Trust in Me

One of the foundational elements for any brand is trust. Without trust, you can’t and won’t go very far. On occasion, consumers will take a leap of faith and try your product or service, but the element of trust is a necessity and should not be taken lightly.

I’ll be honest, I click Facebook ads. The thing is, I don’t always buy the product. Sometimes they are crazy relevant to me, or the outfits are just that cute. If I haven’t heard of the company, one of the first things I look for are customer reviews. If I’ve heard of you, but haven’t purchased before, I look for the customer reviews.

People trust each other over your brand – that’s just the way it goes. You can use this to your advantage by maintaining strong earned media. It’s important to be aware of what people are saying about your product/service. As with everything, there’s a right way, and there’s a wrong way to do this.

The Wrong Way

Gone are the days where consumers will trust customer reviews alone. There are companies that pay for positive comments on social or reviews on their page. People weren’t born yesterday and catch onto this quickly. Don’t do this.

Don’t try to be something you’re not. I saw a Facebook ad for super cute belly ring the other day, and when I read through the comments, everyone said they searched the whole website and it didn’t exist. Wasting a potential customer’s time is one way to never get their business again.

The Right Way

Have a presence. Many people have questions if they’ve never heard of you before. How does it work? What’s your return policy like? They want this information at their disposal. If they are commenting on your ad, answer them. Having additional social channels to back up your brand helps. People want to make sure you’re legit. Anyone can have a website and sell you something. If they can’t find you anywhere, odds are they won’t be purchasing. Solidify it’s safe to purchase from you and remove any doubt they might have.

If I see something I love and haven’t heard of you, odds are I’ll end up seeing if I can find the same product (or something similar) on Amazon. To me, Amazon is Google – but for products. I, and many others, trust Amazon and use it to – you guessed it, look up customer reviews. If your brand is on Amazon, I’ll have it in 2 days and I know I can return it if needed. Use this to your advantage when you’re trying to get through the brand awareness stage.

A Lesson

JCPenney was a trusted and reputable store to get just about anything for the average family. They sold quality stuff for reasonable prices. You could buy an entire bedroom ensemble (I mean sheets, comforter, 3 decorative pillows, a bed skirt, a rug, curtains to match and some lamps) and not feel like you were breaking the bank.

JCPenney decided that they were going to compete with the Macy’s and Nordstroms of the retail world. What a mistake. All of their loyal and trusted customers who shopped at Penney’s over Macy’s were no longer going there. The prices were higher and soon they became just another expensive retailer. And what happened? Business fell. JCPenney tried to go back to the way it was before and said, “no, wait!” – but it was too late. Customers looked to other mid-level retailers such as Kohl's, and shifted their loyalty while earning Kohl's cash.

Global Trust

Overall, us advertisers are not a so-called “trusted” profession. We’re considered invasive, annoying and sometimes even creepy. While we’re more trusted than Members of Congress (I’m not kidding, take a look yourself), we’re still pretty low on the list. Unfortunately, even if a drop of poison gets into a glass of water, it ruins the whole drink. Just keep in mind that (most) agencies support their client’s brands, which include their mission statements and values.

Predictions

It’s no surprise that Millennials and the upcoming generations will trust digital advertising more than older generations. In my opinion, traditional mediums of advertising are only currently trusted more because they’ve been around longer. I can’t remember a time where I didn’t see billboards or print ads in the mail. The younger generations have grown up with phones, tablets and smart TVs. It’s not new to them, and they will learn when something sounds too good to be true. They will catch on to the bad practices. (Which is why it’s important to do things the right way). The more we purchase from our phones, tablets, etc. solidifies my point.

Conclusion

Trust is the foundation for human relationships. Whether it’s a brand, a partner, or a friendship. Instilling and maintaining trust is key, and if you’re not sure where to start, or you’ve started and need to integrate your practices with a strategy – you need to hire my agency. Your job is to run your business and have a great product/service, our job is to grow it.