In the past, transparency in business operations and marketing was a rarity, to say the very least. Organizations were vague and secretive about everything from what their manufacturing processes included to who their employees were. Today’s market is the exact opposite of this. Nowadays, if you want to build customer confidence, you absolutely must be transparent.
Transparency in business today goes hand in hand with ethical behavior or practices. Even 94% of consumers prefer companies that practice transparency and tend to stay away from those who are more vague or less forthcoming.
That’s not all, even. If your brand has a reputation for being transparent, this can convince 73% of customers to pay more for your products when given cheaper alternatives from less transparent companies.
Today’s market is a game of trust, one where the winning strategy is transparency. As consumers are being bombarded with an influx of choices and marketing messages, they are much more picky about who they choose. If you want them to choose your brand in the crowd, it’s time to use transparency to your benefit. In this post, we will teach you how to promote transparency in this digital age, building customer confidence in the process.
What is transparency in digital marketing
Transparency in digital marketing includes being open about the following:
- Business values
- Business practices
- Security measures
- Available products/services
- Challenges your brand is facing
Transparency is key to building customer confidence and trust, which essentially leads to higher customer engagement and retention. It’s what you can use to build a real connection between your brand and its audience, fostering a sense of credibility.
Strategies for using transparency to build customer confidence
Now, without any further ado, let’s jump into action! Below, you will find the best strategies to make your brand more transparent so that you can build customer confidence.
Use transparency to protect the consumer.
When we talk about business transparency these days, we aren’t just talking about disclosing product information. Companies need to be transparent about everything, especially the information they gather.
Database breaches now occur more regularly than ever, making people skeptical about sharing sensitive information with just any brand. If you want to build customer confidence in your business and make people trust your brand, it all starts with personal data.
It’s not just about convincing the consumer that you take good care of their personal data and security – it’s also about staying compliant with the ever-changing regulations in the sector. Today, the penalties for securing customer data poorly are enormous, and can often even lead to the end of your business. Thankfully, there are systems that you can integrate to overcome such hurdles and ensure that you comply with all regulations. Read this full article to learn how you can ensure that your business practices are non-sanctionable.
The privacy data regulations are the perfect starting point for security and transparency. These will give you a good idea of what is expected of you to protect your consumers, and you can use the regulations and guidelines to assure your customers that they are safe using your brand.
For instance, a transparent business will have a clear privacy policy, where they tell customers and potential buyers how their data will be gathered, used, and protected. When people know how you handle their sensitive information, this will increase their confidence and trust in your brand.
Give people proof that they should trust your brand.
There are plenty of ways to prove to potential customers that your business is trustworthy and build their confidence in your brand. Let’s go through some good ideas for this.
- Behind-the-scenes content
Every now and then, share a glimpse that goes behind the scenes of your business, such as employee stories, a video of the product production process, or day-in-the-life content.
- Clear, honest descriptions
A product that promises more than it realistically offers can only sell for a limited amount of time. People talk about their experiences, so if you use vague language or omit key data to set unrealistic expectations about your products, this will eventually lead you to lose customer confidence. Be upfront about all features and benefits, as well as limitations and drawbacks of the products or services you are offering.
- Customer testimonials
Speaking of people talking, the best way to build customer confidence and trust these days is through word of mouth. Purchase decisions are mainly based on community consensus and influence. The purchase decision of 90% of customers these days is influenced by online reviews, according to a research.
This data makes social proof your most powerful tool for building trust online. That being said, you should highlight ratings, customer reviews, and endorsements to show people that other customers have had positive experiences with your brand.
Leverage your mistakes and failures.
Customers are well aware that businesses can make mistakes, so when a mistake happens in your company, use it as an opportunity to build customer confidence. Be transparent about the business challenges and the measures you take to resolve them or prevent them in the future.
Allow them to test your business.
A lot of the time, telling people what you offer is not enough. Using customer testimonials to prove that your business is worthy of their trust is an excellent move, but there is yet another step you can take to build customer confidence – offer them a chance to test your business firsthand.
We are, of course, talking about free trials and product demos. The most effective, direct way to build customer confidence and convince shoppers that you are offering them quality is to let them experience it without any charge.
Depending on what your business is selling, this can be anything from a sample you send to their address to an eBook as a guide to a free trial or subscription to your software or online service.
Create relevant, authentic content.
Imagine this. A consumer goes online in search of a product or service that solves their problem or fulfills their need. They end up going through an endless list of pages for businesses that all say the same thing all over again. Who do they trust?
Chances are, they will choose the one brand that strays from the overly promotional, repetitive content. If you create genuine and authentic content, your brand is more likely to catch the eye of the audience. The sole fact that you put an effort into providing helpful information that relates to your business specifically can go a long way to building customer confidence.
Work to improve your customer support.
The cornerstone to building customer confidence and trust, especially online, is good customer support. Even if you think that your support is excellent, know that there is always room for improvement.
The trick to creating great customer support is to constantly monitor its quality, response time, and success – and use the data to improve it. Your goal is to create highly responsive customer support that promptly and professionally responds to customer inquiries and concerns across different channels, including live chat, email, phone, or social media.
Also, your goal is to hire and train the right support agents and representatives who will be capable of resolving problems fast, handling different customers, and instilling trust in those who are still considering whether or not they should trust your business.
Analyze and adapt your strategy.
How do you know if your business is transparent enough and whether or not your strategies are actually building customer confidence?
The answer lies in data collection and analysis. Gathering customer data such as testimonials and keeping track of KPIs is not just useful so you can track the progress or revenue of your business. It is also important so you can analyze your transparency strategy and see if it is working. If you aren’t attracting more customers than before or losing more people, then your strategy needs to be revised and changed accordingly.
If your transparency efforts turn out to be paying off, then you are on the right track – and you should focus on what you have been doing in the future.
Be consistent
Transparency is not a one-time activity. You can’t create a single page on your website sharing details about your business or a privacy policy that will remain unchanged for years. In an article it’s explained that transparency is a work in progress and thankfully, there are many ways in which you can communicate openly with your audience and show them that your business is honest.
Is your business transparent enough?
Do you find it easy to attract new customers? Do people trust your business, or do they spend days or weeks considering if they should buy from you, asking your support endless questions?
Before you start implementing the strategies we listed here, it is important to check where you stand. Based on what the answers to these two questions are, you can start boosting your strategy to make your business more transparent and build customer confidence in the process. Good luck!
