3 ways brands can build trust with confused consumers

Modern consumers want to buy from brands they trust, but they’re also overwhelmed with information about what kinds of products they should be buying.

“Consumers change their mind constantly – especially in the digital age. Every day, there’s a new recipe to try or a new thing to be concerned about or a new diet that will change your life. That constant change confuses consumers and makes it difficult for brands to keep up,” Steve Lerch, an expert in internet marketing and President of Story Arc Consulting, said May 8 during the Animal Agriculture Alliance 2020 Virtual Stakeholders Summit.

Consumers are willing to pay more for products from brands they trust. Nearly 90% of people surveyed by market research company Cone Communications said they would purchase a product because a company supported an issue they valued. More importantly, 75% of respondents indicated they would refuse to buy from a company that supports an issue contrary to their own belief.

Lerch shared three ways poultry and other meat brands can build trust with consumers:

Share consumer doubts

Brands should accept and embrace consumer concerns that don’t hurt your product.

For example: consumers are always looking for ways to consume more protein. Egg marketers should take advantage of that fact.

“I want to have a conversation where I can be on the same side as consumers, in this case, a desire for protein,” Lerch said. “I can position myself as a source of information for how eggs have more protein than their competitors.”

You can’t be all things to all people

Identify the platforms and voices at your disposal for different messages.

“Different people will follow you on different social media platforms. This means that what the person on Facebook cares about is different than the person who follows your brand on Instagram or TikTok. It’s important to track this so that you can craft different messages. You can’t be all things to all people,” he explained.

Don’t lead with your dissertation

Make it easy for consumers to find the answers to their questions. The food production industry has a lot of dense, intimidating and complicated topics to tackle – from animal rights to sustainability – but first, you need to get a consumer’s attention.

Instead, brands should lead with what Lerch calls a ‘Beyoncé story.’

“I’m at a party and I want to impress some girls. Do I lead with telling them about the dense math dissertation I’m working on or about how I met Beyoncé at a coffee shop last week?” he said. “Of course, I’m going to talk about Beyoncé. You lead with the story that is fun and will capture people’s attention.”

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