brand, their word carries weight.
Conversely, once you’ve established yourself as a leader, other companies and brands will reach-out to you for paid partnership and collaboration because of the same reasons.
6) Getting media coverage for your business
One of the best ways to build brand authority for a company is by getting media coverage which means you should do anything possible in order to get featured on popular outlets, even if it costs some money or time.,
Being able to show that many people like and trust your organization can be very beneficial because then more people are likely to choose it over other competing brands. Ways of achieving this include building relationships with influencers through social media, sending press releases about new products, attending conferences as an exhibitor etc.
Being featured on podcasts, on television, getting articles written about you could drive traffic tenfold if you set it up correctly .
Start building your brand authority today:
As you plan your marketing strategy for 2021, build it with a foundation based on creating and retaining brand authority.
For the next few years, people are going to be more conscious of what they buy as well as where their money is being spent so try building your business’ reputation by following these 6 steps.
Remember that creating a connection with your audience is important. They need to trust you and feel like they can approach you as if they’ve known for years, even though it may have been hours or minutes since the last time contact was made. This also plays into getting more sales: people buy from people so use that authority strategy wisely!
