Before we had brands, Joe Public would walk into his local store and buy whatever he needed direct from the shopkeeper. If he needed oats, he’d ask for oats.
Most of the time that worked just fine but on occasion the oats he’d buy would be full of weevils and other nasties. Sometimes they just weren’t oaty enough.
Jump forward a little and companies like Quaker Oats started going out of their way to distinguish their oats from other people’s oats. In short they were saying, “buy your oats from us and they’ll be weevil free” or something like that.
Branding: An issue of trust.
Now when Joe Public went into his store he asked for Quaker Oats becasue he trusted that they would be of a consistent quality. No more pot luck oat buying for Joe, no sir.
Branding may have moved on a little in the last hundred years but it is still ultimately a question of trust. That’s all well and good for weevil-free oats but what happens if you’re selling services, ideas or knowledge?
Trust is built through experience (yours and others) so if you’re marketing services and ideas you need to create ways for people to experience what you have to offer.
Using Content to Create Trust and Brands
One way to accomplish that is through content. If prospects can experience your thoughts and ideas through your content they may come to see you as a trusted resource. As a trusted resource you can build a brand. That brand can then be leveraged into new customers and long-term customer loyalty.
What do you think? How does content affect how you perceive a business?
Photo: obenson
{ 1 comment }
Nice writing style. I look forward to reading more in the future.
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