We are exposed to an estimated 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements per day. Branding and advertising are crucial to the success of businesses, but the trust that your brand builds with consumers carries a heavy load when it comes to the success of your efforts. Do consumers trust your brand?

Welcome to Marketing Tip Monday with SIP Certified. We know customers are looking for wines labeled as sustainable. While our longer-form episodes help you learn about the latest science and research for the wine industry, these twice-monthly micro podcasts will help you share your dedication to sustainable winegrowing so you can show your customers that you share their values.

Today we share how to build brand trust.

Building Brand Trust Create an experience

People don't buy products, they purchase experiences. Poeple are emotional beings, and often make decisions to fulfill an emotional need, whether it's to relax and unwind, have a lively social experience, find entertainment, or ease a heavy heart. You must know the kind of experience you want to create in order to sell it.

People like consistency and familiarity. Returning customers come back because they enjoyed a previous experience. Identifying the kind of experiences you want to create for your customers allows you to consistently deliver an experience worth coming back to.

6 steps to creating an awesome brand experience:

• Discover your purpose
• Focus on storytelling
• Be consistent
• Find opportunities for engagement
• Put experiences over sales
• Adapt and evolve

Connect on a personal level

Humans thrive on emotional, personal connections -- and these aren't limited to human-to-human relationships. An article in Foundr points out that, "Consumers crave personal relationships with brands..." How can you foster these personal relationships? Sharing your common values is a great place to start.

Consumers today are growing increasingly environmentally conscious. Through her research at Penn State University, Kathy Kelley, Professor of Horticultural Marketing and Retail Business Management, found that building stronger connections with your customers can be as simple as talking with them about the specific things your company does in regard to sustainability and why those practices are important. This can even increase the willingness to pay more for wine (listen to the podcast)!

Be open and authentic

The Internet has become an integral part of our lives and can be a wonderful tool for showing transparency and authenticity. Use your online channels (website, social media, eNewsletter) to connect, not just to market. We often pull up the Internet to fulfill emotional needs like decompressing, catching up with others, and exploring our interests. Use the creative platforms available to you to welcome your followers to learn more about your business -- things that a one-time visitor may not have the opportunity to learn. This will help your followers to form a stronger, more personal connection with your brand.

More branding tips

In our last Marketing Tip, we shared 3 ways you can strengthen your brand. Building brand trust is a crucial step in creating loyal supporters.

Stay tuned for more Marketing Tip Mondays, where we will help you explore ways of incorporating your brand's specific sustainable practices into your messaging.

Check out the show notes for a links to the Eco-Awkening and Full Glass consumer purchasing research,  this article, research on consumer preferences, and to sign up for our biweekly Marketing Tips newsletter. Until next time, this is Sustainable Winegrowing with the Vineyard Team.

References:

• **SIP Smart Training online course
• 161: Use Storytelling to Sell More Wine  
• 3 Ways to Build a Strong Brand
• Did you know...?
• Identifying wine consumers interested in environmentally sustainable production practices
• Marketing Tips eNewsletter
• SIP Certified
• What Sustainability Means to Consumers by Morning Consult