Building brand trust is a process that takes time and dedication, but the benefits are worth it.
Building brand trust is a process that takes time and dedication, but the benefits are worth it.
Does your brand deliver on its promises? Or does it not?
Building trust is crucial to become a successful brand in today's competitive business world. Establishing a bond of familiarity, fondness, and trust is key to attracting customers to your business. Trust can make or break a brand's reputation and influence purchasing decisions.
Building trust among your target audience is vital for brand strategy. Consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical and discerning, wanting to do business with companies they can trust.
83% of potential buyers shop from brands they trust, and 50% of consumers pay more to buy from the brand they trust. Further, only 1 in 3 people trust most brands they buy or use.
With so much importance placed on brand trust, we've compiled a list of five effective ways to build it.
Before we dive deep into this, let’s try to understand brand trust.
Brand trust is not a new term in branding strategy; it's a cornerstone for a successful business. As Zig Ziglar says -
"If people like you, they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they'll do business with you."
Brand trust refers to consumers' confidence and loyalty in a particular brand based on their perception of its reputation, reliability, and credibility. It is the level of confidence your potential customers have in your brand to deliver beyond expectations.
Trust is important in building long-term customer relationships and establishing a strong brand identity.
But what makes trust so important in Branding?
Brand trust is crucial as it influences your potential customers' purchasing decisions and loyalty. Further, it establishes credibility, reliability, and loyalty, which can increase sales and positive mouth-of-word marketing.
As the Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report shows, 81% of consumers across the globe say, "They need to trust the brand before making any purchase."
Here are 4 top reasons why building trust is so important-
1. Enhancing Sales: The more trust you build among consumers, the more they buy.
2. Building Long-term Customer relationships: Brand trust is essential in building long-term customer relationships. Customers who trust a brand will likely remain loyal and purchase its products or services over time.
3. Standing out from Competitors: With so much competition in the market, building trust gives your brand a competitive edge. When consumers trust your brand, they will be more likely to invest repeatedly in a brand over competitors.
4. Building a Strong Image in the Target Market: When customers trust your brand, they are more likely to become loyal and recommend your products or services to others. Delivering high-quality products, excellent customer service, and consistently meeting customer experience can create a strong positive image that resonates with your target market.
But how do you build a brand with strong trust?
Now we know why brand trust is so important, let’s dive into the 5 ways to build brand trust.
Building a strong positive relationship with your customers is critical to building brand trust. These relationships help you to foster loyalty, promote positive word-of-mouth, and increase customer retention. And these all are key elements of brand trust, aren’t they?
Social media platforms are a great way to build positive customer relationships. Connect with your customers over the social platform, engage in conversation, and respond promptly to customer queries & feedback.
Building customer relationships should be the number one priority because loyal customers are the greatest assets for any brand. Remember, valued customers are more likely to trust your brand.
Social Proof is one of the most effective ways to build trust among loyal customers. It is a psychological phenomenon where people get influenced by the actions and opinions of other customers.
When people see that others had a positive experience with your brand, they are more likely to build trust and engage more. When customers see that other people have purchased from your brand and are satisfied, they are more likely to trust their choice.
Here are some ways to build trust using Social Proof-
Remember, people tend to follow the examples of others when making decisions, so it’s important to showcase social proof of your products.
Let me put it this way, 73% of customers love a brand that provides excellent customer experience, and it’s one of the best ways to build trust among potential buyers. Plan out every interaction or prepare a guideline so every customer feels the same about your brand.
To provide a mind-blowing customer experience, focus on understanding and anticipating your customer's needs, exceeding their expectations, and consistently delivering an exceptional experience.
Here are some ways to provide a consistent customer experience-
Remember, 81% of happy customers are more likely to become repeat customers and might recommend your business to others.
Consumers today are highly informed and expect transparency from brands they interact with. In hyper-connected fake news, data breaches, and privacy concerns, gaining customer trust can help you win the game.
According to the insights shared by Sprout Social, 89% of people say a brand can regain trust by admitting its mistakes and sharing its steps to resolve the issue transparently.
Your customers want to know what your return policy is? How do you handle customer data?
Be open and honest about your products, pricing, and business operations. Share your company's mission statement and core values. Being transparent can create a lasting impression in the minds of your customers, leading to long-term customer loyalty.
Your customer feedback is valuable and essential for building brand trust. Encourage your customers to provide feedback on their experiences with your brand. Make it easy for them to reach out through a variety of channels. Most importantly, respond to feedback quickly and sincerely.
Whether it's negative or positive feedback, you can build trust by responding to it. This shows your customers that you value their opinions and are willing to make changes to improve their experiences.
Now as we know different ways to build brand trust, let’s dive into some good examples of brands.
One of the best ways to build brand trust is by asking for feedback from your customer to know what they feel about the product or service they purchased. And Netflix has an excellent example of that.
Netflix sends a personalized email to ask for feedback about the customer's recent purchase to know how they can improve their customer service experience.
Apple is known for its creative and innovative designs and the privacy features it provides users. But, if you look closely, Apple is not all that.
Apple builds brand trust with the seamless customer experience and premium designs that help it stand out. If you have visited an Apple store, you might have experienced that personalized and seamless customer experience.
When you talk about the personalized experience, Spotify can be left behind. Spotify is one of the notable and reliable brands trusted by customers Worldwide.
Spotify provides a personalized experience by making them feel special with affordable monthly subscriptions and personalized recommendations per user preferences. And that helps to build a connection with their customer, improving trust.
The easiest way to build customer trust is by sharing valuable content with readers. “Sharing value” means a lot that can help brands to build authority and develop trusting relationships with visitors.
And Hubspot does it well. It shares value content in different forms, from blog posts to YouTube videos and newsletters to free templates that build trust among the readers.
Building brand trust is a process that takes time and dedication, but the benefits are worth it.
There are many ways to build brand trust among your customers, from sharing valuable content, using Social proof, building long-term relationships, personalized customer experience, and being transparent with your moves.
Using the 5 ways we shared above can help you build trust faster and easier with a long-term relationship with your customers, improving customer loyalty and experience.
If you want to build brand trust, contact us at design@bizongo.com.
We are Desworks, the design arm of Bizongo. We design brands, packaging, products and have delivered 85+ successful projects in the last 5 years of our existence.
Our winning formula for brands, packaging has a mix of aesthetics, functionality, and experience.
We Bizongo Desworks are here to make your (brand, product & packaging) design work.