Gaining brand authority

When it comes to marketing, especially in financial institutions, the concept of brand and branding has gained enormous importance in the last several years. Marketers spend a great deal of time, passion and money developing, implementing and nurturing their brands.

Given all that goes into creating a successful brand, it’s only natural that brand practitioners want to gain and maintain brand authority. Below please are a few ways to help you achieve this status of brand authority and protect the investment your financial institution has made in it.

• Make storytelling an ally. Using the authentic feedback and testimonials of your consumers tells the unique story of your brand and how it impacts actual users. Testimonials are a powerful way to impart the end result of your brand on consumers. They are also more readily believed by others because they come from peers and not from you. Using both the words and photographs of real consumers that are loyal to your brand definitely enhances brand authority.
• Go beyond words. Consumers like to see the brands to which they are loyal in action. For financial institutions, this likely means being an active partner in important community events. Target your marketing dollars and become a sponsor or an active participant of key community gatherings, charitable events and other activities. When consumers see your brand (as lived by the actual employees that work there) in their communities working hard to make a difference, your brand authority grows.