This article contains excerpts from “Your Guide to Successful Brand Advocacy”.
Building trust with consumers nowadays can be, to put it lightly, a challenge – they’re highly educated, have seen it all before, and have more information at their fingertips than at any time in human history. This all amounts to consumers these days taking very little at face value.
Furthermore, today’s consumers have seen their share of untrustworthy brands, leading to an increasing skepticism toward traditional advertising, ie. companies telling us in their own words how great they are.
Organizations have to find ways outside of paid advertising to show their audience that they’re worthy of trust. Getting their foot in the door can be tough, but leveraging a consumer’s already trusted sources is a good way to start.
Enter brand advocacy, a highly effective way to gain trust among an audience. By having others speak out on behalf of your brand, willingly and without being paid to do so, you add credibility to your brand by spurring word-of-mouth conversation and recommendations.
In fact, Seth Godin cites word of mouth as the bar none number one way to build trust. When someone hears good things about a brand from someone they know, the trust they have in your brand is essentially automatic.
Further, 2011 survey findings from Nielsen add to this sentiment by noting that “92% of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising.”
For brands looking for a way to amplify their reach, find those who are passionate about your brand and create brand advocacy opportunities for them. Investing in brand advocacy can have tremendous payoff, and higher returns than seen with traditional advertising channels.
To learn more about building trust with brand advocacy, check out Your Guide to Successful Brand Advocacy.
