How To Build Trust Through Your Branding & Marketing
Would you buy from a company you didn't trust? Maybe if the conditions were ideal if you visited an unfamiliar store in a mall, for instance, and could proceed with confidence that you'd be able to get a refund if there were an issue with your purchase but not otherwise. You certainly wouldn't go ahead if you were shopping online, because anything could happen.
You could see your purchase arrive unreasonably late. You could order one thing and receive another, or receive nothing at all. You could see your financial details leak and the store vanish overnight, leaving you with no decent options for getting back what you lost. With so many ways for things to go horribly wrong, it's easy to see why ecommerce buyers choose stores carefully.
And things actually get more serious for service based businesses, because they tend to charge more and work on more important projects. Something like getting some work done on your home can be hugely costly, running to thousands of dollars and relying on the worker (or workers) showing up at the right times on the right days. Even if a company means well, you need to trust that it can actually deliver on its commitments.
From the perspective of a business owner, then, finding ways to earn trust is a top priority and while the largest portion of that task comes down to providing great customer service, you mustn't overlook the extent to which branding and marketing affect how much people trust your company. Here are some tips for building trust using these pursuits:
Show Personality Through Marketing Content
Which do you trust more: the faceless brand with a strict focus on formality, or the company with identified employees and a willingness to talk openly about the issues it faces? It's going to be the latter, surely. This is because trust is strongest between people, and seeing a business as a group of people rather than a profit hungry entity will inevitably make you more likely to trust it.
So how do you show that there are people behind your business? Well, you write content that shows personality. If formality doesn't suit your company, don't bother being formal: embrace whatever tone comes naturally to you, and people will welcome the authenticity. Additionally, talk about the inner workings of your company. If you've had a bad week, say so.
You could see your purchase arrive unreasonably late. You could order one thing and receive another, or receive nothing at all. You could see your financial details leak and the store vanish overnight, leaving you with no decent options for getting back what you lost. With so many ways for things to go horribly wrong, it's easy to see why ecommerce buyers choose stores carefully.
And things actually get more serious for service based businesses, because they tend to charge more and work on more important projects. Something like getting some work done on your home can be hugely costly, running to thousands of dollars and relying on the worker (or workers) showing up at the right times on the right days. Even if a company means well, you need to trust that it can actually deliver on its commitments.
From the perspective of a business owner, then, finding ways to earn trust is a top priority and while the largest portion of that task comes down to providing great customer service, you mustn't overlook the extent to which branding and marketing affect how much people trust your company. Here are some tips for building trust using these pursuits:
Show Personality Through Marketing Content
Which do you trust more: the faceless brand with a strict focus on formality, or the company with identified employees and a willingness to talk openly about the issues it faces? It's going to be the latter, surely. This is because trust is strongest between people, and seeing a business as a group of people rather than a profit hungry entity will inevitably make you more likely to trust it.
So how do you show that there are people behind your business? Well, you write content that shows personality. If formality doesn't suit your company, don't bother being formal: embrace whatever tone comes naturally to you, and people will welcome the authenticity. Additionally, talk about the inner workings of your company. If you've had a bad week, say so.
