Why brand trust is so important

Why confidence in brands is extremely crucial

Conversely, choosing a product or a service in a world where customers have more options than ever before has been considerably more difficult. Buyers are eager to do their homework, but what they truly need is a shorthand—something that will help them make judgments more quickly and easily. The significance of brand trust might be useful in this situation. Customers are far more inclined to conduct business with brands they trust, and this may eventually result in loyalty and advocacy.

In this article, we’ll look at the value of brand trust, how to build it, maintain it, and lose it, as well as what it can accomplish for a company.

Why do we believe in brands?

Any choice made by a company is actually made by individuals working for that company; these individuals have the same aspirations, desires, and, most importantly, decision-making processes as everyone else. Therefore, it makes sense that some of the information derived from consumer research can be used in the B2B sector.

Consumers trust companies for three primary reasons, according to a global poll by Edelman.

• Product experience: In the study, 87% of the customers surveyed said that they trusted a brand because of a product they had previously used. More specifically, 73 per cent cited the calibre of the goods and services as the basis for their faith.
• Customer experience: 56 per cent said building trust with a brand was influenced by their customer experience. Things including how the business handles customers, how fast it reacts to complaints, and how effectively it protects customers’ privacy was included in that category.
• Impact on society: Thirty-eight per cent of the respondents stated that they were motivated by a company’s effect on society, particularly how it treats its employees (the most important factor in this category), but also how it views broader societal concerns like the environment, ethnicity, and gender.

Why are trustworthy brands crucial?

In the past 50 years, technological advancements have enabled corporate networks to grow from local to global. This, however, comes with its own difficulties. A more competitive market and the resulting limitless options are undoubtedly advantageous, but how can you be certain that the firm on the other side of the planet will deliver and do so dependably? How can you be sure that issues will be rapidly fixed and that your supply lines or projects won’t be affected by delays? The only way to do that in the B2B world, when millions might be at stake, is by doing business with companies you can trust and by building a reputation as a trustworthy company.

In conclusion, establishing brand trust may have a significant impact on customers’ loyalty, openness, and purchasing behaviour.

Advantages of brand loyalty

• New business is driven by brand trust.
• Brand trust promotes consumer interest in marketing
• Trust in a brand fosters loyalty
• Customer and client advocacy is increased through brand loyalty
• Businesses can withstand any storm with the support of brand advocacy, brand loyalty, and goodwill

How to instil confidence in brands

The findings of brand trust surveys can give organisations important insight into the areas in which they should focus their work. Since businesses already know and understand their industries better than anyone else, it is not our job to offer advice on product development, customer service, or the improper handling of company data. However, there are some areas where we can provide knowledge and insight into how businesses can build and expand brand trust. It might not be evident how some of those elements impact trust or how to control them.

User engagement

Most customers will initially interact with a company via its website, giving that company their first chance to win their confidence. It is more likely that a company is reliable if the user experience (UX) is good. What then constitutes a good UX?

A large number of respondents to the Edelman study who stated that businesses respecting their privacy was vital, agreed that users feel better knowing that a site has the necessary level of security in place. Is the website regularly updated? Is it well-organized and simple to use? Is it a dialogue? How quickly do the pages load? Does the design appear current and contemporary? If a website checks all of those boxes, it’s a positive sign that the company is competent and prioritises the needs of its customers.

Brand promise

The brand promise outlines everything a customer may anticipate while working with your company or purchasing your goods. It may be boiled down to “what you do and for whom” EG, consider the brand promise of Airbnb, which enables visitors to feel a feeling of “community” and “belonging” while they are away. Without the capacity to consistently fulfil the promise, however, it is little more than a promise. Failure to fulfil the brand promise, whether it is through an unreliable product or a lacklustre service, is the surest way to lose customers.

Content

Why does content matter for establishing trust? A well-maintained website with recently-dated postings (on a blog, for instance) is a solid indication that the business is keeping up with developments and informing its audience. It immediately appears more reliable. Not only are we talking about blog entries, but also about videos, case studies, newsletters, and other content.

