We all know that brand marketing is necessary because it gets the word out about the products or services that you offer. So how you build a brand and create the trust that customers need?
Most big brands, such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, or Walmart, have built trust over a long period of time. They built that trust by producing a consistent product or service that customers can depend on. If you go to Walmart and buy a defective product, they will guarantee that you will get your money back. So people trust Walmart enough to shop there frequently. McDonald’s has been around forever; most of us have frequented the fast food giant, so basically if our parents or grandparents took us there, we can trust that the food quality will be okay and our money is well-spent.
The newer and smaller the business, the more critical that trust becomes, and the faster you need to build it. This means that any brand marketing efforts should immediately evoke trust.
So what McDonald’s did over a period of generations, you need to do in a shorter amount of time. It is easier than you think, as long as you provide a good product or service and have excellent customer service. If something goes wrong, you stand behind your product with a guarantee of refund or exchange.
If the customer is happy, they will share their experience with others. That’s the power of posting reviews on websites like Yelp and Google or social media sites like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. What if Oprah happens to walk into your establishment and loves your product or service and tweets about it? What previously took generations to build can now be done sometimes within months, or if it’s Oprah’s tweet, within minutes. This depends on the type of business you have, so obviously, a local eatery might get social media attention faster than a veterinarian’s office.
We bring up Oprah because she has trust built right into her brand. Oprah is her brand, and we truly believe she was born with her brand. Every aspect of her life speaks to every woman. When her talk show aired, she effortlessly reaffirmed that trust by identifying with her audience, regardless of the topic.
Start building trust in your brand as you are building your business. It will create loyalty and credibility with your customers and help drive word of mouth referrals from satisfied customers. As your business grows, you might want to step into the world of paid advertising as part of your marketing efforts.
The bottom line? If you build trust in your brand, customers will spend their money buying your product. In today’s fragile economy, people will buy what they trust. Trust is worth its weight in gold.
Interested in incorporating brand marketing into your small business? Contact us at EDK at info@edkandcompany.com or 818-488-1543 for more information!