In order to successfully develop any branding strategies, companies should first establish their presence and their reputation online. Here, creating your social profiles, doling out well-planned Internet marketing strategies, and deeply engaging with your targeted demographic are definitely valued.

When done right, these can greatly contribute in making your potential followers more aware of your range of offerings and your company as a brand…or more importantly, as a brand they can trust.

But as you may know, building that trusting relationship between a brand and its demographic is not an easy task, especially on the social Web. The truth is you can’t engineer trust. Even in the age of digital marketing and the highly interactive Internet culture, trust still needs to be earned. So for those only beginning to build their brand’s identity online, here are three great personas you’ll want your brand to embody to help inspire trust among your targeted followers.
 

The Accessible Leader

Image by Caveman Chuck Coker

So many brands these days strive to be the leader in their own industry or niche. This is a good goal to aim for as it prompts brands to dedicate themselves to better their offerings and serve their followers the best way they can. On the other hand, being the authority figure can sometimes be repelling.

As a countermeasure, it’s best to become the Accessible Leader. This means that while you’re still a figure head in your community, you’re still easy to reach, and is an active contributing member of your social network. Actively posting and participating on the brand’s blogs and social networks greatly helps in building this image. It gives your followers the impression that you are indeed one of them, making you easier to relate and interact with.

And of course it’s more preferable than being that silent figure head that barely communicates with people, and only goes online to post content, share links and to straighten “wayward” community members.

The Subject Matter Expert

Image by jurvetson

No matter what industry you’re in or what niche you belong to, it pays to be a Subject Matter Expert people can rely on. And it’s definitely another great image your brand should embody. Being knowledgeable about your industry, by itself, can help build trust among your community; people will come to you for your advice and opinions, hang on to your every word, and trust you enough to follow your every recommendation.

In order for your expertise to be recognized by your followers, you can consistently supply your blog and Web site with good quality content. And this context, we mean content that is actually easy to read and focuses heavily on helping your readers with their concerns, and enriching their lives with new information they can learn from. This includes providing unbiased opinions and recommendations, and very little or no blatant hard-selling of your own products.

The common types of content that will build your cred as a subject matter expert include—

• How-tos— Detailed instructions people can easily follow to accomplish a task or complete a project
• Tips and tricks— Practical tips and not-so-popular or unconventional solutions to make things better or easier to do
• Opinions— Your own take on things to help readers understand new concepts, products, and even opposing sides of an argument
• Late breaking news— Updates from within the industry that focus on how new services, products, or third party influences that can affects how people live

The Proactive, Empathic Listener

Image by Grzegorz Łobiński

Everybody runs into problems sometimes, and it’s common for us to come looking for people who will listen to us, offer a solid piece of advice or two, and will even try to find a way to help us sort things out.

And we all know that person; that default shoulder-to-cry-on in our lives who will patiently listen to us extensively and repeatedly recount how we encountered our problem.

That’s a person we obviously trust with our issues and concerns, knowing that they will be there when we need them, and we can rely on them to help us resolve our issues. That’s a great image, and it’s one your brand your brand should definitely consider embodying.

Being the Proactive, Empathic Listener is especially great for brands boosting their customer service strategies over the social Web. On any given day, companies will receive criticism and complaints not only on their customer service hotlines or e-mail inboxes, but also on their blog’s comments sections, and social profiles. It is then part of the brand’s responsibilities to respond to them, help them along the way, and maybe even go out of your way to come up with a resolution.

Tags: Brand Development, Brand Marketing, Branding, internet marketing, social media marketing