Generating brand trust is a crucial aspect of building a successful business. Nonetheless, winning your audience’s confidence can be difficult in highly competitive industries. And even more so if you’re trying to outperform well-established household names.
However, this doesn’t mean you can’t position your business as credible. It just demonstrates you have to know how to do it.
Investing in content marketing can be an exceptional method of growing your audience — especially if you focus on demonstrating expertise, prioritizing user value, and showing your willingness to educate your audience, even if it doesn’t mean making a sale for your business.
So, if you’re interested in using content marketing to demonstrate expertise and grow your audience, here’s how you can do it.
Prioritize In-Depth, Well-Researched Content
Reaching qualified prospects is one of the most significant challenges marketers face nowadays.
According to statistical data, brands publish, on average, around 7.5 million blog posts per day. Yet, most consumers only click on results on the first page of Google.
So, if you want to reach your audience and have a chance to convince them of your brand’s credibility, you must produce content that ranks.
One way to do this is to focus on quality over quantity.
By prioritizing in-depth, well-researched content, you won’t just demonstrate your team’s expert knowledge. More importantly, you’ll assist your prospects in solving their pain points. And you’ll maximize your chances of leaving a positive first impression, which is crucial for boosting engagement and conversion rates.
But what are the most effective ways to share your insights with web visitors?
Well, the first thing you have to understand is that great content offers unique, customer-oriented value. Don’t just repeat old info your prospects can find elsewhere. Instead, try to teach web visitors something new they couldn’t learn anywhere else.
For example, Golf Cart Tire Supply does a marvelous job with its blog section, providing a bunch of details on a variety of topics. Its Battery Maintenance guide, for instance, is an insightful resource (complete with images) that teaches people exactly what steps to take to ensure their golf cart batteries perform at their peak.
Additionally, understand that long-form content tends to outperform its short-form counterparts. It doesn’t just provide more physical space to deliver value and demonstrate expertise. It also tends to generate more backlinks and social media shares, giving it a valuable ranking advantage on SERPs.
However, if you use this knowledge to supercharge your content marketing strategy, don’t limit yourself to only producing written resources. Feel free to invest in video essays on niche topics, as these can be particularly successful at engaging young audiences.
Invest in User-Friendly Formats to Maximize Engagement
No matter how big of an audience your posts reach, they won’t benefit your brand if they don’t engage your viewers and readers. So, as you aim to boost brand trust and attract more prospects with content marketing, explore ways to maximize engagement rates.
In addition to covering relevant topics and delivering unique value, one of the best ways to achieve this goal is to invest in the right content formats.
For instance, while written content works great (and is budget-friendly), it’s not always the best choice for your brand. Instead, if you look at the research regarding the type of content people want to consume, you’ll find that video tends to perform best in 45% of cases.
With this in mind, it’s an excellent idea to invest in videos that answer your audience’s questions and demonstrate your team’s expertise and dedication to helping customers.
Pro tip: The easiest way to do this is with Hour One’s AI Video Generator. This solution allows you to create professional, customizable videos from a single text prompt, making it exceptionally easy to produce content that converts.
Or, if you prefer to do things manually, you can. Something as simple as a pre-recorded webinar can be a great way to demonstrate your team’s insights. Or, you could take the time to film tutorials and explainer videos to describe your solutions, then outsource the editing process to achieve a high-quality, attractive look.
For example, if you check out Figma’s Demo videos, you’ll see that the content does an exceptional job of explaining what the software does. But more importantly, thanks to the aesthetic appeal of the resources and the approachable demeanor of the narrator, consumers get the impression that this is a trustworthy organization led by experts, which is exactly what Figma needs to establish its position in the SaaS industry.
Optimize for SEO to Maximize Visibility
While producing and publishing high-quality resources does a tremendous job of earning your prospects’ trust, it’s not always enough to grow your business.
Instead, if you’re trying to skyrocket your brand toward success, you need to focus on maximizing content visibility. That way, you won’t just be able to reach more people. You’ll also have a bigger chance of attracting leads into the sales funnel, which is crucial for gaining the opportunity to nurture them into customers.
One of the easiest ways to optimize for SEO is to target high-volume keywords you know your audience is searching for.
For instance, understanding that its prospects are most likely looking for fashion inspiration for the summer months, Simply Beach created several articles with tips on appropriate beach and holiday apparel. What’s great about these posts is that they’re helpful, and they include several product page links. They’re subtly encouraging readers to check out the brand’s offer and convert into customers.
Source: simplybeach.com
Additionally, as you focus on SEO, it’s a good idea to keep tabs on Google’s algorithm updates.
For example, the latest update favors personalized content over generic resources. So, to win position zero on SERPs, produce content that directly addresses your target audience’s specific pain points. Then, provide them with personalized tips on removing their frustrations.
Embrace Niche Topics
When it comes to demonstrating your expertise and growing your brand, the toughest strategy to work with is to follow in your competitors’ footsteps.
Yes, targeting high-volume keywords can attract organic traffic to your website and create a market for your products. But standing out in a sea of options is never easy.
So, if you want a slightly more effective way to generate positive results from content marketing, consider embracing niche topics your competitors aren’t covering.
For example, if you can use your industry insights to solve specific pain points for your audience — as Mannequin Mall does with its Ultimate Mannequin Buyers’ Guide — you can effectively show your expertise and position your business as a trustworthy entity that consumers want to work with.
Source: mannequinmall.com
You could even get technical — especially if explaining complex concepts holds the potential of allowing you to boost your brand’s credibility. Of course, you don’t want to do this in a way that excludes and alienates a portion of your target audience. Instead, use the opportunity to bring foreign ideas closer to your potential customers, as done by Escort Radar below.
Knowing that it sells innovative tech, this brand takes its time to explain how radar detectors work, using the opportunity to showcase its competence and show readers that they could benefit from investing in such solutions.
Use Social Proof Formats to Showcase Experience and a Positive Track Record
Sometimes, the way to demonstrate expertise and inspire conversions isn’t about making impressive promises. Rather, the more effective way to accomplish these goals is to rely on social proof.
If you look at the research, you’ll find that 9 out of 10 people consider reviews when making buying decisions. So, if you’re looking for ways to demonstrate your brand’s competence, why not do it by showing your positive track record of solving consumer pain points?
The great thing about this content marketing strategy is that it can be as simple or as complex as you wish.
On the one hand, showing off star ratings and customer testimonials on key landing pages — as done by Brevo — is an excellent way to accomplish this goal.
Source: brevo.com
You can also take a step further with social proof content and produce long-form resources that will show prospects the precise approach your team used to help customers, which is another great tactic for earning customer trust.
Check out how Shopify does it. By sharing the story of one of its clients, the brand perfectly describes the process of transitioning from Etsy to Shopify, along with several helpful tips for business owners considering the move. The resulting content is an engaging article that employs a solid dose of storytelling. It’s also a great introduction to the value and insights Shopify offers, which is more than convincing for people looking for this type of ecommerce solution.
Final Thoughts
Content marketing is a powerful method for fuelling business growth. It can help you reach your target customers. It can engage high-quality leads. Finally, it can demonstrate your brand’s competence and convince buyers to convert.
To get the best results from this marketing strategy, focus on prioritizing reader/viewer value. That way, you will present your audience with content that answers their questions and show that you have the skill and experience to remove their pain points. Plus, you’ll prove that you’re ready to prioritize customer satisfaction over conversions, which is a huge plus in most people’s eyes.
