The best relationships are solidly forged on a framework of trust. In fact, the only relationships worth having, in the long run, are trust-based. The fact is that this truth about interpersonal relationships also applies to your brand’s relationships with your customers and potential customers. The good news is you can use the same principles of trust that apply to your close personal relationships to your brand’s relationships – and can reap the rewards in the process.

Survey Says

According to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer, a consumer’s trust in a brand ranks right up there with value and quality. In fact, brand trust is a major player when it comes to helping consumers pull the trigger on making purchases. Unfortunately, the survey also found a trust gap, which is illustrated by the following statistics:

A full 81 percent of participants shared that trusting a brand to do what’s right is a deal-breaker when it comes to making a purchase.

This adds up to a significant trust gap that businesses should address.

Don’t You Trust Me?

We all know that real trust isn’t forged in a moment. Trust grows stronger over time. You know what it takes to build trust in a personal relationship and how that trust enriches your relationship overall. Because consumers ask for trust by name, it only stands to reason that companies should be putting in the legwork it takes to build trust in their business relationships. Applying the principles that help us foster trust personally can help us foster trust in our brands, and that’s the kind of trust that builds customer loyalty and also bolsters bottom lines.

Mea Culpa

Online reviews exist, and regardless of how much effort you put into making each and every one of your customers happy, there is every chance that you’ll get a less than stellar review from time to time. No one expects your brand to be perfect, but everyone wants you to be accountable for your mistakes. This is where admitting fault, expressing regret, and rectifying the problem at hand comes into play.

Your customer reviews matter – potential customers use them for guidance – and it’s critical that you monitor them. When you come across a negative review, the right response is a genuine response that hits all of the following high notes:

You let the reviewer (and anyone reading the review) know that your company is listening
You agree with the reviewer that the situation presents an opportunity for your company to improve
You let the reviewer know that you are attending to the issue at hand and that you are doing everything you can to address the problem

Ultimately, your genuine responses to negative reviews give your brand credibility. The bottom line is that a long list of perfect reviews is suspicious. Every business sees its share of negativity, but trustworthy businesses address this head-on.

Content Should Be a Value Add

In your close personal relationships, you don’t spend the bulk of your time selling yourself and your many fine attributes. Relationships are built by genuinely sharing with one another – and not by tooting one’s own horn. Building a stronger relationship between your company and your customers is no different. When you offer up content, make it content that’s valuable to the reader, not content that is designed to solely benefit your business.

When you’re thinking about content, think about what your customers and potential customers are looking for – and give it to them. Generosity is an especially good look here. Your customers are interested in what you have to offer them, and you’re in the business of providing them with what they want. While tying in exactly how you can help within the content you provide is a good idea, it should never be your focal point. The strongest and most rewarding relationships include an element of selflessness, and this can go a long way toward engendering trust and building your brand.

A good rule-of-thumb is to limit self-promotion in your content to 20 percent of the total material. You are going for useful, interesting, and credible. Further, your offerings shouldn’t be static. When you keep things moving, you keep things interesting, and you provide more opportunities for your customers and potential customers to connect with your content.

Keep an eye on what your competition is getting up to contentwise, and don’t be afraid to put your own spin on their offerings and improve them in the process. Finally, if you see an information gap, fill it.

Talk To Me

You need to talk to your customers on their terms, which means genuinely connecting with them instead of chasing them around. No longer is it enough to simply hypothesize about what customers might want based solely on their demographics. Demographics has lost its coveted spot at the top and has been replaced by intention. In other words, instead of focusing on who a customer is, take a look at their marketing intentions – what are they looking for.

When we have a need, we take action to fill it – generally, on our smartphones (and other devices). These micro-moments, when the customer shows up with need-based intentions, are a golden opportunity in marketing – if you can provide the customer or client with what he or she is looking for, you can likely chalk up another conversion.

Call Us Today to Talk to a Digital Marketing Expert

The relationship between your brand and your existing and potential customers is critical to your business, and trust plays an important role in this relationship. Building trust with customers is similar to building trust in any relationship, except you’re going to need more tech-savvy to build trust online. The digital marketing experts at The Web Guys are here to help you achieve just that, so contact us online or give us a call at 317-805-4933 to learn more about us and our other marketing services today.

Building Brand Trust in the Digital Age