In a crowded marketplace — and especially where budgets are tight — it should come as no surprise that 81% of customers need to trust a brand to consider buying from it. And the best way you can build that trust is by increasing your brand authority.
Brand authority is the exact opposite of the hard sell. It’s about setting out your credentials as a safe and competent pair of hands; someone who understands your customers’ problems and pain points, and who also has the solutions to address them.
Here’s a closer look at how to build brand authority, and how the right brand partnerships can help you stand out from the crowd to create a valuable competitive edge.
What Is Brand Authority?
One of the best brand authority definitions comes from Adobe: “Brand authority relates to the level of trust a brand has with its customers. It measures how much your brand is viewed as an expert in its subject matter, or the best in its field”.
Companies with strong brand authority tend to have the following things in common:
- Emphasis on quality: This includes reliable product or service offerings, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
- Demonstrable expertise: Brand authority is enhanced by showcasing your expertise through things like articles, whitepapers, podcasts, and live events.
- Strong and consistent brand identity: They offer a compelling narrative that connects with customers. Messaging is consistent across all channels.
Why is Brand Authority Important?
Attracting customers and converting leads
People much prefer buying from authoritative, knowledgeable industry leaders than unknowns. According to LinkedIn, three quarters of would-be buyers say that thought leadership helps them determine which vendors make it to their short list. The report also found that 79% say that perceived authority is critical for determining which providers they want to learn more about. If you can showcase your expertise — for example, by appearing in reputable media sources — it can significantly enhance both brand awareness, and customer conversion.
Improving online visibility
Search engines reward quality, value, and relevance: three key characteristics of a high authority brand. Let’s say you create an article on a topic that you know will resonate with your potential buyers and publish it on a respected platform. High authority means more links to your own site, more mentions, and organic traffic. The result? A higher ranking for your own website. More customers searching for industry solutions will find your brand first.
Differentiation and perception of value
According to Salsify’s 2025 Consumer Research report, 87% of customers say they’d pay more for a brand they can trust. If you are seen as a leader in your field, it gives you greater leeway to explore premium pricing models and higher profit margins.
Especially in a saturated market, this emphasis on quality and expertise can help you avoid getting caught in a race to the bottom. You can maintain profitability, without sacrificing margins.
How to Demonstrate Brand Authority
Here are some practical ways to start earning and developing brand authority:
Create expert-led content
To build brand authority, you need content that educates, informs, and engages your audience, while also demonstrating your expertise and credibility. A few examples include the following:
- In-depth thought leadership articles offering expert insights, commentary on trends, and industry perspectives.
- Infographics and visual data content.
- Data-backed whitepapers and research reports.
- Podcasts and expert interviews.
Think carefully about where to publish your content. If you can collaborate with partners and experts who already enjoy high levels of trust, it can deliver an immediate boost to your strategy for building authority.
Here’s how this can work in practice:
- You identify a platform specialising in high-quality commentary, opinion, and news content. This platform already has a large audience of subscribers, including potential buyers of your product.
- This platform’s internal team can provide you with insights on what type of content is most likely to resonate with its readers/subscribers.
- You now have access to a large, engaged audience that would not have been accessible if you were relying solely on owned and social channels.
- Readers start to associate your brand with valuable industry knowledge.
- Being cited and linked to from this source also increases your own website’s credibility, helping you to organically grow your online presence.
Build a community
Three quarters of internet users are members of one or more communities. It was found that 61% of B2B customers say that they much prefer to be taught how to solve a problem than have someone directly solve it for them. If you are generous with your expertise, and willing to share it, this can be a really powerful way of building credibility, trust, and authority.
Consider setting up your own community forum, and taking time to actively contribute on relevant Reddit or LinkedIn groups, or other similar development forums. Answering questions, sharing insights, offering solutions, perhaps provoking debate, are all very useful ways to cement your position as an authority in your field.
This is a further area where collaboration with external partners and experts can bring an additional boost to your company’s brand. For example, let’s say you guest-appear on a podcast discussion on a tech commentary site. You raise some thought-provoking points about where you think your industry could be heading over the next few years. Your next step could involve heading over to that platform’s community or sub Reddit to carry on the conversation and get more perspectives from a wider audience.
Host or attend events
Live events, whether in-person or virtual, can be powerful tools for building up your credibility, and creating memorable connections with your audience. To use events as part of your wider strategy for building brand authority, consider the following:
See what type of events are most likely to engage your audience
Refer to your customer research to establish the type of events that are most likely to attract your ideal audience. Categories of events to consider include the following:
- Trade shows and expos (e.g. CES and Web Summit): good for showcasing and networking.
- Conferences & summits (e.g. RSA Conference in cybersecurity): good for establishing thought leadership and panel discussions.
- Workshops & webinars: effective for building education and training-driven brand authority. For example, a HR and payroll software vendor hosts a masterclass covering recent tax changes.
- Community meetups: good for relationship nurturing on an informal, grassroots level.
Prioritise events with opportunities for direct participation
Being a panelist, keynote speaker, or workshop leader can be an especially effective way to get your name out there and build credibility. Look for calls for speakers at conferences where you can share your expertise. Look for collaborative and co-branding opportunities. Again, this is an area where collaboration with partners and external experts can be very useful.
For example, there may be opportunities to co-host a discussion, webinar, or linked podcast. Your collaborator’s distribution channels — whether newsletters, social media, or online communities — can also be extremely valuable for promoting your event to a wider audience.
Build Brand Authority With Industry Experts Today
Potential customers have a tendency to judge brands based on both the level of knowledge and expertise they convey, and on the company they keep. This is why a two-pronged approach is useful when seeking to build authority:
First off, be willing to create engaging, relevant and useful content to share with your audience.
And secondly, give serious consideration to building strategic partnerships with trusted, credible, and influential organisations. Get your choice of collaborations right, and it goes a long way to expanding your audience, boosting your credibility, and positioning yourself as an industry leader.
For example, imagine the most pressing pain point or challenge faced by your potential buyers in today’s environment. How would you like to participate in a podcast with an already well-established expert to discuss this topic and demonstrate your authority on it? Better still, how would you like the opportunity to showcase this podcast to potentially tens of thousands of potential buyers? In terms of building brand authority, this is just a taste of what’s possible through collaboration with EM360Tech.
Want to know more about appearing on a podcast to supercharge your branding strategy? Get in touch with the EM360Tech team, and let’s elevate your brand authority to the next level.