Brands help give the consumer choice. Rather than buying the same thing every day, we can choose what we want to consume, who we want to work with and the type of lifestyle we want to live.

So why do certain brands get chosen over others? What helps sway the buyer’s perception from choosing one product over the other, even if they are relatively the same? Why does one charge a premium price while the other has no choice but to try and lower theirs to make a minimum profit?

The answer to these questions is the brand’s ability to establish trust with the consumer and guide their perception towards what they believe will be the highest quality product or service, making their investment the best and smartest choice.

Building Trust With Customers

One of the biggest problems many brands face is how they can build trust with the consumer. To begin solving this problem, we first need to understand how we show up in the marketplace and our daily actions.

Let’s take a look at a few key points that will help us define how we show up and how we will build a sense of trust with our desired customers:

• What do we want to say through our tone and messaging?
• How do we want to present ourselves, our look, feel and aesthetic presentation?
• How will we show up, what is our purpose, and what are our values?
• Who are we speaking to, and why should they care?

These characteristics are crucial when learning how we can build a foundation of trust with our audience and ideal partnerships.

A Solid Brand Foundation

Just like building a house, having a misaligned structure, one made with poor materials, can cause many problems in maintaining and establishing the brand’s reputation.

Building trust with the consumer takes time and consistency. If we look at branding as a vessel that helps others become who they want to be (i.e. healthier, climate-conscious, et cetera), then we can begin to position ourselves in the marketplace to where we can build a long-lasting relationship with our desired audience.

Attributes of Better Brands

An exercise we often tell our clients to engage in is asking themselves what makes a good and trustworthy friend. If you were to list all the things and attributes that matter to you, you are likely to define a lot of aspects that are required when developing a trustworthy brand that you would most likely want to support and trust for years to come.

Here are a few more questions you can ask yourself to help you better define what matters when developing a brand someone can trust:

• What are some brands that you trust and buy from frequently?
• What would it take for you to stop buying from them?
• What would you be looking for in a brand that you would deem trustworthy, and how do they show up? (ie. What do they say? What do they look like?)
• How long have these brands been in business, and what does brand consistency mean and look like to you?

Trust in a brand is a powerful driving force that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Brands and branding don’t stay the same but often grow and fluctuate over time. We need to make sure we set our expectations accordingly and show up as our truest, most authentic selves to establish the trust we are looking for long-term.

Remember, there are no shortcuts to this type of success in the eyes of the consumer. Look towards building meaningful ties to the community over a long period and work towards building that solid foundation others can rely upon.

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