Brand Management: Build Authority, Influence and Trust
As an entrepreneur committed to building an online brand, you can’t afford to have any of these critical elements fall through the cracks.
We live in a world where brands are more powerful than governments and corporations. Our ability to make an immediate, long-lasting impact on the way the world sees us is what makes them so powerful. As such, a brand can be a massive force for good or a colossal source of pain. It all depends on the type of authority, influence and trust your brand builds over time. This guide teaches you the three key elements that every brand manager must master.
What is brand management? What does it mean? Who is it for? And why do we need it? We’ve got a whole chapter dedicated to answering these questions and more.
Build Authority: Focus on building a positive reputation as an expert.
There are many ways to build authority. I’ve written about them extensively and still believe they are the best way to gain trust and credibility. The first step is to write compelling content that solves a problem people care about.
I recently wrote a post about how to become a successful entrepreneur. It has since received over 1 million page views and over 250k shares. The post has generated hundreds of emails and comments, giving me better insights into what people need and how to solve their problems.
Another way to build authority is by being seen as an expert. I don’t mean being seen as an expert in your industry. I mean being seen as an expert in your niche.
You’ll get more readers and followers if you write content that helps people. The more popular your content gets, the more your reputation grows.
I also recommend starting a blog relevant to your expertise and audience. People will start sharing your content across the web, and your authority will grow.
And finally, the most effective way to build authority is by making a difference in people’s lives. People like to see people succeed. They will share your content because they’re happy to see someone else doing well.
In the end, you can increase your authority in many ways. Here are a few more suggestions.
• Comment on other blogs.
• Share other people’s content.
• Respond to comments.
• Create your own content.
And now, let’s take a look at the next step in increasing your authority.
Influence: Find the influencers and develop relationships with them
There are many ways to find influencers and get in touch with them, but the most effective way is to use the right platform.
Today we’ll discuss how to find influencers and then get in touch with them. Before we move further, I want to tell you that the method I will show you here is highly effective, so don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get lots of positive results.
Here are some tips on how to find influencers:
1: Go on social media, YouTube and look for influencers.
The most popular platforms for influencers are social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as video-sharing websites like YouTube.
Here are some great influencer sites to check out:
- Facebook has a dedicated section for Influencer Marketing. You can find people who have built large communities around their brands and topics.
- Instagram allows you to find influencers based on topics and even on interests. You can follow hashtags and other topics and see what kind of posts are being shared on these topics.
- YouTube has a similar feature but only works for videos. You can use a tool called TubeBuddy and search for the video you’re interested in.
- Twitter offers influencer search based on topics. The idea is to see what kind of content is being shared on Twitter, and you can find people talking about your niche.
In the future, we may not be able to rely on these sites alone because some algorithms might change. However, these sites still provide much information about influencers.
2: Ask your friends and colleagues.
One of the best ways to find influencers is to ask your friends and colleagues. They’ll be able to give you lots of helpful information.
Let’s say you’re working on a business idea that you want to pitch to potential investors. You could ask your friends if they know someone who could give you an opinion.
Also, if you’re in the market for a new job, you could ask your colleagues for recommendations.
3: Look at the comments on blogs and forums.
Another great way to find influencers is to look for comments on blogs and forums. You’ll see that many people are interested in specific topics. These people are the ones who are likely to be an influencer in the niche.
4: Check out websites and directories.
Several websites allow you to find influencers. We’ll discuss one of them later.
Trust: Earn their trust by demonstrating transparency
Transparency is one of the ways to build customer trust. However, transparency can be challenging because it can mean revealing company information, especially when it comes to confidential data.
A recent study found that 94% of consumers prefer companies to use alternative data over customer data. As a result, many companies are turning to alternative data for analytics and reporting. Alternative data includes social media activity, online search, and review sites. These alternative data sources have the potential to be highly effective, but they also have many limitations. In particular, alternative data sources are usually not comprehensive and often don’t include critical variables.
To make the most of your alternative data, it’s essential to understand the differences between alternative and traditional data. For example, while social media activity is generally free to track, the data may be limited in scale and quality. Search is limited because companies have to pay to get listed, and reviews are often biased toward customers with a positive experience.
Another vital thing to consider is that alternative data is not always reliable. For example, social media activity can be skewed by the time of day, seasonality, or other factors. Review sites can be full of fake reviews or reviews from people who are not customers.
As a result, it’s essential to ask yourself why you’re using alternative data and how it will help you improve your business. You may need to ask your team if there are any available gaps in the data.
Is there a way that you could combine the two data sources to produce a more robust view of your business? And is it worth paying for better quality alternative data?
To learn more about alternative data and how it can help your business, look at the following resources.
Understand Alternative Data Sources
This guide on alternative data sources from Google is a great start. The guide explains the types of data, where they come from, what they’re missing, and how to best leverage them. This guide also outlines the differences between alternative and traditional data.
Build a Better Data Strategy
The first step to building a more robust data strategy is understanding what you’re trying to accomplish. When it comes to alternative data, the goal may be to help you with a specific problem, such as predicting the likelihood of a purchase. But it may also help you learn more about your customers or gain insights into their motivations.
It’s also helpful to understand the limitations of alternative data. For example, it’s possible that the data you collect isn’t comprehensive enough to be accurate. Or maybe it’s not reliable enough to provide accurate insights. So it’s important to consider whether the data will help you.
As a result, you may need to do some research before you start gathering data.
