Building trust and credibility for your brand is key.  The perception people have of your brand is an essential component of creating a successful company. Listening to a business talk about how great they are just doesn’t cut it in today’s competitive market.  People need to trust a brand before they move forward with it.  If you can do this, you will have an easier time retaining and gaining customers.

Here are 8 ways you can build up trust and credibility for your brand.

1. Establish authority

One of the first things to do when trying to establish your brand as trustworthy and credible is to establish authority in the marketplace.  Being that this is online, you have lots of ways to validate who you are.  As you engage on all the social media platforms, the content you share needs to showcase that you are an expert in your niche.  So no one line sentences are going to work here.  You also want to provide social proof in the form of references, blog postings, customer testimonials etc.

2. Be available to your customers

Your customers need to know they can get in touch with you.  This can be to get answers to questions or to interact with you.  If you are not available or you do not have a system in place to respond in a timely manner, your credibility with your customers will certainly suffer.

In order to be accessible to your customers, you need to have the right strategies in place.  This could mean having a support staff available to answer questions and concerns that come in.  You could also create a Facebook group where customers and potential customers can interact and learn from one another.  This will also give your brand the opportunity to have a voice and establish that trust.

3. Social proof

Yes, we are back to that oh so important social proof.  People want to know who you are not just from you.  So customer testimonials, references or praise from others in your niche, guest blog contributions, links to blogs you have been mentioned in, white papers you have written, are all ways to put credibility behind your brand.

When people come to your site, this information should be easily found on the first page. The key thing here is to be honest and not list fake information.

4. Set up your website to make the right impression

In order to build trust, your website needs to convey the right information.  In addition to the social proof tips we mentioned above, here are some things your website should include:

• Contact information – This should have customer service number, an email address as well as all your social media handles.
• Make sure your visual branding is properly integrated – your logo, messaging and content all needs to be in sync.
• Video – Include a video that shows people who you are. Let people know your story and what you stand for.
• What problems you solve – Make it easy for visitors to see what problems you solve and how you solve them.
• Keep content updated – Make sure your last business blog post wasn’t from a year ago.  You should be posting content regularly.
• Optimize your website for mobile – In order for your website to be as successful and build trust, it needs to work properly on mobile devices.

5. Solicit And Value Feedback

Whether you have many customers or just a few, it is essential that you ask for customer feedback and that you value it.  Feedback can come in different forms like a survey, online reviews, social media postings or even the help page on your website.  Wherever you are receiving feedback from, listen to it.

Online reviews are really important here since they are are an essential part of the buying process.  Key takeaway is to listen to your customers’ feedback as that will help you to understand their perceptions of your brand and how you can improve it.

6. Build brand equity

Brand equity is basically what you customers have to say about you, so this is key to building trust.  Have a process in place to gather reviews on websites like Google, Yelp and Facebook. You can take it a step further by putting together case studies on customers that have had great experiences with your brand and post them to your social media accounts and share them on your website.  Over time, you will see your brand equity grow.

7. Give a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes

If you want your customers to trust your brand, you need to open your doors and let them in.  Invite them to be part of the process.  If you have a product that you produce, let them see the process from beginning to end.  This will help with building brand loyalty too.

8. Show what your company culture is like

In order to show the more human side of your brand, you want to give a glimpse into what it is like to work for your company.  What does the everyday look like?  Do you do “wear your jeans to work day?, celebrate employee birthdays each month, go all out for Halloween with decorations and costumes?  Showing people how you run your business each day is a great way to be transparent and build trust.  It shows that there are real people working each day that are looking to provide the best they can to their customers.

Final thoughts

Whether you are an established brand or just starting out, creating a brand that is trustworthy takes time and effort. The above tips will go a long way in building up your brand which will lead to brand loyalty and ultimately, more sales.