Do your customers have choices, or is your brand the only available option? Are you interested in generating recurring revenue streams from your customer base? Would you like your customers to be a steady source of referral business? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions than trust is an important dimension of your brand offering. The good news is that your firm can build brand equity, sales and market share by investing time and energy in elevating the level of trust that your stakeholders exhibit toward your brand. Importantly, there is no better forum to do this than the online world. Think of the potential touch points; your website, blog, e-newsletters, social network profiles and fan pages, social media posts and factor in the opportunity for establishing a two-way dialogue with your clients and prospects and the possibilities are endless. That is “if” your organization is willing to invest the time and energy to learn how to evolve your relationship marketing efforts to take advantage of the marketplace in which we now operate.

Start by taking an inventory of “what” you would like your brand to stand for in the eyes of your customers and how close to your ideal current perceptions come. This can be followed by a brief assessment of what actions can be taken to boost brand perceptions and legitimize your brand’s value offering to both distinguish it from the competition and to enhance its utilitarian and emotional appeal to each of your stakeholder groups ranging from employees to customers to suppliers and shareowners. Adapting the evolving set of digital tools will extend the efficacy of your brand marketing efforts by allowing you to quickly and efficiently craft and communicate your brand messaging. Importantly, in a socially networked world, you can also monitor what your stakeholders are saying about your brand, your competition and your company. Being cognizant of the public’s position and being a participant in the dialogue stream can assist in positively shaping brand perception outcomes. Done properly, the end result will be a brand that is understood and trusted by each of your stakeholder groups. Interested in learning more about building online trust? Check out the following Inc. Magazine article by Alice Hansen, Principal of Great-to-Market Labs …Read More