Positioning: Craft a clear, compelling brand message that reflects your brand personality
Every business needs a solid and unique brand identity to succeed. This includes online businesses. To create a strong identity for your online business, you need to craft a compelling brand message that reflects your brand personality. Here, we will discuss crafting a clear and compelling brand message that reflects your brand personality and resonates with customers.
People who visit your website should know who you are and what you do. If they don’t, they won’t know what they’re getting into when they sign up for your products or services. So, to create a strong identity for your business, you need to craft a compelling brand message that reflects your brand personality and resonates with customers.
Brand personality is the essence of who you are as a company. It is the personality that your customers associate with you. This is also called your brand promise. Your brand personality is formed by your brand messaging and how you position your products and services in the minds of your customers.
To build a strong identity for your business, you need to craft a clear and compelling brand message that reflects your brand personality. A compelling brand message resonates with your audience and helps them connect with your brand. It is not just about what you say but also how you say it.
A brand message should be concise, memorable, and consistent. It should include a vision statement and a set of core values. A brand message should also reflect the core competencies of your business. You must communicate your brand promise to your customers.
Your brand message should be consistent across all your marketing and sales channels. It should also be consistent with your social media profiles.
Creating a brand message that reflects your brand personality is challenging. Here are some tips to help you create a solid and compelling brand message that reflects your brand personality and resonates with your audience.
1: Have a clear understanding of who your target audience is
Before crafting your brand message, you must understand your target audience and what they expect from you. You need to identify your ideal customer and their needs. This will help you create a compelling brand message that resonates with your customers.
2: Be consistent
If you don’t clearly understand your audience, you may create a brand message that isn’t consistent with your actual business. You can ensure consistency by conducting market research. You can also engage your audience to get feedback and make necessary adjustments.
3: Make use of your company’s core competencies
Core competencies are the activities that your company does well. They are the things that your company is good at and excels at. Core competencies are the building blocks of your business. They are also the essential characteristics of your business.
Brand Guidelines: Build a system for all employees to follow
Branding guidelines are designed to create a consistent design language for a brand. It’s an essential part of the branding strategy but doesn’t have to be complicated. Follow these easy steps to help build a framework that every team member can use to ensure your brand is always consistent.
Brand guidelines can be a massive part of your company’s brand identity. But not all companies have them. And if you don’t have one, you’re missing out on a valuable tool for your brand.
A brand guideline isn’t just a collection of logos. It’s a guide for using a brand’s logos, colors, typography, icons, and other design elements.
Let’s look at the critical points of a brand guideline that every employee should know.
Make it clear
When building your guidelines, keep them simple. Many companies try to make everything complicated. This can lead to much confusion. Make it clear what the guidelines are and what they mean.
If you use symbols or metaphors to explain the rules, they’ll be easier to understand.
Use examples
It can be easy to get caught up in how to write a good guideline, but examples help to clarify precisely what the guideline is trying to say.
Examples show your employees why you made a particular design choice. They’ll also help you to identify other areas where your brand needs to be improved.
Make it visually appealing
Guidelines aren’t just words on a piece of paper. They should look good too. So, don’t skip this step. When creating a guideline, be sure to put some thought into it.
Create something that feels professional and has some personality. Then, make sure to share it with everyone on your team. This will help to reinforce the guideline in the minds of your employees.
Stay consistent
Consistency is key. Whether working on a new logo or writing a new product description, ensure all your design work stays within the guidelines.
You’ll end up with a brand that looks cohesive and makes a strong impression on customers.
Building brand guidelines don’t have to be a complicated process. But you can’t underestimate the importance of these guidelines. Make sure that every team member understands the guidelines and uses them consistently.
Brand Philosophy: Set forth what makes you unique
The brand philosophy defines the purpose of a company, product, service, organization, or even a person. The brand philosophy is developed over time by the leaders of a company.
The brand philosophy guides decisions about how the company should operate and how the company should interact with the outside world. The brand philosophy sets forth the organization’s or business’s values and principles.
The brand philosophy is a written document that helps the organization make critical decisions. The practical brand philosophy is easy to understand and implement. Brand philosophies are based on the organization’s beliefs and values and should be clear, concise, and well-defined.
A brand philosophy does not define a strategy. The brand philosophy is a guiding document that guides decisions about how an organization should operate. Leaders should use the brand philosophy to make decisions. It would help if you did not use it to determine an organization’s strategy.
You should develop a brand philosophy through several stages. The brand philosophy should be reviewed, revised, and approved at each stage. A brand philosophy must be consistent across the organization.
The brand philosophy is vital to organizations because it helps them make critical decisions. They provide direction and focus for the organization. It helps to set the expectations of employees, customers, vendors, partners, and others. Brand philosophies also help the organization identify the core values that guide its decision-making.
The brand philosophy is an excellent way to communicate what the organization stands for. It communicates a set of guiding principles that help the organization do business.
Conclusion
Brand management is not just about building awareness for your brand. Brand management is a broad term used to describe all aspects of building your brand, including but not limited to advertising, branding, product development, marketing, PR, sales, public relations, social media, website design, digital strategy, mobile and app design, and much more.
The good news is that all of these areas have something in common. They all include the same core elements: planning, execution, measurement and optimization. Read my next blog to learn more about these four elements.
Let us help you create and promote your brand. We’ll give it a new look, tell its story, create a compelling presence, build trust and influence, and keep it that way.
