Defined as the perception that your company – i.e. your ‘brand’ – can be trusted to deliver what it promises, brand credibility is often thought of as one of the trickiest parts of building up your commercial reputation.
Having strong brand credibility is usually reflected in increases in sales and overall revenue, which is generated both through organic and ‘word of mouth’ traffic. With the rapid growth of e-commerce and the rise of the digital marketplace, brand credibility has become an increasingly important factor in commercial success in the online age.
With strong links to trustworthiness, brand credibility has close links to expertise, as it is often by possessing the appropriate level of knowledge or expertise that a brand or company can be expected to deliver on its promises.
Conveying this expertise to current and future customers is often thought to be difficult to achieve, however, finding the right platform, the right message, and the right content can be a tricky balance to get right.
Despite the challenges of building up your brand credibility, you will be pleased to learn that this is something that is achievable with the right content strategy.
What is ‘content strategy’?
Although you might not have heard of the term before, content strategy is essentially a way of focusing on the planning, creation, delivery and management of content. In the online space, content strategy has become particularly important as companies will often use a variety of digital media forms in their marketing strategy. This most often includes managing written content – such as email newsletters or blog posts – but also increasingly covers various forms of multimedia content – such as videos, podcasts, images and other content put out on social media.
In today’s online world, a content strategy has become increasingly important as the number and variety of platforms that companies use to market their business have increased. Managing what content you put out across these various platforms can often be a full-time job itself, with marketing content needing to be constantly refreshed and reworked in line with changing consumer tastes and trends.
A well-executed content strategy will draw attention to the brand generally, while also promoting new products or some other aspect of your business you are trying to promote. Regardless of whether you are a start-up looking to establish a reputation, or a well-established business looking to maintain it, a content strategy will be equally important.
Although the general importance of a content strategy might be obvious, it is not completely clear how this relates to brand credibility. With that said, what is the connection between them, and what are some things that we should bear in mind?
Brand recognition
Perhaps most immediately, a well-executed content strategy will have an immediate impact on brand recognition. This will, in turn, also have a direct impact on the credibility of your brand.
A good first step towards this is to publish content online that is relevant to your brand. This could be things such as blog posts, articles, reviews, or ‘how-to guides’. However, equally it will also include optimising your website so that it ranks well in search engine results.
If you optimise the content hosted on your company website, it will have an immediate impact on your search engine rankings. This will not only make it easier for existing customers to find you but will also increase the likelihood of getting put in contact with new customers. As such, a proper content strategy should consider both on-site and off-site material to post that will increase your exposure online.
Brand trust
Another important aspect of building up your brand credibility through a content marketing strategy is the impact that this will have on brand trust. As more and more people engage with your content online, they will get to know your brand better and become more familiar with what you have to offer.
Familiarity is particularly important as, over time, it builds trust. If customers are more used to relying on you for information, their trust in your brand will also increase, as will your brand credibility.
As such, a good content strategy will put an emphasis on things such as blog posts, guest articles, and other forms of audio-visual media. Diversity of media forms should be produced to ensure that you are reaching as many potential customers as possible, regardless of their content preferences. You can also employ external linking strategies to establish yourself as a thought leader in whatever commercial space you are operating in.
Increase your customer base
The more content you produce, the more opportunities you create to meet new customers. In this sense, a content strategy allows you to grow your potential customer base both through direct – business-to-customer – and indirect or ‘word of mouth’ growth – i.e. customer-to-customer recommendation.
The size of your audience is also important as it will often be taken as a sign of credibility and trustworthiness among your current and future customers. Methods to grow your audience could include approaches such as guest posts, as well as external linking strategies within your content.
Putting it all together
As we can see, there is a close connection between the credibility of your brand, the trust that customers have in it, how recognisable your brand is, and the scope of your brand. Thankfully, brand trust, recognition and scope are all things that can be managed and increased through a properly thought-out and executed content strategy.
If you are still unsure about what a good content strategy actually entails, this is the perfect opportunity to reach out to one of our content consultants. Purecontent can help you drive traffic towards your business, while also building up your presence online. If this sounds like something that your brand needs, reach out to one of the team today and get started on your content marketing journey.
