There was a time when all a business needed to thrive was a strong brand (or business) identity. However, with the advent of the internet, this is no longer the case. Today, more and more consumers base their trust on other customers’ reviews.
In fact, businesses and brands that are trusted are the ones that get higher traffic, have a wider audience, and are generally more profitable than those that are not. Luckily, there are ways to build trust with your brand’s online audience. Here are some key strategies to help you build that trust.
Content is King
Valuable content can make a huge difference in how customers perceive your brand. The thing to remember here is that your website’s content should be genuine and unique. Fancy content that does not reflect your brand’s philosophy will actually hurt your brand rather than help it.
The idea is to stand out by offering a unique standpoint that also reflects your brand’s philosophy. Such kind of content can help build your authority on your subject, which in turn builds consumer trust.
Two-Way Communication
Consumers trust brands that respond to their queries and complaints quickly. To do so, you must be active on social media and monitor all your brand’s pages for comments, complaints, or questions. You have to ensure that you address as well as resolve customer complaints and disputes as soon as possible – and inform them of their resolution (another way to handle these disputes is to use a third-party mediation service, such as Purchase Guard, for example).
When you are there for your customers, it leads to trust being built gradually for your brand.
Celebrate Validation
When you get praised by other websites, or a page gets viewed a record number of times, or maybe you have reached a milestone on your site (for example, you are now getting 5,000 visitors per day!), share this good news with your target audience.
When you share testimonials and social proof of your achievements, it helps build brand trust. You won’t believe how much of a difference it makes when a third-party validates your brand!
Honesty is the Best Policy
This is an old adage, but it still holds true. Customers can see through lies, and that can destroy their trust beyond repair. The best thing you can do for your brand is always to be honest.
Today, most websites and blogs have paid reviews, sponsored posts, and even affiliate links. However, many of them do not disclose this fact, which tends to erode their audience’s trust in their brand.
Added to that, if you have made a mistake or your customers are not satisfied with your products, then it is best to accept the criticism and also acknowledge what you have done wrong.
If you are using affiliate links or sponsored posts, you must ensure that these are also trusted brands. Remember, if you are associated with sites that lead to spam or phishing sites, it will erode customers’ trust in your business or brand.
Make Your Brand Visible
The traditional way of creating visibility for businesses and brands is through advertisements and marketing campaigns. However, more novel approaches, such as applying influencer marketing strategies, are more effective in creating and building audience trust.
By ensuring visibility on social media, you can tap into many influencers in various niches. These are people who are not just your potential customers, but they also influence others with their knowledge and can help you convert more of your target audience.
In a recent survey, it was found that a whopping 92% of all consumers stated that they trusted other people’s recommendations over the content delivered directly by a given brand. This just goes to show what kind of impact social influencers can have on building trust in your brand.
Conclusion
In today’s world, your brand’s value is dependent on how much people trust your brand. And if you know how to build that trust, especially online, you can turn it into a huge marketing tool for your company.
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