With the Internet being the way it is, you can’t blame your customers for being wary of the sites they visit and the sites they willingly share their information with. It pays to be distrustful in this day and age, as sites constantly use trackers to collect customers’ information even if they don’t know it.
It’s different when you’re running a brick-and-mortar shop and when you’re running an e-commerce site entirely online. When you’re face-to-face with a customer, and they can see your product up close and test it in person, building up trust is easier. But when you’re online, customers need more than your assurance that your products are legit and your site is safe to use. Fortunately, there are ways that you can help to foster that trust among your customers and even build brand loyalty.
Connect through social media
Social media is a highly effective online marketing tool, and you should be taking advantage of it. To build trust, you need to make customers feel more connected to you and your business. It helps bring your brand to a broader audience and build brand awareness. It also allows customers to see your business as a trustworthy source and establishment if you have a social media presence and following.
It humanizes your business and brings you closer to your consumers instead of making you seem like a faceless, emotionless corporation. Update your social media at least once a day and keep up to date on the latest trends in your industry. Engage with your customers online, reply to their comments and messages, and don’t be afraid to do a gimmick once in a while.
Maintain your e-commerce site’s security
In this age, our online information or any data we input into any online site can get stolen and sold by corporations. Consumers want to feel safe on the Internet and want assurance that they put their information, like their credit card number and address, into the right hands. Give them that assurance by ensuring that your e-commerce site’s security is top-notch and up to date.
Don’t skimp out or compromise when it comes to customer security. Users who go to your site to purchase your products are more likely to buy whatever’s in their shopping cart if you offer multiple payment options, encrypt all their data, and have top-of-the-line anti-virus and security software. If you provide them with secure options and deals, your customers are more likely to buy from you.
Avoid “dark” web design
You know those annoying popups and cookie banners that appear every time you go to a new site? Those are the kind of things you want to avoid when designing your website. This is called “dark” web design — dark because it’s just thinly-veiled ways websites use to track their customers’ activity to sell to targeted ads. This is one thing you need to avoid if you want to earn the trust of your customers. Or at the very least, try not to make it too obvious.
You might need cookies to target your ads more effectively, but don’t be too obvious or too obtuse about it. If you find those things annoying, imagine how your customers must feel having a million popups show up at once when they visit your site. Be smart about your website and use it effectively to entice customers, not turn them away. You can hire the web design services of a company if needed.
Good customer service
Another way to earn customer loyalty is through exemplary customer service. Nothing beats good, reliable customer service. It might be easier and more efficient to automate customer service operations, but it helps to answer customer queries personally and quickly. Your consumers will be more likely to come back to your business or recommend it to others if they’ve had a good experience with you.
The least you can do is have a Frequently Asked Questions section on your site that’s easily accessible by your customers and to reply to any specific concerns and messages within the day.
Encourage reviews and feedback
When customers feel like they don’t trust a site or a business, they check reviews from previous customers. If the majority of those reviews are negative, they’re less likely to buy from that business. Reviews and feedback might be scary for your business, but you only have to be scared if you’re not giving your customers the right products and services you promised.
Getting customer feedback can be important, especially for small businesses. How else are you going to know whether you’re doing a good job or not? And the upside to that is, if your customer is satisfied with your product and service, you can choose to amplify those reviews and showcase them to other potential customers.
Customer retention and brand loyalty are all about giving your customers valuable service that they aren’t likely to forget and which will keep them coming back to you. If you offer them safety, security, and satisfaction, you can be sure that they’ll trust your business more.