How to Finally Gain Customer Trust in 2022

The complex business world has multiple facets that require entrepreneurs and tycoons to navigate uncharted waters without sinking their ships. It can be particularly difficult for novice business owners that work tirelessly to get their enterprise running. One area where they especially don’t have leeway is in building customer trust.

Gaining customer trust is a must for businesses in 2022. Not only does it bring a ton of benefits for businesses like repeat purchases and word-of-mouth marketing, but it enables them to be in a position to be an industry leader.

Consumers also have personal relationships with businesses today and see a brand for more than what it is. This relationship invites a lot of caveats at the beginning when consumers are testing the scope of the brand. Once passed, consumers stick around and display a sense of brand loyalty, but without a strong foundation of customer trust, none of this is possible.

In this article, you will learn the best strategies to gain customer trust in an increasingly digital business climate. By the time you’ve finished reading it, you’ll know the benefits of these strategies and how you can use them for the best results.

The importance of consumer trust in a business should never be understated. Brands need to work towards building a solid foundation with key principles at the base if they wish to succeed in this endeavor.

However, gaining customer trust isn’t a walk in the park. And that’s why some businesses have a hard time capturing the trust of their market. But with our tips and strategies below, we will guide you on the proven ways to gain customer trust in today’s business landscape.

Starting with…

1. Share Your Story

This aspect is one of the most overlooked strategies by companies of today. Sharing your story will help your audience relate to you more as a business. It shows where you’re coming from as a brand and why you started your business in the first place.

Most new customers aren’t well-versed or familiar with your company and usually come from word of mouth or referrals from friends, as shown in the graphic below.

Word of mouth is still just as important as digital social media in churning out new visitors to your website. It is because of the interpersonal relations they bring and the power of a good recommendation. Sharing your story is the best way to assure that potential customers are attuned to your company’s vision and mission statement.

Alternatively, social media is also an excellent way to extend your outreach to build customer loyalty and have a solid presence online. Many companies today operate out of the Facebook and LinkedIn bubble and have built followings on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Social media can also function as de facto customer support portals.

Twitter, especially, is at the forefront of customer feedback and generating customer trust.

With Twitter’s Promoted Accounts and Topics features, your business has a greater chance of reaching out to newer audiences. 85.4% of people currently believe that Promoted Accounts alone have helped them discover new businesses. This is down to Twitter’s advertising policies being non-intrusive - a healthy combination for the site’s users and businesses.

Focus on customer engagement and ensure it remains the priority. Don’t get your messages out just for the sake of it, and avoid using Twitter as a press release website on the happenings of your business. The more people you get talking about your brand, the more you’ll be able to develop a consistent and loyal customer base.

2. Know More about Your Audience

Knowing more about your audience will give you an edge over your competitors. The business that knows more about its target market will be able to convert more and have more meaningful engagements with them. This point can be seen as an extension of the last as the same tools apply in this case as well.

However, primary market research should eliminate the need for excessive social media “scouting”. It can only be done once you’re familiar with your target audience and the demographics you aim to pitch to. Having access to customer data can be beneficial here and can help you pitch your products and services to the exact crowd you want.

Having a broad target audience works best for brands with products catered to every type of individual. For the rest in niche markets, specificity is key.

3. Share Customer Reviews & Testimonials

It’s not considered showing off if the praise you get is genuine. Reviews and testimonials are more than stamps of approval or disapproval for a business, they’re an indicator that your company functions well in customer engagement.

Customer reviews play a significant role in gaining customer trust nowadays, especially positive ones. Other users' opinions are taken greatly by consumers that reading them is enough to try your products and services out. But reviews are changing too.

Influencer marketing is an important part of reviewing as well. Their social media and YouTube marketing efforts build impressions and opinions for the general public. Everything from specific services to bundle products is reviewed on the websites and are excellent opportunities for businesses to partner with prominent influencers.

Trustpilot shared an important statistic mentioning that 9 out of 10 consumers read reviews before making a purchase. That is how big customer reviews have gotten. It’s the reason why businesses have these reviews plastered on the homepage of their website. Showcase your reviews on websites and other social media channels.

4. Provide Excellent Customer Service

When you experience great customer service from a business, you instantly like them and would not hesitate to try their services again. You know that they’ll take care of you again. Excellent customer service goes a long way in building customer relationships.

Customer service agents are tasked with solving problems and answering pressing questions for customers online. It also includes fulfilling customer expectations and acting as an active and present member of their shopping or browsing experience. It is a great way to build customer trust and loyalty.

That is what most consumers experience and feel when they’ve gotten great customer service. It’s a great way to win over a customer and gain their trust and ensure the highest levels of customer satisfaction.

This department benefits from in-house and outsourcing options too, making it widely accessible for businesses of all scales and sizes. For online shopping sites, an eCommerce call center is the best bet as it facilitates customer service and has a sales team at hand too.

5. Be More Reachable

Reachability is a great way to know the actual value of your online business in the eyes of the consumers. Before consumers purchase something for the first time, they check if they can easily contact the business in case of any trouble or returns. If they see that the business isn’t reachable, they’d be quick to move on to another brand.

So how can you be more reachable in today’s business? Consider the following strategies below.

5.1 Be Active on Social Media

When consumers see that you’re active on social media by replying to comments and inquiries, that’s enough proof for some that you can be easily reached. Social media is a great place to build a strong following and start interacting with potential customers, or just to get your name out.

5.2 Share Links to Your Email & Customer Service Team

When sharing links to this important information, make sure that they are visible and easily seen by your audience. Ensure your emails are customer-centric and detail what the link is about before the reader has to click on it to access information.

