If consumers don’t trust your brand, they won’t buy what you’re offering. Trust is a top priority for customers when purchasing. According to a recent report, 81% of consumers say they must trust a company before buying from them.
However, consumers are less likely to trust brands and show brand loyalty in today’s competitive market. In fact, 46% of shoppers are more likely to do business with competitors than they would five years ago.
So how can you improve consumer trust in 2022?
In today’s era of marketplace disruption, you can’t rely solely on the quality of your services or products to build consumer trust. You need to develop a consistent brand image, establish a lasting relationship, and follow through with customers.
The Importance of Gaining Consumer Trust
Consumer trust is the belief consumers have in a brand. They believe businesses will do what they promise. Thus, building consumer trust is walking the walk, talking the talk, and knowing that consumers pay attention. Consumers who trust your business are also loyal to your brand and act as brand advocates.
According to a 2019 study, 82% of US consumers and 75% of global consumers say they’ll continue to do business with a brand they trust, even if another business suddenly pops up. Also, the same study shows that consumers will advocate on their favorite businesses’ behalf, with 78% of US consumers and 76% of global consumers saying they always recommend their favorite brands if someone asks.
It’s essential to note that consumer trust is tied to customer loyalty. 62% of consumers say that they’re loyal to businesses they can trust. Often, loyal customers are ready to defend your business’s reputation in the marketplace and choose you when they need to purchase products or services that you’re offering, ultimately improving your revenue margins.
1. Deliver Quality Product and Service
With so many alternatives available to consumers, you may wonder whether quality still matters. Yes, delivering quality service and products is essential to building consumer trust. However, quality isn’t just about providing products or services that exceed the standard, but it’s also about the reputation your brand gains from delivering an excellent customer experience consistently.
Delivering quality services and products is essential for small businesses. Quality products and services can help you improve customer satisfaction and loyalty and reduce the cost and risk of replacing faulty products.
No matter what industry you’re in, consumers won’t choose your brand solely based on price, but often based on the quality of the service and product you’re offering. In fact, consumers are ready to pay more for products or services they think exceed the standard.
2. Establish a Lasting Relationship
Building and maintaining a strong relationship with customers is essential for sustainable company growth. Often, it’s common for business owners to focus their marketing budget on gaining new customers. However, continuing to do business with existing customers can help you generate more sales and get referrals to other potential customers.
Building a lasting relationship with your customers can help you earn their trust and focusing on reengagement marketing campaigns can help you save time and money. Chad Horenfeldt notes that “the key to developing long-term customer relationships is building trust with your customers and delivering value.” Once a consumer knows that you’re dependable and your products and services offer value, they’re more likely to buy what you’re offering in the future.
Establishing a strong relationship with consumers not only builds customer trust, but also develops brand advocates. Brand advocacy happens when customers trust your brand and become your biggest cheerleaders. This means after building a lasting relationship with your customers that’s based on trust, they’ll organically support your brand and rave about your products or services to anyone ready to listen. Research shows that 92% of customers trust word-of-mouth recommendations, and 82% of customers proactively seek personal recommendations from their friends, family, and colleagues.
3. Be Honest with Consumers
Consumers trust transparent brands. To build consumer trust, your marketing message shouldn’t be misleading. Don’t make promises in your marketing copy you can’t keep.
Further, it’s essential to be ethical and straightforward beyond that. Your marketing and sales team must be upfront about pricing and how your products and services can legitimately help your target audience solve their problems. If your brand makes a substantial mistake, own it, and address the matter as quickly as possible.
Be truthful in your dedication to working for customers’ best interests and prove it by keeping your prospects in the loop and being as honest as possible.
4. Following Through with a Customer
Customers are ready to trust brands, which they have some stake in—brands that truly believe that consumers matter. One of the most effective ways to establish your company is to follow through with consumers. Ask for their feedback and act on it.
Send out surveys, ask for feedback after every purchase, let customers contribute, and improve your customer service operations. Following through with customers is one of the best avenues of letting consumers know you value them for more than just the money they spend on your business.
Hear what consumers have to say. If an issue they bring up strikes a chord, take action. Improve your products or services based on your customers’ feedback.
Show that your relationship with consumers goes both ways—helping your customers develop trust with your brand by letting them know you’ll hear them out.
5. Share Customer Testimonials and Positive Reviews
Customers trust fellow consumers more than the brands they’re doing business with. Consumers often view real consumers’ experiences with brands as more objective and valuable than a brand’s clear-cut marketing strategy.
Thus, you must promote and project satisfied clients’ positive experiences by encouraging your existing customers to leave reviews and share their testimonials. When a real consumer is vouching for your service or product, or customer experience, that adds some type of legitimacy to your product, service, and brand messaging.
Studies show that 85% of customers read 9 or 10 reviews before they trust a brand. The same study also shows that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal referrals from friends, family members, and colleagues. Thus, it’s essential to leverage the power of testimonials and online reviews to build customer trust. You can ask your customers to leave reviews and testimonials and place them on your web pages to improve your credibility.
Also, you can leverage video testimonials. Today, videos are the most compelling marketing materials and it takes seconds for consumers to record and send video testimonials. You can add video testimonials as success stories on your site for potential customers to see. Consumer testimonial videos can help your company improve your conversion rate by as much as 86%.
Final Thoughts
The key to building consumer trust is valuing your customers and diligently conveying that appreciation back to them. Strive to serve and delight your customers at each touchpoint. Show that you know your customers are savvy and be sensitive to their needs through honest marketing.
Be considerate throughout the entire sales process and don’t ignore your customers once they purchase what you’re offering. Consumers want you to follow up on them and see if they’re finding any value from your product or service.
After gathering customer feedback, do everything you can to project it to other customers. Customers want to hear from other customers. Thus, if your customers are happy with your service or product, you must get their message out there. Ask for testimonials and online reviews, put together well-crafted reviews and testimonials, and let prospective customers know real customers trust your brand.
In the digital era, where customers have unlimited access to information and massive platforms to air out their grievances and opinions, building and maintaining consumer trust and confidence is critical. Thus, you must do everything you can to deliver quality products and services, establish strong relationships, and be honest with consumers to empower them and ultimately build consumer trust.
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