If you have a startup business and small brands – meaning you aren’t a household name or leader in your industry – there’s one big thing you most likely struggle with: authority.
Authority is often correlated with factors like size and popularity. The larger a company is and the more visibility it has in the marketplace, the more authoritative it comes across.
However, the reality is that any brand can develop authority without being a massive company or household name. But in order to achieve this goal, you’ll need a strategic plan for a turnkey opportunity.
How Is The Big Authority Proved To Be A Game Changer?
Brand authority for small brands is something that’s relatively difficult to define. It’s something most people intuitively recognize when they see it yet have a hard time putting their finger on it.
But marketing executive Paige Weiners puts it best when she says the authority is “an organization’s perceived expert opinion for an industry or topic. In other words, if the marketplace concepts a company as a legitimate expert within that niche, then they have authority.
Why is authority necessary for small brands? Mainly because it’s a preceding factor in establishing trust (something that’s critically important if you’re acquiring and keeping customers).
As Weiners explains, building a brand authority means your consumers will feel assured that you know what you are doing and the details of the products. Therefore they can spend their money well with your company. In addition, consumers want to know that your company is one they can trust – whether that’s trusting your expertise or your ability to build a quality product.”
3 Tips For Creating Authority
The most challenging part about small brands’ authority is that you can’t create or conjure it up on your own. It’s something that’s assigned to you by that outside of your control. It can’t be faked or bought. It must be cultivated.
One popular saying is that there are ways to put yourself in a position where people are more likely to see you as authoritative. Here are some suggestions:
1. Create SEO Friendly Content
Most authority is cultivated in the online world these days. And what makes the internet tick? Content, of course!
If you want more authority, you need reputable content attached to your brand. To do this, create a content strategy. Relevance recommends developing a strategy that hits on all three parts of the customer funnel:
- Top-of-funnel content: blog posts, social media posts, infographics, etc
- Middle-of-funnel content: educational resources, downloads, lead magnets, etc
- Bottom-of-funnel content: Demos, customer stories, spec sheets, webinars, etc
When you have a rich library of content attached to your small brands, people are more likely to buy into what you’re saying and see you as an authoritative voice in the space.
2. Gather Social Proof
Social proof plays a key role in getting people to trust you. Therefore, the more you can gather and share social proof for your small brands. The more likely it is that the marketplace will see you as an authoritative brand.
Good examples of social proof include customer reviews, client testimonials, reviews, ratings, and certifications.
3. Align Yourself With Other Authority Figures
If you don’t have any authority yourself, there’s one reliable way to create something quickly. It involves aligning yourself with other people and groups who do have control over small brands promotions.
The same is true in the business world. If you don’t have a ton of authority, you can supercharge your results by aligning your brand with another company or individual who does. This is why social media influencers are so powerful. Try finding an influencer that your target market holds in high regard. Then look for ways to partner with that influencer on projects, content, etc.
4. Elevate Your Brand
Want to take your small brands to the next level? It all starts with establishing authority. Remember that authority precedes trust. And trust precedes healthy, long-term relationships with customers and business partners. Thus, if you want to be successful, you have to pour more time and energy into creating pillars of authority.
Conclusion:
You see, authority is transferable. It can be taken from one person and imparted onto another. If, for example, your favorite musician (whom you trust implicitly) brings small brands you’ve never heard of up on stage at a concert and tells you their music is incredible, you’re automatically going to trust that opinion before you ever listen to them play a note of music. In other words, their authority gets transferred onto the other brand simply because you trust them.
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