Establishing Brand Authority Within Your Niche

Brand authority refers to the trust that you have earned from your audience and customers, as well as the degree to which they view you as a subject-matter expert within your respective niche. There are a variety of factors that can influence authority. However, the most critical component is the ability to provide your prospects, leads, and current customers with valuable, trustworthy information.

Here are a few ways to establish brand authority within your industry:

Use Your Content to Establish Your Brand as a Credible Resource

Many businesses view their content marketing and digital marketing strategies as one and the same. However, if you are wise, you will use your content marketing strategy as a way to make your brand a credible digital resource for your target audience. For example, you could write authoritative posts on your company’s blog about important topics that are related to your niche, and your target audience is searching for information on. Speaking of authoritative content, creating (or hiring a writer to create) industry white papers for your audience is one of the best ways to establish brand authority. Unlike most website copy, white papers are informative, not sales pitches. They are meant to educate your audience about a given topic in a native way – usually a problem or need – and they include a call to action.

Guest Blog on Authoritative Sites

Another way to establish brand authority is to guest blog on popular, well-respected sites related to your niche. For example, let’s say that you are a personal finance blogger. You could reach out to popular finance sites like NerdWallet and MoneyWise to see if they would let you contribute as a guest blogger. Guest blogging gives you the chance to put your brand in front of a larger segment of your target audience. It also gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise on topics related to your niche. The goal is to ‘wow’ your readers with your in-depth knowledge – so that they view you as an expert who they can trust.

Connect with Customers and Leads on Social Media

Since social media offers you ample ways to connect with your audience, it’s the perfect way to share your expertise with them. In fact, many brands have become social media influencers within their niche by gaining the trust and respect of their followers. That means you can’t just post sales pitches. Instead, you need to share content that your followers will engage with – especially via comments and shares. Social media platforms are also a great place to answer customer questions about your products or services, as well as other topics related to your niche.

Publish Customer Testimonials

The final important component of establishing brand authority is to provide your audience with social proof in the form of positive customer testimonials. Your online reviews give customers a chance to explore the products or services that your business offers. Furthermore, they can see the impact that your products or services have had when it comes to solving a problem or meeting a need. Therefore, you should encourage your customers to write reviews. If you run a service-based business, reach out to some long-term clients to see if they would write you a testimonial.

In short, establishing brand authority should be the cornerstone of your content marketing strategy. Seek out opportunities to guest blog on authoritative sites related to your niche as well. Share your expertise with your followers on social media. Use customer testimonials as social proof of your brand’s authority within your industry. Doing so will bolster your own claims about the value that you can offer customers.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out our other posts on A Big Digital Hug.

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