Do you have a brand that people know, like and trust? A study by Edelman in 2019 revealed that 81% of consumers need to trust a brand in order to buy from them. This further confirms that trust is a central goal of branding. The sense of trust that people have is a central part of your brand image which is shaped by your brand identity. How can you express your brand values in a more meaningful way? How can you improve your brand photography and design to look more trustworthy? This article focuses on how you can create a brand image that people trust over the long term.
What is Brand Identity?
Your brand identity is a central part of building trust. Brand identity refers to the message that you convey about your brand. Similar to how your personal identity is what you say about yourself, your name, how you dress, etc. Your brand identity is made up of your brands purpose, vision, mission, values personality, and uniqueness as well as how that is conveyed through design and messaging.
What does your brand value the most? How would you describe your culture? Your brand values are an essential part of the brand identity when winning trust among customers. Your brand identity helps shape your brands image. If you do not have a strong brand identity then you will have a false brand image.
What is Brand Image?
Your brand image is the external perception of your brand or the experience people have which influences what they say about it. Your brand image is a reflection of the trust and other associations that people have with your brand in their mind. In order to improve your brand image you need to focus on longevity. Trust isn’t built overnight. You must focus on reputation building to have that sense of trust that allows your brand to stand out.
1.) Have a strong sense of purpose.
Your brand purpose is part of the foundation that it is built on. Are your customers clear about why you do what you do? If your brand ceased to exist, what is the main thing about it that people will cherish, miss and remember? If people are learning about your brand 100 years in the future, what is the main impact that it would have in the world that you would want people to know?
Your brand purpose is not just about saying nice things, It is about being authentic in every point of interaction with your brand. It is more about how that purpose is expressed through the way your brand operates internally and externally as well as how you approach innovation, decision making, design and messaging. A brand can have a very simple purpose statement that is still expressed in the most effective, creative and innovative way. Follow this link to learn more about brand purpose
2.) Make sincere brand promises
Build a reputation of trust by making sincere promises and consistently delivering on them. Your brand promise is also not just about saying nice things, it is about how the promise is expressed effectively and consistently across all touchpoints. Avoid over promising your customers because that could really ruin your reputation if you can’t deliver on it. What promise can you make to your customers today? You can learn from Cisco which has a brand promise of making amazing things happen by connecting the unconnected. Cisco is all about connectivity and access to new possibilities.
3.) Have an Authentic Design Approach
According to branding expert, Marty Neumeier, “Trust creation is a fundamental goal of brand design.” Emotive trust is built through design that conveys the brand values, personality and meaning in an authentic way. To learn more about the value of design, you can follow this link. Below are a few tips you can start implementing today to make your brand image look more trustworthy. Especially for your website. Research by Robins & Holmes showed that people find sites that are usable and attractive to be more trustworthy. This means that visual design plays a huge role in building trust online.
Use Consistent Color and Typography : Avoid a color palette that looks too busy. Ideally you want to aim for 3-6 colors max, especially if you are a SMB. Assign roles for each color. One color could be for backgrounds while the other could be an accent color for buttons. Avoid using colors randomly for only subjective and aesthetic reasons. Understand that colors have different cultural associations. Studies show that people find websites with less saturated colors to be more trustworthy so you can use the bright saturated colors sparingly for only drawing attention in a design. Your typography also needs to be consistent. Decide on what fonts will be used for headlines and body copy.
Authentic Brand Photography : Avoid brand photography that is clearly made of cliche stock photo. Your customers can tell if your brand photography does not look right or looks like something they have seen somewhere else. This could make your brand look dishonest. You need high quality photos that show what you, your team and your product really looks like.
Use photography to tell a captivating brand story and tap into something evocative. Allow your customers to see themselves in your images. Studies by Khalid Aldiri et al from the Univ. of Bradford showed that showing human faces next to content increases trust. Avoid photos of lots of random smiley people giving a thumbs up. That would be very cliche and make your brand look cheesy. To learn more about brand photography you can click here.
4.) Use Social Proof & Validation
Before customers use your product or service, they want to know what other previous experiences have been like. Your customer reviews and ratings play a huge role in building brand trust. You need reviews, testimonials or case studies that are long and detailed, talking about how the product or service helped the person. Reviews should also have the name of the happy customer with other short info such as the location. This would make the review look more real and authentic especially if paired with a happy image of the customer.
5.) Don't Forget to be Transparent
You must maintain open and honest relationships with the public. They need to know your company background, what they are buying into, what your policies are, how your products are made, etc. You need to use language that is clear, straightforward and simple.
Privacy and Security: Your privacy policy needs to be clearly stated and easy to find. Especially if your website is collecting info and payments. Only collect information when it benefits the customer. Let people know what you will do with their data. Assure customers that their data will be kept private from 3rd parties. Make sure your site is secure and use security symbols and trust badges to reassure people.
Shipping and return policies: Need to be clearly stated and easy to find for brands looking to sell physical goods online. Your customers want to know what they should expect before making a decision.
Issue Reports: Primarily for non profits or brands that are looking to raise funds for a cause. Your donors need to understand where exactly their money is going into, how a small donation can make a huge difference and how much left is needed to achieve the goal. There should be a way for people to track the progress of the campaign as well. Be sure to keep in touch with each individual donor and let them know how everything is coming along as well as the impact they made.
In conclusion, the trust that people have in your brand is part of your brand image which refers to their perception of you. This is influenced by how you convey your brands identity through a strong sense of purpose, sincere promise and commitment to design. Other factors such as public opinions affect your brand image. But remember to be transparent in how you operate.
