8 Ways Content Marketing Can Help Your Brand Become More Reputable and Trustworthy
8 Ways Content Marketing Can Help Your Brand Become More Reputable and Trustworthy
Website traffic is unquestionably one of the most essential marketing indicators. The more unique visitors you bring to your website, the more commercial chances you will have. Content marketing also plays an important part in driving high-quality website visitors.
However, it would be a mistake to devote all of your efforts to the quest for clicks and visits when content can do so much more for your company.
Building authority and confidence with your prospective consumers, increasing awareness, and improving nurturing are all equally vital parts of the content marketing jigsaw that will eventually lead to increased conversions and money. A recent consumer poll backs up this notion, with more than 80% of respondents saying trust is a decisive factor in their purchasing choices.
In this post, we will look at how content marketing may help you generate brand trust and grow a devoted consumer base.
1. Address niche pain points
Effective content should give value to your readers and connect with them on a personal level. That is the only way to position your business as a go-to resource for your prospective consumers when they have queries that aren't usually asked.
At its foundation, this method focuses on solving extremely particular, unique pain issues that your target audience suffers from. The first step is to learn and create material that addresses their specific requirements and interests.
How do you do this?
Keyword research is an important element of the content generation process since traffic is one of the key objectives of content marketing. However, if the subjects you cover are only driven by traffic, it's easy to lose sight of the ultimate purpose of relevant content: addressing problems that your readers will find really useful.
To prevent this error and demonstrate that you care about your prospective consumers, create many buyer personas and analyze what they deal with in their everyday lives. This allows you to focus your content on one or a few subgroups of your overall audience.
Producing specialist content can not only enhance brand loyalty, but you will also get access to a specialized market area with fewer rivals vying for your attention.
Miro's blog is an example of good subject selection. The collaboration tool's content marketing team members are excellent at not only discovering hyper-niche pain points but also developing them into wonderfully useful pieces that appeal to a wide range of their readers.
Take a look at this article on building a positive working atmosphere for introverted people. This is not a subject that many content teams would consider covering, yet it is one that many companies face: how to satisfy the various demands of a diverse workforce.
2. Showcase the expertise involved in creating your content
With so much material being created on a daily basis, it may be tough to go through all of the information and tell the difference between facts and fiction.
It's no surprise that 69% of consumers feel companies are increasingly disseminating false news or disinformation. This worrying statistic demonstrates how difficult it is to gain your audience's confidence, so ensuring consumers realize you go to tremendous pains to provide well-researched, high-quality content is essential.
So, being dedicated to generating insightful, instructional material filled with a wealth of in-depth information presented in an easy-to-understand fashion may not always be sufficient. People need reasons to trust you in the first place.
If you're hiring a competent specialist to write on a certain issue, inform your audience. Some businesses even set up a review board to guarantee that the facts are true and that the material does not violate industry norms.
For instance, Eachnight's list of the greatest mattresses produced in the United States leaves nothing to chance. Readers are instantly told that this material has been medically evaluated and fact-checked by a qualified chiropractor.
Hovering over the "fact-checked" element provides the medical reviewer's information, while clicking on it opens a popup that discloses the brand's fact-checking policy.
Readers may also see the writer's entire bio by holding the mouse over their qualifications. The same goes for the author of this guide, who is a "professional sleeper" with extensive experience in this sector.
3. Post often
It's not enough to provide outstanding content; publishing regularly is equally important for establishing trust and reputation.
A reasonable rule of thumb is to publish twice to four times every week, depending on the size of your site. On the one hand, you'd want to publish as much material as possible. On the other hand, you don't want to stretch yourself too thin and forego quality in favor of quantity. The issue is to strike the appropriate balance between the two, which, according to a recent study, is 13 blog entries every month.
A dynamic and active blog evokes the sense of a flourishing firm. When prospective clients see that you produce fresh material every week, they assume that you take your online presence seriously. This will serve as confirmation that their purchase has been received and that you will be available to them in the event of any delivery or product concerns.
4. Do not force your audience to read
73% of consumers prefer to learn about a new product or service via a short video.
So, it's reasonable to assume that not all of your consumers want to read your blog entries, e-books, and other text-based material. You also have to suit their tastes.
Including video in your content strategy may provide several advantages. First and foremost, this style is far more entertaining than text. Second, considering that viewers recall 95% of a video's content vs. just 10% when reading text, it's clear which is best for increasing brand recognition.
Aside from its attention-grabbing properties, video is an excellent tool for displaying your skills in a clear and succinct manner, which is not always attainable with written material. When appropriate, it's a good idea to publish specific content items in video format, particularly if you can include the voices of relevant industry experts.
Furthermore, video is simple to ingest and digest since it provides a multi-sensory experience. This is why people may watch it while driving, walking, or performing other activities. By making an effort to develop videos, you will demonstrate to your audience that you respect their time and do not expect them to fit reading your long blog entries into their busy schedules.
All of the elements listed above will make your brand seem more trustworthy and reputable in the eyes of your target audience.
MarketBeat's homepage has an embedded YouTube video in which a financial and stock market expert discusses buying possibilities. Visitors to their website are instantly provided with relevant material that contains a wealth of information in a concise and cost-effective way.
If your brand or product does not lend itself to video content, or if your target audience prefers a more in-depth look, try starting a podcast.
