Trust is the basis of consumer relationships. It drives sales, ensures a loyal and returning following, and offers the brand a great reputation. People need to feel like a company is a credible provider to trust them with their money, time, and information.
What Factors Influence Customer Trust?
Reliability is particularly essential for online businesses. As potential clients cannot come to your store and see the products for themselves. So it is essential to actively work on a strategy to establish trust.
What do customers value the most in this regard? Dscout’s research found that respondents listed several “trust” characteristics, such as:
- Quality;
- Reliability;
- Honesty;
- Transparency;
- Communication;
- Price;
- Service;
- Sustainability;
- Review;
- Reputation.
It is easy to see what comes into such a perception of a brand. Whether you sell a physical product or digital services, clients need to be sure they get value. For instance, you can ask a student why they trust a specific academic writing platform.
The answer will be in lines – I write my paper with WritePaper writers because they have a transparent policy, good prices, and deliver excellent service. The team has great response time and clear communication. Experienced writers offer writing, editing, and proofreading help with all types of college papers. So a student can be sure that their assignment is of top-notch quality and delivered timely. The team works even on the shortest notice and offers guidance and expert advice (additional value).
This is point zero – credibility is based on the quality of service/product and understanding of your customers. Now, let’s talk about specific digital marketing strategies that can help build trust.
Be Transparent
This seems like an obvious thing, yet a lot of brands do not know how to approach it. Transparency is crucial for brand positioning and values as well as communication. How to apply it? Here are some tips:
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Make clear guidelines and policies
Create a customer communication strategy that will be understandable for everyone. Add post-sale communication like checking on the experience, asking for feedback, or creating a loyalty program.
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Be always ready to answer
Answer questions promptly and create a space where clients can leave inquiries. Leave ways to contact you visible on the brand’s website – email, phone number, social media, chatbox, etc.
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Open doors to the audience
Share the story of the brand, production process, or team culture. Make it not just a faceless company but a personable entity. Create the content on how you come up with ideas, work in a team, or create a product.
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Own up to your mistakes
If there is a negative comment, do not delete it. This rarely goes unnoticed by users. And if you delete it, people think you have something to hide. Address the mistake professionally and politely. Try to resolve the issue as promptly as possible.
Accept Feedback
It is not only about understanding customers but also showing them that you understand them. This starts with the ultimate buyer’s persona to digital marketing techniques.
This means asking for feedback and incorporating it into the workflow. Also, it means social listening. See what people have got to say about your brand. How do they perceive it? Do they have a negative experience? If so, you can reach out and try to change that. If they have a positive experience, thank them for their trust.
The easiest way to do so is through social media. For instance, a lot of brands use Twitter now to look into mentions and respond to them. When done right, it works like a charm and gets a lot of exposure.
Create Authentic Content
In modern times, content marketing and SEO are crucial for strong online performance and brand awareness. One of the best ways to establish an authentic brand is to create unique and interesting content.
It has to be:
- Original;
- Actionable;
- Valuable;
- Authentic to the brand’s voice;
- Accurate;
- Problem-solving.
This includes a company’s blog, YouTube channel, social media, or podcasts. All of these create a stronger emotional bond and showcase to the audience that you care about it.
Add Social Proof
Social proof is a testimony from others that they enjoyed the service of the product. It is a simple yet very effective strategy. You can create a website section devoted to reviews and comments from former clients or business partners.
Another perfect way to achieve that is to partner with an established and reputable brand. This works as a halo effect – people that trust it will trust you as well. Working with the right influencers is effective as well. They already have a strong bond with their audience. And if they recommend your company, the chances are the audience will follow the lead.
Also, a company can add social proof by publishing case studies. Even if a person has little knowledge of your company, a case study is a credible source of information.
Showcase Growth
Another simple trick is to showcase the metrics and growth rate of your company. In many cases, people tend to believe more in well-established businesses. For instance, a lot of clients use Amazon because it is an industry leader. Thus, they trust it more than smaller providers.
Even if you are a small business, you can illustrate the positive metrics on your website or social media. For instance, the number of clients, team size, international presence, etc.
Run a Study
Data is one of the most effective ways of persuasion. That’s why a lot of businesses run market research. It doesn’t have to be nationwide or incredibly complex. Community surveys also count.
For instance, you can ask the audience to answer questions and publish a report on results on your platform. Use sentences like “95% of clients said that they love the experience shopping” or “67% of respondents experience back pain and our mattresses are ready to solve this problem.”
Stay Consistent
Consistency means people know what to expect. They know what the brand stands for and what type of service they can count on. Consistency should be in your message, attributes, design, communication, and delivery.
In Summary
Trust is essential to long and fruitful relationships with your audience. That’s why it should be approached as a comprehensive strategy that penetrates the whole workflow – from the product’s quality to post-sale communication.
