How can online business leaders win customer trust?

One of the easiest ways to foster trust with a potential customer is to establish a great digital rapport. The brands which appear personable – and almost human – through their online presence, are best-placed to instil confidence in a buyer and see their reputation flourish.

In today’s connected society, often the best way to humanise an organisation is by showcasing the company culture – rather than products – via a recognisable, sincere and consistent voice on social media. But, it goes much further than simply setting up a business profile and hoping for the best.

As an absolute minimum, organisations should be using a social media scheduling tool. This allows for consistent and timely sharing to multiple platforms, while feeding back data to the marketing team on what works – and when.

Getting staff involved in deepening relationships

Once you have that nailed, the next step is an employee advocacy programme – undoubtedly the ‘secret weapon’ of today’s modern-day workforces. As a proven shortcut to building relationships, this approach really does wonders for showcasing the trustworthiness and reliability of your brand.

Social media conversations can have bottom-line impact, hence the insurgence of the term, ‘social selling’. And, by building an online presence which encompasses a mix of content shared by ‘official’ accounts and company-approved content shared by the team – employee advocacy – will position any brand as an approachable and trustworthy expert in its field.

As such, it’s key to ensure colleagues are sharing both branded and repurposed content wherever possible, because someone who feels positive enough about their employer to promote them on social media carries far more clout than if the same posts were to always come from the company account.

The more people that get involved, the more amplified and arguably more authentic, the brand’s voice will be.

Sharing the social love!

Gone are the days when a brand’s social communications should be the sole responsibility of a marketing department. In fact, content shared by employees typically sees more engagement and goes 561% further. In turn, this extended reach and increased engagement has been seen to result in a 79% increase in brand visibility.

For firms which rely heavily on their digital footprint, positive product reviews are another component of establishing a solid reputation – however, these aren’t the be-all-and-end-all, and should be a part of a much wider strategy.

While a review might highlight a subjective opinion through the eyes of one user, readers have no assurance of the validity of the write-up – which is where the brand’s perceived trustworthiness comes in.

Building relationships with returning and potential customers using the power of social media is what assures buyers that the outfit they are dealing with is reliable and genuine.

Bolstering the conversations through your existing staff line-up will take away the perceived risk factor during the decision-making process – thus resulting in more sales, and flourishing relationships.

SoAmpli helps you to understand how to encourage employee advocacy and be a social selling success. Find out more by booking a free demo with us today.

SoAmpli turns sales teams into social selling stars, increasing sales and powering brands. Sounds interesting? Let’s have a chat: https://soampli.com/contact/demo