When it comes to attracting new customers, as well as maintaining a long-standing, loyal customer base, trust really is everything. Consumers need to have confidence and trust in the brands they buy goods and services from, especially following the financial crisis during which people lost a lot of faith in large institutions and brands.
The role of trust in the customer-brand relationship
The relationship between consumers and brands can be quite a complicated one to understand, but it all starts with credibility and confidence in the power of a brand. This leads to engagement between customer and brand, which hopefully results in a sale. If a brand can maintain their image as a trusted company and continue to engage the customer, this will lead to a long-standing relationship and greater CLV (customer lifetime value) revenue figures.
What you should be doing in online marketing campaigns to build trust
There are lots of things you can do to build trust between your brand and your customers, including making use of social media to start a dialogue. Here are just a handful of tips and strategies that you might find useful:
- Boost your credibility as an expert in your field. The ultimate goal of digital marketing is to improve brand image and generate leads and sales. However, another aim of your campaigns should be to present your brand as an expert, an authority, in its field. If you can advise and teach, discuss relevant and topical issues and help your customers, your brand can become known as a thought leader.
- Make use of your blog to engage with customers. According to Entrepreneur.com, a blog is the starting point of any content strategy designed to build trust. This part of your website gives you the freedom to go