How to Build a Brand That People Trust
There are plenty of ways to build your brand. Before you can do this, first, you need to find out what the Internet already knows about you.
Do a Google search for your name or business. If you’re marketing using your own name, type your name both with and without quotes on a private or incognito browser window, so your search results aren’t skewed. If you’re marketing using your business name, do the same method.
Does it show you in a positive light? Or do you have an angry client or customer up on the first page of Google?
If you don’t have any negative comments come up, then that’s a great sign! You can continue to build your brand on such a positive result. On the other hand, if you’ve got some negative comments, do your best to answer professionally to put yourself in a more positive light.
Your competitors may have hired people to do a smear job on you to ruin your reputation and scare your customers away from you. Not many people do that, fortunately, but it does happen. You better make sure all your feedback – positive and negative – are all genuine.
Create an unforgettable experience for each customer you serve
When you deliver personalized service to your customers, people will appreciate you. Too many businesses are only out to get their customers’ money, they don’t really care about them at all.
Another way to create an unforgettable experience for your customers is by engaging with them directly. By treating them as people, you’re erasing barriers. You’re positioning yourself as someone they can communicate with directly.
This is why even big Fortune 500 companies have people manning their social media channels so when customers bring something to their attention, they’re able to respond to it quickly and publicly.
Putting on a face to your company brings you closer to your customers – and they’ll pay you back with loyalty.
When you make an impact on your customers’ minds, they’ll remember you and your actions during those times you engaged with them. They may not remember what they bought from you, but they’ll remember your actions and the feelings that your actions evoked.
Build a relationship with your customers
Humans crave relationships, that’s a fact. When you build a relationship with your customers, you’re literally telling them they can count on you. Don’t take their trust lightly because the moment you do that, you’ll lose that trust.
Once that’s lost, it’s going to be hard to win it back. More often than not, they’ll transfer their trust to your competitors and maybe even convince a number of your customers to go over to the other side, too.
When you build a relationship with your customers, you need to put a lot of effort into making it work. Depending on the nature of your business, you can maybe mail them gifts during special times of the year, offer them a discount code or a free month of your service.
In short, make them feel special. That’s how relationships work– you make the other person feel special.
Another aspect of building a relationship with your customers is that you can also build a community or a group of them.
Inviting them to join your community may make them feel special. They’ll meet new friends, and they’ll get to interact even more with your business.
Be personable and authentic
Connecting with your customers is very important. Hiding behind a fake name or profile is going to be detrimental to your success. You can connect all you want with your customers on social media or on your website, but once word gets out that you’re a flake, then you’ll lose face.
You’ll lose your credibility, and your reputation may vanish overnight. You’ll lose all the customers you’ve worked so hard to build a relationship with.
Being authentic is one important aspect of building your brand’s foundation. If you build a brand on a fake persona, it’s going to be hard to grow your business.
Yes, you may find some success, but your growth will be limited. There’s always going to be that boundary you can’t cross. Otherwise, people will know you’re not real, and then you’ll lose your brand.
Stay consistent and always follow through
Be visible in places where your customers hang out. If you’ve got plenty of customers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or any other social media channel your audience frequents, then don’t be afraid to reach out to them.
Show them you’re active on their favorite platforms and engage with them. Give them plenty of value for free without asking for anything in return. In their mind, you’re an authority figure or a thought leader. They’ll trust what you say.
If you’re honest and consistent, people will notice. You’ve got proof to show them.
This is why following through is very important. If you don’t follow through, you’re making empty promises, and soon, people will lose their trust in you. Your word won’t mean anything, and you’ll lose your audience.
The Best Way To Control Your Brand’s Reputation
Controlling what other people see about your brand is not always easy, especially if you’ve been around for a few years and you’ve never paid attention to what people are saying about you on the Internet.
You can use social media to interact with your customers and your clients. At the end of the day, you don’t own that platform. You can have all your testimonials on social media, but what if that platform disappears?
Simply put, the best platform to control your brand’s reputation is by building your own website. And by your own website, I don’t mean getting a free website from a blogging platform. You need your own website with your own domain name which should preferably be your brand name.
It will help if you’ve got a memorable or brandable domain name too, so it’s easier for people to search for you on Google. Getting a domain name and web hosting is very cheap nowadays, and it’s one of the best investments you can make for your business.
With your own website, you can control the information you want to share with the world. If you’ve got positive testimonials from social media, you can post screenshots on your website. If you’ve got a portfolio on other platforms, bring them over to your website.
Create a forum on your website for your loyal followers or place a link to other channels where they can engage with you. It allows them to see your diversified presence on the Internet and if they’re on those other platforms as well, then they ‘d also follow you there.
It also makes it easier for potential customers to find you when you are referred to them by their friends.
Creating a personal or business brand that people will trust will take a lot of work and a lot of time. The tips I’ve shared in this article will not only point you in the right direction but will also help you build your brand much faster.
About the Author Fabi
While I was in college I was not amused to become a 9-5 worker. So I searched for other ways. And I found online marketing. After many failures, I finally succeeded and I was able to escape the 9-5 and live the life I always wanted. I believe that if you want something you can achieve it. And if you want to build a successful online business I can help you achieve your goal!
