Building Trust Through Your Online Content

Trust and credibility are so important to a small online business -it builds long-lasting customer relationships, leads to repeat business, lowers advertising costs and builds your reputation-just to list a few of the benefits. As someone running your own online enterprise, you don’t have the credibility of a big box store. You are often an unknown, and it is your job to convince people that you are trustworthy to gain their business. Building trust and credibility online can often be a challenge -it is harder to establish and easier to lose. People often have a hard time trusting someone they don’t know and that they can’t see. With all the online scams out there, I’m sure you can understand why. However, building trust online doesn’t have to be as hard as you think. Let’s look at six ways that you can get your new relationship off to a great start by establishing credibility and trust through your online content. 

 #1: Be Authentic

If something appears to be perfect, we often question it and believe that it’s too good to be true. Show the good, the bad and the ugly of your products. Mix the pretty product images from your company with your own personal photos. Yes, people want to see your messy house in the

#2: Mix Personal with Professional

 The number one reason that people shop with a small online business is for that personal connection. They want to feel like they are shopping with a person over a corporation -and that means that they want to feel like they know the person they are shopping with. When you share your business online, one of the first things that most potential customers will do is browse through your personal profile. From there, your new customer is going to get their first impression of you, which will lead them to decide how willing they areto trust you. So the question is, what are they going to see when they pull up your profile?

You might be a super private person. That doesn’t mean that you can’t work in online sales or that you can’t provide personal content. Mixing personal with professional doesn’t mean that you have to share every aspect of your life online. You can be selective about the parts of yourself that you are willing to share. Maybe you share recipes you enjoy, books you are reading or quotes that motivate you. You don’t want your personal profile to be a continuous advertisement for your business. Show that you are a real person with thoughts, feelings, emotions and a life outside of work. 

#3: Provide Regular Content 

Providing regular online content is a great way to introduce yourself slowly to people without being that pushy salesperson that everyone avoids. When you provide regular content, you help potential customers become familiar with your brand and show people that you are invested in your business. When you invest in yourself, people are more likely to follow suit. Take some time at the beginning of each month to prepare. There are some amazing tools that can help you in planning your online content (check out the social media planning calendar that is included with the Trading-Secrets VIP membership as an option). Remember that you should be mixing personal posts with professional ones, and in everything, you share you want your content to appear professional and legitimate. 

#4: Connect with your Audience

This may seem like common sense, but you need to be socialon social media. You won’t be able to fully utilize social media as an advertising platform if you are not taking the time to connect and respond. Trust isn’t built through one large gesture, but through many small actions over time. You want to make sure that you are connecting with people on an emotional level. Genuine content drives authenticity and develops trust. You don’t want to be constantly promoting your products, but you can definitely establish yourself as an expert in the industry by sharing topics related to your brand and company. Become an educator on your brand and how it can benefit your customers. Offer tips and advice on how to make the most of your products. 

#5: Build a Community of Advocates 

When you are shopping with one of those big box stores online, one of the first things you probably look at when you are interested in a product is the ratings and reviews. This is social proof that helps you believe in a product's validity. While you most likely won’t be able to duplicate the number of reviews that an online store like Amazon or Walmart has, you can offer quality reviews to build your trust and credibility. At the heart of it, people are social beings that crave community. It is important to show that you can provide that. The larger and more active your online community is, the less you will 

have to advertise because you have a group of people ready and willing to do it for you. Real-life stories and experiences inspire people. When they can connect a company or product to a real person they can connect with, their interest increases ten-fold. Ask your customers to provide user-generated content by sharing their feedback.

 #6: Have a Professional Business Platform

If you have shared something that has caught someone’s eye, your potential customer is most likely going to go searching for a website or business page to browse. People want an easy and seamless shopping experience. The second that your potential customer comes up against an obstacle or it becomes difficult to receive the information they are looking for,  you will lose them. Make sure that a working link to a professional webpage is readily available. Customers will often leave a site that is awkward to browse, but if you have not personally designed your webpage, you may not have control over the layout. If your website is awkward to browse, consider directing customers to a business page you have more control over. Educate your customers on effectively using your company’s website before giving them access to the link. You can also streamline the process so your customer can shop through you instead of on the website. Keep in mind that most shoppers have concerns about security when making online purchases. Providing a professional setting to complete their transactions is one of the best ways to ease customers’ minds and demonstrate credibility. 

Written By: 

Jennifer Gillap