What Makes People Trust Brands?
People have always supported brands that they trust more than those that they don’t, but studies have found this is more important in the modern day than it has ever been before. For instance, in just 2019, more than one-third of consumers (34%) claimed they trusted their chosen brands, illustrating why they made those choices. Fast forward a mere two years, and that number is up to 46%. More than half of consumers (53%) note that this trust is the single most important thing they consider when deciding what goods and services to purchase. When asked if trusting a brand matters more today than it has in the past, a massive 70% said that they felt that is where society has moved. Brand trust is everything.
So, if brand trust leads directly to sales and conversions, how can you create that trust? There are many things to consider, so we’ll start with a few of the big ones.
Focus on Your Online Identity
First and foremost, your online identity has to be strong. Not having a website at all instantly makes more than a quarter of all potential buyers not trust the brand. They haven’t even explored your products and services. They just see that you don’t have an active website and they aim to buy somewhere else. If your site is stagnant or nonexistent, then it’s clear that you are losing sales every single day.
Create Content That Helps
Beyond that, you need your online presence to be helpful to your customers, and that starts with always putting them first. What questions do they have? What do they want to learn? What problems are they facing that you can solve? The more you do to meet them where they are, the more they’re going to see your brand as one that cares about them. If you can create this impression, they are vastly more likely to trust your brand, to make purchases and to become repeat customers.
Interact with Your Customers
Additionally, your brand should be approachable. This is a relatively new concept, largely created by the internet. Consumers don’t want faceless corporations anymore. They expect to be able to interact, especially online. You need to answer questions, offer feedback, take complaints and generally engage them in whatever way they prefer. Brands that try to stand behind the old ideas of distance between consumers and companies are slowly losing the trust of their customer base — even if they have good products and services.
Focus on Honesty and Transparency
Word spreads fast on the internet, and one mistake can nearly doom a brand. Public perception can shift in a way we never would have seen 20 years ago. If the brand is seen as dishonest or unhelpful, it may never recover. That reputation sticks, and it spreads to people who haven’t even had any negative interactions themselves. As such, you always need to focus on being honest, on offering full transparency and on creating positive interactions.
Creating Brand Trust
You can work to create brand trust through online content, social media interactions and even advertisements. To learn how we can help, do not hesitate to get in touch with us at Content Customs.