How to earn the trust of your customers with Content Marketing
Image Credit: strategymagazine.com
If you are like me, before making any online purchase, you spend a little time browsing customer reviews, see to read product reviews on other sites. We need, as a consumer, to be reassured about the choice we will make . Will the product really fit the description? Will it be delivered on time, that is worth the after-sales service, am I right to err, to change my mind? Will the seller keep all his promises? As a customer, can I give my trust?
Integrity and honesty are the two pillars of trust that consumers will give your business . More than just words and formulas well felt on the home page of your website, it is an attitude of every moment, a set of value that you need to communicate to your customers and prospects. You can not only praise your values, you must put them into practice!
Those who trust you will find it more difficult to choose another company, simply to minimize risk taking. The confidence makes the consumer a little less looking at the price (this does not allow you to burst the ceiling though).
Content Marketing helps customer confidence
Content marketing is an effective way to demonstrate your values and get the trust of your customers. But keep in mind that on the Internet, the traces are indelible. If you praise your honesty on your blog and social networks, consumers will be able to put forward these publications when they feel cheated. Be as transparent as possible, and your communication reflects what you really are.
1 - Highlight your satisfied customers
To gain the confidence of your prospects, the speech of your customers will always be superior to yours. Word-of-mouth always represents one of the most important vectors of confidence. Make sure your customer experience is good, make the necessary adjustments when your customers are telling you something wrong and collecting positive feedback.
They may appear at the bottom of your sales pages but it might also punctuate some of your blog posts. Comments are a source of potentially positive content that most sites do not know what to do . Recycle them. Same for items that talk about you and your products, give them visibility on your site.
Encourage feedback, product testing, unpacking videos by sharing them . I often say that Content Marketing is not looking to talk about oneself, but just to answer the questions of your clients. This will be the case if you reassure them about the experience they will experience with you.
2 - Use the influencers
Still thinking that it is better for others to talk about you, influence marketing is an opportunity to be seized. Consumers tend to trust industrial authorities and influencers, even if they do not always realize it.
When a person, a recognized influencer, engages with a mark, it obtains credit from its audience. You have to choose the right person: that it is sufficiently known for this association to be fruitful, that it is not so well developed as to vampire your brand and that it is relevant to your sector of activity Or the tone of your communication.
Sharing on social networks from an influential individual will resonate as a boost of confidence in your content or brand. It is a quick way to "gain stripes" from Internet users. However, influence marketing is a long-term strategy. The ideal is to build as quickly as possible a relationship with some influencers active on social networks. You can do this by:
Loving, sharing or commenting on their social media publications
Initiate a conversation as a private comment or message . I recommend this practice rather than sending an email. The influencers receive a lot of emails from solicitations from the brands, so stand out, in the literal sense. Do not interact as a brand but rather seek to engage in real discussion, be less conventional, and be interested in their work instead of talking to you in the first place. You can ask for advice, react to a content of the influencer or congratulate him for his work to start the discussion.
Events (conferences, shows, etc.) are also an opportunity to meet them live. Again, avoid the overly conventional approach, be relaxed to engage a sympathetic moment.
Another way to get his attention is to quote it in your content and alert it when publishing your article. Send him an e-mail and if you do well, it should be the beginning of a friendly and courteous relationship. Moreover, there is a good chance that he shares the article in which you quote him on social networks.
You can also ask him or her to intervene in your article . Ask him if he has an idea in mind, something special to share about the topic you are writing.
Of course, you will never get a 100% return. Myself, I do not answer all the requests, they are numerous and I sometimes lack time.
3 - Be honest
That should have been my very first point! Indeed, do not try to communicate something you are not, the truth always catches up with you sooner or later. It's not because the coca label or the Nutella logo or Total go green that these companies suddenly become champions of environmental protection.
You want to earn the trust of your customers and prospects, do everything to deserve it . It also goes through your content. If the titles of your articles look attractive to the point that your readers can not help clicking but they leave disappointed by their lack of interest or by the fact that the article is far from the announced subject, you quickly go Lose your readership.
Your content must be up to your title, your product lives up to what you advertise in your ads and your clients' experience lives up to their expectations.
4 - Share your story
Do not just give tips, tricks, let alone talk about your product or your business. Personalize your content with anecdotes from your experience . This has the effect of humanizing your brand, consumers are getting closer to it. You also add weight to what you are saying. It is not only a batch of knowledge balanced in an article, it is the fruit of an experiment. You become more credible.
For example, I can talk about mattress reviews on social networks and content marketing because I have been using them for several years. I live thanks to this, my business relies in part on these components of webmarketing.
This way of doing helps to demonstrate to your audience that you are a real person, with similar emotions, goals, desires and problems. They can connect with you, through your common values.
However, do not invent anything! Do not embellish your story . The art of storytelling is that of telling a story, not stories! If you make, manipulate, make yourself or your business, more interesting or your content more credible, you will miss your target at some point. Some do and last, but their fall always hangs over their heads.
If you do not feel legitimate, if you think you lack experience, it is not too late to build your experience.
5 - Get empathy for your audience
Be social! Show interest in people who also demonstrate interest in your business. We appreciate all the more a brand when it shows empathy towards its fans. Answer the questions, thank those who comment and be on the look-out for ideas coming up from your audience. Brands that function in this way generate a commitment of quality and a capital of great sympathy and confidence.
Whether you do it with humor, like the Innocent brand, or more seriously, because that's what your industry demands, your social media team will have to connect with your customers, prospects and curious people.
In fact, it's a safe bet that you have a lot in common with your potential customers: maybe you have interests, hobbies and concerns in common. If this is a concern, you can try to solve it for your customers. They will realize that you have faced the same challenges and you can encourage them to follow your steps . If this is something positive, you can encourage people to share their stories to promote engagement. In both cases, your potential customers will realize that there is someone behind your business who listens to them and understands them.
Seize every opportunity to create the bond, develop the relationship and if you make promises, hold them!
Trust is never acquired forever. A false step, a bad buzz, a crisis and it is the whole building built during many years that collapses in a few moments. It is therefore a work of every moment.
Every article written, every video made, every comment from your customers, every publication on social networks represents an extra effort to win the trust of your visitors.
Of course, there are other things to consider:
Your graphic charter that can propel you from the rank of amateur to that of professional
The ergonomics of your site
The means of payment taken into account
The care given to spelling and grammar
The customer experience, ...
Content marketing is a great way to attract leads but also to work on your brand image. Above all, be honest and honest! It is easier to forgive an error than a lie! This reveals an entirely different state of mind.
