Building brand authority isn’t easy but its benefits are worth it. 

When you build brand authority, your potential clients and customers begin to trust you. Once trust is established it’s only a matter of time before they become loyal customers. 

But what is brand authority and how can you build it? In today’s article, we help you understand the meaning, brand authority benefits and how to create brand authority in detail.

What is Brand Authority?

It refers to the trust your brand has earned among your customers and the degree to which they see your brand as the subject-matter expert. Brand authority is affected by several factors such as compelling content, online presence and engagement over social media.

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It’s important to understand that when we talk about brand authority, we also talk about online authority. It reflects the degree to which you promote your companies expertise on different digital channels.

Brand authority accelerates growth and increases conversions for your brand. The more your customers trust your brand, the more they’re likely to buy from you and recommend you to others. 

A strong presence helps your brand:

• Build a loyal customer base
• Prevents brand switching
• Fosters brand integrity
• Helps gain a competitive edge over your competitors
• Attract more influencers within your industry who can further promote your brand

In addition, research shows that customers who trust a company are more likely to:

• Share their review with others
• Shop with the company again
• Buy products more frequently
• Buy more products
• Remain loyal

Brand Authority Benefits

Here are the top 3 benefits of building brand authority:

1. Brand Recognition. A strong brand identity helps your customers associate with you and your products. In addition, brand recognition plays a major role in advertising. For instance, if you hear emotional and soothing music in the background of an advertisement, you know it’s an ad by Google. The symbols and tone adopted by a brand help us associate with the brand. Once customers start recognizing your brand, you start staying in their minds. 
2. Gain Credibility. It helps take brand recognition a step further. The best way to gain credibility is to be confident and transparent about your brand so that your customers can feel the same when they associate with your brand.
3. Boosts Employee Morale. When your brand has a prestigious value, your employees are committed to nurturing clients. In addition, they have a high morale take pride in your brand’s success and work harder.

How to Create Brand Authority

Here’s how to create brand authority in 2022 and beyond:

• Focus on building long-term relationships. It’s a powerful technique that’ll help you boost sales in the longer run. Listen to what your customers are saying and work on it. Social listening and market research are two effective ways of doing this.
• Provide excellent customer service. A lot depends on the user experience. It’s impossible to build authority if your users don’t appreciate your brand. Therefore, ensure that every single part of your user experience is positive.
• Create pillar content. Pillar content is long-form articles that comprehensively cover a topic. In addition to SEO benefits, they also improve your customer’s perception of your brand. It helps you seem like an expert in your industry. In addition, you can also create informative videos, stories, podcasts, social media posts and AR experiences. 
• Understand that your employees are your brand ambassadors. When employees associated with your brand are happy, they work harder. In addition, showcasing happy employees is an excellent way to build trust. It also gives your customers a look at your company’s values and culture. 
• Create guest posts. A simple way to increase brand authority is to get published in major publications in your niche. When your customers see that authoritative and trusted sites are sharing your expertise, they’ll believe you’re an authority too.
• Be a genuine advocate. Customers trust brands that have strong values and beliefs. They want to support a brand that has a voice and takes a stand for what’s right. Therefore, ensure that your brand supports at least one social cause.
• Be consistent. Brand consistency is one of the most important factors in marketing. Consistency helps establish trust and makes your brand feel reliable. 

Best Practices and Tips

Here are a few best practices to keep in mind before getting started:

• Conduct thorough research. It’s important that you include authentic statistics in your articles. You want your readers to have access to information that’s up-to-date and reliable.
• Be genuine. Don’t create a false brand image in the eyes of your customers. In addition, live up to your promises and their expectations. Remember, be who you are. It’s enough to prove your trustworthiness to your customers.
• Answer customer queries. If your audience is asking, then you must answer their questions. Stay active on platforms like Quora and help people clarify their doubts.

In Conclusion

Brand authority is your brand’s ability to influence your competitors and customers in your niche. It’s driven your brand’s expertise,c customer trust and quality.

As a brand, you need to earn authority. When done correctly, it helps you:

• Increase customer referrals
• Increase brand loyalty
• Boost sales
• Higher average customer spend

Therefore, remember to follow these five steps to increase brand authority:

• Choose your niche carefully and decide how you will operate in it.
• Establish your voice. Define what your values are and which causes do you support the most.
• Create excellent content. Deliver up-front value to your target audience.
• Be consistent. Keep reinforcing what you are and what you do.
• Collaborate with other experts. Create campaigns with other brands and publications. 

Good luck with your strategy and don’t hesitate to comment if you have any questions!