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| It Takes Trust to Inspire Action |
Inspire Confidence with Trust-based Messaging
In last
week’s post I wrote about the value of branding. One key feature of branding
was that buyers trust brands that mitigate (personal) risk.
My post touched on
building trust by mitigating risk. The risk I addressed dealt
with risk associated with the product or service.
Today,
I’ll expand on that. This post examines other ways you can strengthen your brand
by building trust focused on your marketing content.
Trust Builder #1: Develop Your B2B Brand with Social Engagement
If you’re
a frequent reader of my posts, it’s no surprise I favor LinkedIn
and Google+. You can add YouTube to the list. These three sites are especially suited for
business.
But other
social media sites may also work well for your business.
Social
engagement means providing useful and entertaining content online for your
followers. B2B consumers search the Internet for relevant information. Therefore, your
site should be the most authoritative source on your products and services.
Social media also
affords customers a direct link to you. Interacting directly on a personal
level helps foster trust. This builds long-term engagement. Over time, you’ll
build loyalty through responsiveness and transparency, as executives and
employees interact with customers online.
Direct
social engagement with existing and potential customers builds trust.
Trust Builder #2: Create or Re-create Taglines in Your B2B Branding
According
to an Adweek article,
the usefulness of
taglines is waning. The article falls short in calling for the death of
taglines as proclaimed in its attention-grabbing headline, but it suggests
taglines’ utility now has a shorter-term impact. Thus, taglines need to be more
flexible.
That said,
taglines are still important.
Why?
Because
well-crafted taglines convey the essence of a company or its’ product(s) and
service(s).
Namely,
first-rate taglines help B2B buyers remember your company, keeping it top of
mind.
Second, taglines help differentiate your brand from your competitors.
Taglines that
communicate the core of a business serve as a powerful marketing device that
helps build trust and confidence in your B2B brand.
Trust Builder #3: Focus B2B Branding on What Matters to Your Customers
According
to a Forbes article, most B2B businesses miss the mark
in their brand messaging. Businesses look inward focusing on their products and
services. They tend to highlight their social responsibility, sustainability
and global network.
There’s
certainly room for discussing these topics in your business
communications. But not in your brand messaging.
Instead,
business should look outward and focus on the B2B buyer.
So what do
prospects and customers care about?
According
to the article, customers care about, “…
honesty, responsibility across the supply chain and level of specialized
expertise”.
Don’t talk
past your customer. Turn the focus away from your business, and focus directly
on what matters to your customers. Fortify trust by publishing marketing
content relevant to your buyers.
Trust Builder #4: Achieve Consistency in B2B Branding with All Marketing Content
Former
governor of Rhode Island, Lincoln Chaffee said, “Trust is built with consistency”.
Easily said, but not easily done.
With the
growth of platforms to deliver your message, consistency becomes a challenge.
In terms
of branding, you should strive to communicate a consistent message. Your
messaging must be in harmony.
Your
online communications must support your offline messaging. Brand messaging in
your blog posts, social media must match messaging in white papers, case
studies, and direct mail.
Consistency
in messaging helps you stand out from the crowd because over time it makes your
brand more easily recognizable. It helps to shorten the B2B buying cycle where
long buying cycles are the norm.
Trust Builder #5: Create Connections with Storytelling
Storytelling helps build a strong
emotional connection, which promotes trust. At the Content
Marketing Institute
annual event,
guest keynote speaker, Kevin Spacey said the goal of all content marketing is
to connect with your audience.
So, don’t
sell… tell stories using social media. A
well-developed social media tactics focused on storytelling will enrich your
brand messaging. Telling compelling stories is easier than you might think.
Simon
Sinek who has the Number 2 most-watched TEDS video (more than 21 million views)
says that to get people to take action you have to start with “Why”. By that he means you should focus on “why”
you do what you do, rather than on “what you do”. Focus the core of your story
on the "Why” and you’ll inspire people to take action.
Remember,
buyers buy from businesses and people they know,
like and trust. By engaging your followers with compelling stories, you’ll
encourage trust as your relationship develops.
Use these
five ways to promote trust and confidence with your current and futures
customers. Again, you can build trust in
other ways. (My previous post explains how you can use a focus on your products or services to build trust.)
These
methods focus on your business communications. You can influence and even
inspire customers to take action with clear, consistent and compelling
branding. Online and Off.
If you
liked this post, please let me know and feel free to share it. And if you have
any questions or would like to know more, just leave a comment.
Have a great week!
Alex Milo
B2B
Copywriter and Consultant
“Helping
Transportation and Logistics Companies Generate Leads with Compelling Content”
Phone:
256-886-4684
Email: amilo@b2bcopywriting-alexmilo.com
Email: amilo@b2bcopywriting-alexmilo.com
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