It is the reputation and image of your brand that can tip the market of a company’s potential customers into buying mode. Marketing experts often point out brand credibility as one psychological factor that could trigger the buying impulse of consumers. In this case, it refers to your brand’s reputation and ability (or inability) to convert that into sales. However, any trigger can produce a positive or negative effect.
As a business owner, it is essential to consider the perspective of the customer always and in all ways. How the consumer thinks and considers a company’s brand and its competitors’ brands will help to understand the buying decisions of the consumer and the market as a whole. In some industries, it will be the brand expertise of the product and service, or its quality or its price.
Other factors that affect your buying patterns include longevity, which covers the years a company has existed. This reflects the mass appeal and quality of their service or product, given that it has been patronized by a specific demographic for that period. This is what credibility in branding is about: people’s perception of your business or company.
A major factor is a brand’s online presence. Pay attention to the website and its metrics for success as it relates to search engine optimization. Trust and authority are built on longevity and certain basic ranking factors. If the brand’s website is not tended to consistently, the brand will suffer from anonymity. In other words, the brand becomes invisible to the market.
Establishing Credibility
Now that you understand brand credibility, you must face the more complex question: how do you establish it? This is even more difficult for business newcomers or startups because there is much work. Aside from that, you need to continually nourish it to maintain that credibility that you have built up for your business.
Credibility is the heart of every business. Even though you offer quality products or services, if your customers perceive your company as incapable of delivering such a level of quality, then it would be of no use. It would not be able to confirm your business as a reliable choice among several possible competing options in the market.
To produce brand credibility, you need to meet the following categories:
- Non-verbal such as your logo or image,
- Verbal efforts through marketing or advertising,
- Mission and Vision of the business to exemplify your organization’s values and, Internal operations are crucial in delivering your promises to the customer.
- Online presence is essential to be considered a trusted and valued brand. A company website and social media presence is required to establish credibility in the marketplace.
Following are tips on how you can build credibility toward success