How You Can Use Social Media to Build Brand Trust? |
Posted: May 22, 2017 |
Taking into account it’s unmatched popularity and powerful clout, it’s not surprising many brands are now harnessing the unbelievable power of social media —influencing their customers through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and other social media platforms. However, nowadays, brands and businesses need to remember that for social media marketing to work, they need to have a robust and well-thought out social media strategy in place and they need to earn the trust of their customers. And since engagement is considered a key factor in social media marketing, the brand’s reputation and customer trust will both play primary roles too. When trust is not present, consumers are less likely to believe in the brand, trust the brand, and patronize the brand. A Harvard Business Review study indicated that in business, trust is deemed a critical strategic asset. In other words, it is one of those things that can significantly affect the customers’ buying decisions especially when they are faced with numerous options. Building Brand Trust If you are new to social media marketing, how you can go about building brand trust can seem overwhelming. However, it gets a lot easier as you go along. For starters, building brand trust will often start with a promise—be it in the service, product, or the brand’s mission statement. If the promise you made will not be fulfilled, your customers will no longer find your brand trustworthy or reputable. Keep in mind that building brand trust is vital to your brand’s survival and it’s not something you can substitute. Fortunately, digital platforms available nowadays have dramatically increased the likelihood of brands building and nourishing the trust they have with the consumers and target audience. Building trust can be done in numerous ways—a timely reply to complaints and inquiries, a simple conversation, or even a simple like or acknowledgement of their comments or message can already help enhance customer service significantly. Bottom line is, timely reply, a simple acknowledgement, and a witty conversation can do wonders for a brand nowadays, way more than a billboard ad can. Creating Real Customer Engagement There’s no denying creating (and fostering) real customer engagement can be truly challenging. Fortunately, building and creating real customer engagement and brand trust is something a seasoned digital marketing agency can easily help you with. For starters, a digital marketing agency knows how to use social media channels to build trust among current and prospective customers alike. Just like in real life, any relationship will not prosper sans trust. The same is true when brands have not established a good relationship with their customer and have yet to earn the customers’ trust. If you are looking to build exceptional trust between your brand and your customers, below are some factors you need to integrate in your campaign: Transparency Not being authentic on social media is not recommended as your customers might eventually see through your front in the long run. Undoubtedly, it will work wonders for your business and your brand if you practice transparency at all times so building trust and keeping them will last for the long-term. Encourage simple fun and engagement. Yet another effective way to build engagement and trust would be through entertainment. The possibilities of what you can do in this regard is infinite. You can consider sharing a fun and entertaining video, run a brand contest, or ask for feedback and opinions in a fun and lighthearted way. Communicate thought leadership. Don’t ever commit the mistake of spamming your audience with offers to purchase your services or products and not providing any value in return. First and foremost, you need to know that social media is the perfect venue to showcase your industry expertise. In addition, bear in mind that social media has been designed to get customer feedback, ignite discussions, educate your audience, connect with your customers, and resolve concerns, among other things.
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