One thing that affects your conversion rate in a major way is the amount of trust your brand can garner. Usually, unless potential clients are coming to you via a reference, i.e., a friend’s recommendation or influencer review, newcomers are weary of unfamiliar brands.
They don’t know who you are and have no reason to trust you yet. So, the first point of contact is crucial to establishing a good rapport with potential leads.
In this post, we’ll take a look at why so many business leaders place such a high import on creating brand trust. Businesses all over the world have numerous tactics that help bolster their brand trust and image. Keep reading to find our top five ways to improve ecommerce brand trust.
Why Is Brand Trust Important?
According to statistics gathered by BuySAFE, nearly 81% of online shoppers feel concerned when shopping on an unfamiliar ecommerce website. This drives the stakes pretty high for unestablished ecommerce brands; and makes it mission-critical to cement trust as early as possible during any potential customer interaction.
Below are just a few reasons why you must improve ecommerce brand trust.
➡️ Ecommerce stores typically have more barriers than physical stores. This is mainly because, in a physical setting, you get to talk to salespeople to get more information. You can also check the product out in person and pay via cash.
➡️ Perceived risk directly and negatively influences loyalty toward the online shopping platform. Customers fear receiving fake products and different kinds of fraud while purchasing online. This ties in with our previous point of not being able to check out the product in-store before buying it.
➡️ Trust boosts conversion rates. Clients are less likely to do business with you if your ecommerce site is deemed untrustworthy.
➡️ Better brand trust means more word-of-mouth marketing. When customers receive good service, or if your ecommerce website has a great UX, they are more likely to recommend your brand to their circle.
➡️ Being trustworthy means, you also benefit from an SEO standpoint. Google is always looking for trust signals when you’re ranking your website. The better your brand trust, the better your online reputation and, ultimately, the higher your site ranks.
Ways To Improve eCommerce Brand Trust
What you want to do is create avid, loyal fans. But building the kind of faith and trust that could catapult your conversions through the roof isn’t easy. Here are a few takeaways to glean from.
➡️ Provide Impeccable Customer Services: Perhaps exemplary customer service is the most important way your business can gain trust. Remember that customer service doesn’t end at the purchase. You need to ensure that you’re there to assist your clients after their purchase in case they’re running into problems with your product.
Exceptional customer service demonstrates empathy and a commitment to customer interests, which bolsters your accountability. This can range from offering live chat, SMS customer service, email support and much more. Giving your customers white-gloved support makes a big difference in improving ecommerce brand trust.
➡️ Sharing Positive Reviews And Testimonials: Consumers are more likely to buy from you if they see other customers have positive experiences with you. Displaying real customer experiences is often more objective and holds more weight than a company’s clear-cut marketing.
Buyers perceive past customers as not having ulterior motives and thus have no reason to think that the reviews would be doctored. Past clients have nothing to gain or lose from posting fake reviews. Need even more reasons? Here are 21 statistics on reviews that you should read.
➡️ Be Transparent: It’s rare to find a client that hasn’t complained about companies being shady and deceitful. It’s not surprising that clients trust transparent companies and keep it accurate. Naturally, you must ensure that your marketing efforts cannot be misleading.
Being straightforward and ethical while you approach your clients is the best way to go when you want to improve ecommerce brand trust.
➡️ Be Accessible: Part of taking care of your clients and building trust means you must be reachable whenever possible. That’s why so many companies and businesses broadcast 24/7 availability.
They’re trying to convey that they can be contacted at all hours of the day to answer questions about the products and services. If you’re looking to do something similar, it’s best to have your own customer support department that can get in touch with your clients when they need you.
Enable chat on your website, display your phone number and email address clearly on your site, and offer 24/7/365 connectivity via your social media profiles. These are great ways to be reliably reachable.
Moreover, when your team does get in touch with the client to help resolve their issues, make sure they do so by being methodical, thoughtful, patient, and respectful. There is absolutely no room for doubt. What’s more, chatbot marketing is a proven driver of new sales and improved customer relationships.
➡️ Develop An Online Presence: Not considering word-of-mouth marketing, social media marketing is the most potent influence on ecommerce sales.
It’s quite a persuasive tool as you not only get to represent your brand, but you can also use marketing tactics such as ad campaigns to boost conversions and help you reach more people in your immediate vicinity and internationally. This is inclusive of staying active on different platforms and keeping your brand profile updated to include photos, event coverage, and reviews.
It’s essential to have ecommerce social proof backing your client’s opinion to establish a positive image of your brand. This is precisely why many businesses are active on numerous social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and LinkedIn.
Case in point: The more hashtags you have on Instagram, the more comments people leave under the product photos, the more your post becomes highlighted, and the better your brand image is. This consequentially bolsters your brand trust.
Just look at these social media statistics we’ve compiled to see how much a social presence benefits your online store.
Let’s Sum it All Up!
With all those misguiding practices, dishonest branding, and fake reviews, it’s understandable why clients are a little apprehensive while purchasing from online stores. However, since there is such an abundance of brands misrepresenting themselves, it might take a while for you to improve ecommerce brand trust. These five strategies can help you distinguish yourself from the rest of your competition.
But remember, consistency is key!
Always start with a positive firm impression through an updated website and captivating social media presence. Then you can work your way up with consistent and thorough customer service. Be sincere with your clients; they will return the favor with recurring purchases.
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