Podcasts are great for a company looking to position itself as a thought leader in a certain area due to their popularity and capacity to consume lengthy, enormously comprehensive information.
The "conversational" approach also allows your prospective consumers to come to know (and trust) the people behind your business through each episode.
It may also be utilized to "borrow" the credibility that your visitors may bring to the table. Picking the brain of a successful, respected guest from a well-known business is an excellent method to build trust with the leads you're developing.
Trust Shoring, a SaaS company, relied on this final strategy while creating their Product Stories podcast. Each episode has its own dedicated landing page, which prominently displays the guest's face and credentials.
Conversations are intelligent and approachable, and they contribute significantly to the hosts' reputation as a brand that understands what it's talking about.
5. Give out valuable information
If you are concerned that disclosing useful knowledge is paradoxical, do not be. Although it may seem that disclosing your trade secrets means losing a competitive advantage, it is really an effective way to demonstrate your knowledge.
When you explain a complicated idea well, you establish yourself as an expert in the area. Having a solid understanding of the topic area you're discussing demonstrates and helps your audience trust and regard you as a reputable source of information.
Furthermore, openly sharing your expertise demonstrates that you sincerely want to assist your prospective clients in solving their problems and succeeding, which builds a feeling of reciprocity and deeper ties with them. In a nutshell, being helpful may lead to more business chances than a sales-focused strategy. So don't be afraid to show how much knowledge you have about your business and offer the facts you utilize to drive your product.
Going breaks out their own approach in their detailed guide to finding inexpensive flights. This information is really useful and provides its readers with the tools and techniques they need to do their study.
6. Showcase your goods at their best
Making a terrific and lasting first impression is crucial for branding and believability.
It just takes a fraction of a second for your visitors to form an opinion about your website and decide whether to continue browsing or return to the search results page. The way consumers see your website influences their impression of your whole brand. A badly designed site with unclear, pixelated graphics conveys the impression that you don't care about your business or audience. It might damage your reputation in the eyes of prospective consumers.
According to one survey, 46.1% of participants assess a website's trustworthiness based on apparently superficial factors such as visual attractiveness or design. Similarly, another study that looked at how various variables impact users' confidence in health websites found that 94% of initial impressions were design-related, with just 6% of comments referring to actual content.
Because a blog post will be many prospective buyers' first interaction with your business, make sure the pictures you employ represent your product in the best possible light. Mediocre photos and videos are a huge wasted chance to build confidence in your goods and show your audience what they may expect. This is particularly true if you operate an online business and customers are unable to visit a real place to inspect the goods before purchasing them.
Furthermore, if your website does not engender confidence, consumers may be hesitant to give sensitive information (such as credit card details).
GILI Sports recognizes the value of high-quality pictures, and their blog article comparing a paddle board and kayak does not fail in that regard. The text is accompanied by a number of professional-looking, sharp images showcasing their items. The brand devotes close attention to detail, allowing readers to see what GILI paddle boards look like and how they are utilized.
7. Feature Your (Real) Customers
Brands in both B2B and B2C businesses may tremendously benefit from posting positive consumer feedback on their goods or services. However, this strategy is only effective if your social proof is genuine—that is, it originates from actual consumers. So, don't even consider staging it.
Video customer testimonials and interviews may help persuade your target audience that your brand is trustworthy and legitimate. Instead of bragging about yourself, offer your current customers the opportunity to speak about how your goods or services have made their lives simpler. Hearing people with similar pain points and frustrations express their good experiences with your company might persuade hesitant prospects to take action and make a purchase.
Bay Alarm Medical makes use of this intriguing strategy by including a number of video testimonials on their webpage. Existing customers attest to the quality of the brand's medical alarm systems, allaying any possible doubts or questions regarding their usefulness.
B2B businesses must demonstrate the concrete value that their product or service provides to customers and back up these claims with facts. Case studies are the perfect format for this purpose since they enable you to convey the narrative of how your solution helped a specific client succeed. Improved metrics say volumes about what organizations with comparable pain points might anticipate in terms of results. The fact that a client chose to participate and let you share their success story acts as a stamp of approval.
Hubspot uses case studies to demonstrate the effect their product has on their clients' internal operations. Aside from comparing before and after adoption rates, the company reveals how it assisted consumers in resolving specific problem areas.
8. Create new, proprietary knowledge
We've previously discussed the value of thought leadership in developing trust with your audience. However, separating your company from the competition is impossible if you keep producing the same old run-of-the-mill content that merely repeats what others have previously stated.
Instead, invest in ground-breaking material that will push the envelope and reveal fresh industry insights, showcasing your unique skills.
To do this, you'll need to perform your own research or consumer surveys and do whatever you can to produce fresh information. Discovering new facts that no one else has covered and provided before will demonstrate your expertise. This strategy has the extra bonus of being incredibly link-worthy, which will improve your domain rating and, as a result, brand recognition.
Aside from providing really helpful how-to guides and other high-quality video content, Wyzowl also releases yearly data and industry assessments on the status of video marketing. Their exclusive insights are widely cited by other sources, demonstrating the brand's competence.
Conclusion
To gain credibility and trust from your audience, your material must provide value to them, solve their problem areas, and establish your competence in the industry. The strategies we covered will help you add zest to your content and elevate it from excellent to exceptional. Remember that creating trust takes time and will not happen immediately, so consistency is the last factor you'll need.