How To Build Trust Through Social Media

Trust among consumers is more important than ever.  In 2018, there was a massive data breach with Facebook. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have been purging MILLIONS of fake account. YouTube is cracking down on fake news.

In fact, 25% of consumers say that “trust in brand” is one of their top 3 reasons to shop at a particular retailer. Even greater than that, 94% of consumers have stated that transparency in a business is absolutely essential to gaining their loyalty.

To build trust on social media, you need to have the right amount of expertise, helpfulness, and transparency mixed with just a small amount of promotion. Your promotion (the sales posts) should never be more than 20% of your overall messaging.

So how do you build trust online?  Here are 5 ways:

1. Share high quality, valuable content – Take the time to identify who your target customers are and what they want. Discover why they want those things. In other words, what problems are they having and what does it take to solve them. When sharing content, you can use outside links with good information as long as you rely on trustworthy sources.  Also, take a look at your competitors and find out what gap they have in their information and strive to fill that void.
2. Nurture relationships on your social channels – No matter what social channels you choose to be active on, your focus should be on engagement. Engagement can be anything from a like to a comment. Engagement from you leads to engagement from the consumer.  It also signals the algorithms that your social platforms use to make your posts more visible.
3. Ask for reviews of your company – The majority of people value an online review as much as a personal recommendation so you should strive to get those from satisfied customers. Be sure to get those reviews posted in a variety of places and platforms like Google/Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Better Business Bureau and your own website.  
4. Tell real stories with real photos – Stock photos are great but they are just that – stock. Be sure to include photos of your team, community and charity activities and even behind the scenes. This allows your audience to get to know you better and shows that you are being transparent with them.
5. Be consistent with your branding – Consistency breeds trust. Branding isn’t just about the colors or other design elements; although, those are important. Be sure to stay consistent to your company values and mission statements. For example, if your company is passionate about the environment, don’t share photos where there is a ton of waste visible. Consistency in posting is also critical. If you post on a consistent schedule, you signal your consumer that you can be counted on.

When it comes to trust building, social media is a great vehicle. It allows you to be out in front of potential buyers and showcase many sides of your company and your brand. Follow the guidelines above to create a trustworthy, transparent social strategy and you will be on your way to enhancing your company’s know-like-trust factor.