Brand trust is more than a way to get people to buy from you. It’s getting them to align with you, your product, and to buy the value you are selling. If you trust a brand, you recommend it, you believe in it, you become a cheerleader – all without the brand having to ask you to do anything.
1. SIMPLE LANGUAGE
The language you use is everything when it comes to making people trust you – especially when words on a screen are pretty much all you have. Choosing simple language that makes prospects feel smart (instead of making you look smart) will go a log way to creating feelings of ease, trust, and connection.
2. TELL YOUR STORY OUT LOUD
That means video, people. Seeing your beautiful face in a picture is great, but it doesn’t make me feel like I know you – just that I know what you look like. In video, we get to see the whole package – your voice, inflection, gestures (I’m a BIG hand talker, and only realized it when I started doing daily video!), and especially your level of excitement and passion for what you do. No words can replace the twinkle in the eye of someone who loves what they’re talking about. That twinkle builds trust.
3. WRITE FROM A CONSISTENT VOICE
You need to blog, do email marketing, write captions, and have website content. (I know, it’s scary seeing the sheer volume of words you’re supposed to come up with.) Cut down on your stress and build prospects’ trust by choosing 3-5 main messages (per ideal client avatar, click here for more on those)and spread the same messages regularly, in the same words. Mix it up a bit, sure, but don’t stray too far off. Reusing content saves you time and money, but the bigger benefit is that even though your audience has seen that message before, seeing it again a few weeks or months later is a gentle reminder, a little refresher, and becomes like hearing a song you like – just because you know the words doesn’t mean you won’t listen again.
4. WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOUR PEOPLE CARE ABOUT
Marketing messaging in this day and age has been too many soapboxes and too few therapists’ couches. Good marketing looks inside the heads of the audience and tries to figure out what problem they were already thinking about or what they already wanted to add to their life, and gives them the solution. If you already seem to know me (without having to tell me that you already know me, ugh!) and you’re “speaking my language”, I’ll come away with both interest and trust piqued.
5. UP YOUR USER EXPERIENCE GAME
Want a quick and simple way to make any customer like you more? Make your website easy, fast, and pretty. Trust erodes when we feel frustrated, and a poorly designed user experience on your site will do just that. Keep clicks to a minimum – especially when it comes to e-commerce, and only give the information clients actually need. Just like the point of your social media and other marketing is to get website traffic, the goal of website traffic is to get prospects to do the next step. Make that next step easy and you’ll have started to build trust. Keep them happy throughout the transaction and you will have earned it for good.