If your business is about creatine supplements, ensure the consumer gets the link to your customer service team so they can process returns or ask any questions they may have regarding the correct dosages and any side effects of the dietary supplement.

5.3 Reach out to Them

Sometimes, you don’t need to wait for your customers to contact you. Reaching out to them and asking how they like the product or do they have any concerns will be greatly appreciated by them. Messaging them for feedback or requesting a review is engaging enough for most brands.

6. Be More Transparent

Consumers nowadays like businesses that are transparent and honest. Companies that do this are deemed to be genuine by consumers which is a massive bonus for them. Gone are the days when you could falsely advertise your products and services to be larger than life.

Consumers prefer the truth and any falsehood that is caught by the general public could put your company’s reputation at risk. For brand reputation alone, aim to direct people to verifiable truths and keep the sugarcoating to a minimum. The digital world makes all information and data accessible and you wouldn’t want to be at the end of a Twitter hashtag that exposes your company.

Be transparent in what your products are made of. Be honest about the limitations of your services.

7. Display Knowledge & Expertise

Information isn’t just sexy, but it is a great way to gain customer trust from your market. This technique can be fulfilled by displaying your knowledge and expertise as a business. There’s nothing that can gain more confidence in your audience than by showing them that you know what you’re doing.

Aim to be an industry leader in your niche and even if there are bigger fish in the pond, know what your services are and what your specific marketable skills are. Present yourself as an authority in the field and publish well-produced and informational content that showcases your company’s strengths, while mitigating its weaknesses.

Customers are drawn to resourceful brands that can not only solve their problems but educate them on the solutions along the way.

8. Build A Good Reputation

Today, building a good reputation in your niche is as important as anything you do in your business. Everything matters when it comes to developing a good reputation, from selling high-quality products to having a dependable warehousing solution for on-time delivery.

Once you’ve successfully built a great reputation, sometimes that’s the only thing needed for a consumer to try your business out. Ensure they view your brand as instantly recognizable and have an experience good enough for customer retention.

A brand’s reputation is built on a few different factors, most of which are as follows:

8.1 Quality of Products & Services

The better the quality of your products and services, the more likely it is to have brands get on your message to facilitate the customer journey.

8.2 Customer Service

Having a reputation that tells the world that you are more to them than a regular digital footprint. Actively engage and look to solve problems, not to create them.

8.3 Miscellaneous Marketing Efforts

A car brake selling page would not try to sell you window washer fluid either. While that may look like a smart choice - give the consistency of the customer’s mode of transport.

8.4 Discounts & Customer-Centric Perks

Offering discounts can land you in a soft space with your customers. This way they know that you’re slashing your profit margins to help out the rest of the people in dire need.

9. Cultivate Relationships

Cultivating relationships is a great way to gain customer trust especially if you’re still a small business. You need to converse and build a relationship with your customers because it’s one way to show them that you’re not in it just to sell your products. It displays your genuine intentions to help and inform them.

And guidance can come in many different forms. For instance, a car brake online service provider could host webinars and think pieces to highlight the importance of road safety. A repricer of Amazon products could educate on the need to keep prices competitive on products. All of these touchpoints can help cultivate more than a business-to-consumer relationship.

Why Do You Need to Gain Customer Trust

Given the strategies and ways above, it’s clear that gaining customer trust isn’t as easy as it sounds. Customer trust is pivotal for businesses if they are to succeed in today’s competitive climate and the benefits of it outweigh the efforts and sacrifices needed to be made. Below are the top three benefits of gaining customer trust.

I. Customer Loyalty

Without trust, you will never have loyal customers in your business. And these are the most important people in your business because they help with your business growth.

Consumers act as ambassadors for your brand and can help market for you without any directive from the company itself. They will advocate and defend your business without you telling them.

The quality of the service, products, and after-care can be reasons enough to have customers promote your company. Loyalty programs are also a great way to keep existing customers interacting with the brand in the long term.

II. Trust Is Attractive

When people see that you have a ton of buyers and have gotten excellent reviews, they find this attractive and naturally gravitate towards your brand. No one wants shoddy or lackluster services and if your company is one of the first companies with great reviews, your chances of making a sale significantly rise.

Customers would also want to see what the buzz is all about and their curiosity will enable them to make a purchase decision.

III. Helpful for Business Growth

Scaling your business is difficult when you have no trust coming from your audience. But if you’ve proven that you’re worthy of their trust and confidence, the road to business growth will be much easier. Companies that sustain customer trust in the long term become generational and last for multiple years.

Conclusion

Gaining customer trust might be a long journey but it's worthwhile. The benefits you get to enjoy will greatly help in the longevity of your business and contribute to a better reputation in your niche. Without a strong foundation, your business can struggle to survive when your competitors are challenging to make a name for themselves and establish a strong and loyal following.

With the strategies provided above, you’re on your way to garnering customer trust in ways unique to your brand. Skillful marketing efforts are important to ensure that your business remains prominent and trending in the right ways.

Focus on customer needs and provide the best customer relation possible. Make your customers’ journey worthwhile. And we at DSers can help your online business with that.

DSers is the best option for AliExpress dropshipping and is the leading outlet for individuals and businesses looking to capitalize on the eCommerce market. You can also reach us at supply-support@dserspro.com.

And don’t forget to check out our blog. It is filled to the brim with all the intel you need to revamp your business and help it compete in the modern space.

Author Bio:

Burkhard Berger is the founder of Novum™. Follow Burkhard on his journey from $0 to $100,000 per month. He's sharing everything he learned in his income reports on Novum™ so you can pick up on his mistakes and wins.