Trust is critical to any purchasing decision, from buying a new mobile phone to making multimillion-dollar infrastructure investments. To be willing to spend money, you have to believe in the business as well as the product or solution you’re buying.
The challenge is to efficiently build trust and communicate that you can be relied upon to deliver. Today if you’re going to buy a mobile phone, would you buy a Blackberry even if it had a superior product? Some consumers might think twice about investing in a product from a company that they worry might change ownership or even cease to exist in the short to medium term.
An Apple iPhone doesn’t have this challenge. As consumers, we feel we know Apple and that its iPhone product range will be maintained and available for the life span of a smartphone. We trust Apple to deliver and can buy their products with confidence.
So how can a B2B brand build the same kind of trust?
1. Develop an Authentic Voice
Choose topics that matter to your audience and where you can offer unique and insightful opinion. The content you create will not be compelling unless you really have a voice of authority and can deliver ideas that matter.
In B2B, sharing niche knowledge can be extremely valuable to prospects and existing customers. It demonstrates that you understand the market and business challenges.
The simplest advice writers often get is “write what you know”. When creating content on behalf of a brand, write about something you know but also something your audience will understand and believe you know.
Authenticity builds trust and choosing appropriate topics for thought leadership are critical for the success of a piece of content.
| Read our blog: 4 Ways to Successfully Communicate Innovation |
2. Create Content with Purpose
Every piece of content should have a well-defined purpose. This doesn’t mean every piece of content needs to be a work of genius. It just needs to have a definite reason for existing and be delivering a message or influencing the audience.
B2B brands that deliver content that seems random or out of line with their business can appear to lack focus. Each piece of content should be as purposeful and represent how the business operates.
The way you approach content reflects how you behave as a business. Having a strong purpose communicates that you believe in your business and are committed.
3. Deliver Consistency Online and Offline
Online and offline consistency removes any doubts about who you are and what you stand for. The visual brand should be consistent from business cards through to whitepapers and infographics.
Social media and websites often act as a next step after a meeting or a presentation. The prospect will look to confirm information and decide if the pitch is for real. Every touch point should communicate the same messages.
If you sell simplicity, your visual brand should be simple and uncluttered. If you have a unique approach to the market, cookie cutter content or a website will take away from that bigger message.
Developing a consistent visual brand builds trust and delivers messages clearly online and offline.
4. Build a Track Record
There is no greater proof for your services or solution than a track record of success. A consistent stream of case studies, blog posts, awards and press releases all point to stability and your ability to deliver in the long-term. Several years of communicating how you make your customers successful can accelerate a prospects decision making and confirm that they are making the right choice.
B2B brands should always capture their accomplishments in a piece of content that can live on their websites and in the hands of their sales teams. It puts good work to use and creates new positive touchpoints.
At the same time, you’re also mitigating risk when things go wrong. You can point to pieces of content that illustrate that an issue was out of the ordinary and not common.
Content can help you to build a track record of success that demonstrates the long-term success of customers.
From start-ups through to multinational corporations, trust is critical to success for any B2B organisation.
Book a meeting today, if you’d like to discuss strategies for building trust in your brand with content and how that drives long-term growth.