Brand trust makes a noticeable difference to a business. Brand trust affects sales. It builds loyalty, and can help a business weather any storm. Building brand trust is a crucial part of any marketing strategy. Today, brands are up against a pandemic. With each crisis, brands face new challenges to delivering on the promises they make with their products and services. Given below are ways by which brands can establish trust for long-term success.
1) Refine customer experience – There’s nothing as harmful as a customer contacting a company only to be addressed by a confused employee on the other end. To avoid this, it is essential to adapt to new customer expectations and behaviors. Stellar customer experience can lead to positive reviews and increased customer loyalty. For instance, when Yumble’s courier was experiencing delays in delivering meals, it did not wait for the customers to get in touch. Yumble proactively emailed customers and issued a $10 credit to make up for the inconvenience.
2) Have a clear mission statement – Clear, deliberate actions cultivate trust. People want to support brands whose values are aligned with their own. Failure to create a clear mission statement can confuse customers, as they wouldn’t know what to expect from a brand. For example, the brand Agroboca uses an explainer video to tell viewers why it is important for customers to buy fruits and vegetables directly from the growers, and how they benefit from using Agroboca.
3) Provide superior service – When a business delivers great service, customers trust it more. The service of a business can be improved by taking steps like promising money-back guarantees, or offering discounts and free shipping. For instance, when Adobe had an issue with Amazon Web Services, they tweeted about it before they started receiving customer complaints. The tweet was a video of a puppy stampede. Most of the replies to the tweet focused on the adorable puppies.
4) Understand customers’ needs – Finding out what the target audience needs from a business should not be too difficult. Being aware of what the needs might be, and delivering solutions, help position brands as trustworthy and reliable. Customer feedback is one of the easiest ways to find out about the needs of the target audience. Surveys in person, via phone, or online, are often used to collect feedback.
5) Have a social media presence – One of the biggest benefits of having an active social media presence is that it leads to increased brand awareness. A memorable social media marketing campaign can go a long way in creating a lasting impression on the target audience. For instance, Friskies collaborated with Buzzfeed to create a viral social media campaign called ‘Dear Kitten’. Cute kittens have been a staple in viral videos. Dear Kitten has more than 31.8 million views, and was shared innumerable times on social media.