Are you looking for a way to improve your sales while building customer confidence? If so, you’re not alone.
All good relationships, both personally and professionally, are founded on trust. Ideally, you want new visitors to land on your site and instantly see your company as reputable and trustworthy. Getting this part of your strategy right is a guaranteed way to get more engagement and conversions.
There are now countless online stores across the web, so you have to stand out from the crowd if you hope to convince consumers that your brand is the right choice. Building trust cements your company as a go-to choice. Continue delivering on your promises, and you’ll see an increased customer retention rate, which means more sales!
But gaining the trust of your audience isn’t always easy. Today, we are going to look at several ways you can build rapport with consumers by using trust signals.
Let’s get started.
Show Brand Statistics
Consumers tend to look around a website before giving out their email address or complete an order. Showing impressive statistics about your business can help you build trust with consumers who’ve never heard of your company until they landed on your homepage.
There are plenty of different statistics you can cite when adding this information to your website. For instance, if you want people to fill out a contact form to join your email list, you could include statistics that let users know how many people are already subscribed.
People are more likely to subscribe if they see that 100,000 receive your newsletter, as opposed to a contact page with no additional information.
Similarly, including statistics about the success of your products and services can also boost customer trust. Users want to see how many people purchased something from your website and whether they were happy with the purchase.
Adding case studies of high-profile clients to your blog can lead to more people trusting your company. Consumers think that if reputable businesses are using your products and finding success, they can too.
Include Product Reviews On-Site
Reviews are an excellent option for displaying social proof on your website. Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people are more likely to invest in a company if they see other people using your product and succeeding.
The biggest differences between case studies and reviews come down to the point of view and format. Case studies are described by the company posting the research and generally promote the products within the article.
Reviews, on the other hand, are considered user-generated content. These stories come from people who spent money on your product and found that it met or exceeded their needs.
We recommend including broad brand reviews on your homepage. When someone lands on your site for the very first time, you want to show them what kind of experience other people had with your company. This subtle addition will result in more people trusting your company.
When someone is close to buying a product, they will likely check for on-site reviews for the specific thing they want to buy. Allowing customers to leave reviews on your site will help new users determine if you can help them overcome pain points or reach their goals.
You can get more reviews for your website by sending out emails to existing customers or present returning customers with a display using a popup builder that asks if they would like to leave a review for their most recent purchase.
Build Business Partnerships
Business partnerships are not uncommon, especially in today’s digital landscape. Companies partner up to promote each other’s products, write guest posts, and give shoutouts on social media.
The goal of these interactions is to build trust between audiences from both companies. So if an email marketing firm publishes guest posts on a hosting site’s blog, everyone benefits. The business allowing the guest post gets another piece of content added to their catalog, which can improve SEO, engagement, and traffic. The company that’s writing the guest post benefits because they get the chance to introduce their products and connect with a new audience.
Most importantly, the consumers involved in this interaction benefit. People who are fans of the hosting company may see the email firm’s post and check out their website. Folks visiting the site go in with a built-in sense of trust because they found your company on a website they already trust.
You can build partnerships with other businesses by emailing them directly or by reaching out on platforms like LinkedIn. We suggest you work with companies that compliment your own products, similar to how a hosting company and email marketing firm benefit each other because they are needed to build a business website.
Embrace Influencer Marketing
Speaking of social media, you can’t talk about trust signals without mentioning influencer marketing. In case you don’t know, influencer marketing is a strategy where brands work with social media celebrities to promote their products or services.
Essentially, the influencers act as brand ambassadors and give consumers a reason to visit your website. The key to working with influencers is deciding which type is right for your business. Micro-influencers, for example, have a smaller but much more dedicated following. These people are great to work with if you want to target your audience and increase sales.
Larger influencers can help companies spread the name of their business across sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. When you consider that over 3.81 billion people use these sites, it’s easy to see why many business owners choose to work with larger influencers.
It’s worth noting that influencers with more followers tend to cost a lot more for videos and social media posts than their micro-counterparts. Regardless of which type you choose to use, they can both send positive trust signals to their audience. The thought process is, “If my favorite social media personality trusts this brand, I should too!” Building these connections is vital for consistently growing your business while maintaining a dedicated fanbase.
Final Thoughts
Building consumer trust is now more essential than ever before. People have a wide array of options and know how to do their research. If your goal is to grow your business and build trust with your audience, we suggest implementing some of these strategies on your website and social media profiles.
Trust is a hard thing to earn, but an extremely easy thing to lose. Focus on transparency and building an authentic bond with your customers if you want them to continue shopping with your company, responding to emails, and following you on social media. The best trust signal you can send to your audience is that you’re always willing to do the right thing.
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Syed Balkhi is an award-winning entrepreneur and online marketing expert. He is the co-founder of OptinMonster, WPBeginner, MonsterInsights, and WPForms.