Consumer choice continues to proliferate as new brands emerge, but despite having more options than ever, brand loyalty remains strong among consumers. While companies might expect this allegiance for products consumers routinely buy (e.g., toilet paper), high-consideration purchases like cars and computers are also benefitting. NielsenCommspoint Journeyfound that 85% of consumer purchases in over 80 categories involved a brand the consumer had purchased from before, including those categories with longer, more complex consideration journeys. While these findings are reassuring for household names, it means that industry newcomers will need to work harder to acquire customers. 

The key to earning new business is securing prospects’ trust. Shoppers considering a new brand are 25% more likely than the average consumer to name trust as a component of their ideal brand relationship. With a brand’s ads as consumers’ usual first point of contact, it’s up to advertisers to lay the groundwork for this relationship. 

Fortunately for brands, consumers are open to being advertised to. Forty-five percent of first-time customers to a brand found advertising useful or influential, compared to only 18% who recall using reviews in their journey. This presents brands with sizable opportunity to influence new prospects with ads. 

Consumers may favor their tried-and-true suppliers, but they are still open to being pitched to. Here’s how advertisers can use that receptivity to establish trust that translates to enduring sales. 

Acutely understand your target audiences

Advertisers need to make a strong impression on prospects to persuade them to switch brands. The challenge is that customers are wary of new brands, especially in categories where the goods are typically expensive, like electronics or automotive. Whereas only one in 10 consumers (11%) report feeling worried when buying from a brand they’ve engaged before, that fraction doubles when customers embark on a purchase journey with a new brand. Building trust therefore starts by dissuading fears. 

To earn prospects’ trust, advertisers need to welcome consumers to the brand with messaging that addresses their unique needs. It’s best practice in general for advertisers to tailor their messaging for different demographics, as irrelevant messaging risks isolating prospects instead of encouraging them to continue interacting with the brand. Likewise, generalized messaging can ostracize existing customers who no longer feel represented by the brand.

To inform this messaging, advertisers should consider how their brand’s offerings solves for a defined problem in this demographic’s life. Similarly, are there are any macro-trends impacting these individuals’ lives that may influence their shopping behaviors? Advertisers should scope campaigns with these insights in mind. Advertisers can create even more targeted messaging by leveraging analytics tools that capture consumer sentiment. For example, with insights into how prospects engage with the brand (e.g., whether a prospect clicked through an ad or kept scrolling), advertisers can see which messages are resonating. Advertisers can continue to leverage these tools to sustain trust with existing shoppers, designing messaging that addresses how their needs have evolved so that their trust doesn’t waiver. 

Match the messaging to the channel

Advertisers must also think critically about where they plan to air their ads, as the channel can be as influential to audiences’ receptiveness as the content of the ad. Consumers rank marketing investments like sponsorships, newspaper ads, and ads before movies to be the most trustworthy types of ads, according to Nielsen’s U.S. Trust in Advertising survey. Ads appearing in online banners, social media or mobile text are, by contrast, considered less trustworthy. 

However, while these findings can direct where brands place initial ads, advertisers need to research which channels their specific target audiences most often engage with to ensure the ads actually reach them. Using their analytics tools to monitor consumer shopping behaviors, advertisers can identify these channels as well as assess how successful their ads perform on them over time. 

Importantly, advertisers need to work with their organizations to ensure robust marketing funnels have been established following the initial ad so that, once advertisers introduce prospects to the brand, there’s a course to bring shoppers to the point of purchase. After advertisers’ hard work securing consumer trust, they don’t want to lose it along a faulty consumer journey.

Customer acquisition might feel like an uphill battle, but with the right messaging and channel usage—and technology to guide their strategies—advertisers can capture prospects’ attention and earn their trust. By showing shoppers that their brand can fulfill consumer needs in ways that legacy brands can’t, advertisers can turn prospects into repeat buyers. 

About the Author

Imran Hirani is vice president, strategic accounts, at Nielsen. He has 20+ years of experience in market research across a range of disciplines and geographies, having led research in over 15 countries, spanning four continents. In his current role, Hirani leads a team of consultants that helps clients improve media effectiveness through insights on targeting and evaluation of media impact. Previously, Imran held expert roles in a broad array of marketing disciplines including innovation, product assortment, pricing, and marketing ROI. Imran is a fan of new data sets and innovating new metrics/approaches for complex challenges.