Additional explanations for how content increases brand trust include:

• It benefits SEO. Being on the front page suggests that a company is on top of things, working hard to enhance user experience and establish credibility.
• Relevant, informative material demonstrates that a company is well aware of its market and the issues that worry its customers.
• A company projects competence if it proves that it not only comprehends its clients’ problems but also knows how to resolve them.
• The “shareability” of a piece of material is similar to a personal recommendation. An indicator that a valued colleague trusts the source of information is when they post a company’s material on LinkedIn or Twitter.
• Transparency: Content is a fantastic method to give consumers a behind-the-scenes peek at your company and how you operate. It hints at an honesty that removes one more obstacle to establishing brand confidence.

Engagement

Although it may be upsetting for them, most customers are aware that things might occasionally go wrong with a product or service. Although it’s not fantastic for brand confidence, nothing may restore it more quickly than a pleasant solution to the issue. That’s standard practice in providing for customers, but how do you really make that available to them when they’re in need?

Using social media is important. Although having chatbots on your website might be helpful, nothing shows customers they are being listened to as much as receiving a timely, beneficial response to an online post. A social media presence is fantastic for sharing material as well, but it serves a far greater purpose by projecting your brand voice and, if handled properly, the sense that there are real people solving customer issues behind the scenes. Yes, we place a lot of confidence in automation and robotics, but most people still like the concept that someone is attempting to assist them on the other end of the line.

The authenticity of the material is recognised as a key component in building trust by 63 per cent of customers, who are more likely to trust a company that engages in social media dialogue. Cisco, which manages a number of Twitter accounts and an active YouTube channel, is one firm that can possibly come across as soulless and heartless but uses social media to prevent that.
Even outside of social media, making it obvious on your website which channels people may use to contact you (as well as the times when they can expect a prompt response) helps reassure them that you are available when they need you.

Branding

For many of the same reasons that UX and content are, branding is crucial for building trust. It demonstrates that you are keeping up with modern advances and maintaining your position as a leader in your industry. To encourage customers to believe in your brand promise, it’s critical to give your brand’s visual language a contemporary appearance that conveys who you are and what your clients may anticipate.

When it comes to building and acquiring brand trust, following our suggestions and acting on what you know about your own business should put you in good stead. However, there is the opposite. Although brand trust might be challenging to establish, it is frightfully simple to lose.

Breach of trust and typical errors

Delivering subpar products and unsatisfactory customer service on a regular basis is by far the fastest method to erode brand credibility. When a product or service falls short of expectations and when fixing the problem becomes a hassle in and of itself, customer loyalty is lost. However, there are several additional ways for a company to unexpectedly fall short in terms of brand credibility. The occasional infraction can be lessened by having a sizable bank of client trust and goodwill, but regaining lost trust can be challenging.

Let’s look at some typical customer trust violations committed by brands and some surprisingly frequent errors you can avoid.

Not understanding the political environment

According to a recent SurveyMonkey survey, 30 per cent of UK respondents said that an insulting advertisement would make them lose faith in a company, while 9 and 10 per cent said that a lack of diversity in the firm’s leadership and marketing would also turn them off.

Politics should normally be avoided in corporate discussions. However, “politics” does not include concerns about human rights, and it might benefit a company to publicly support deserving causes like environmental initiatives, LGBT+ rights, and movements like Black Lives Matter. Any position that is perceived as political will undoubtedly face opposition, but this is usually offset by the positive publicity and increased public confidence that the corporation will get.

Regulation infractions

Nobody likes to feel as though they are doing business with a dishonest organisation. When a firm violates a regulation, it may be extremely harmful to trust since laws and regulations are often in place for good reasons, such as environmental preservation, public safety, or employee welfare.
Whatever the initial expenses of observing rules, they are insignificant in comparison to the costs of losing the trust of clients and prospective regulatory body reprimands for doing so. Recall the 2019 $50 million US SEC settlement for corporate misbehaviour with KPMG? How about the FCA’s 2017 £163 million punishment against Deutsche Bank? Google’s €2.7 billion fine for violating antitrust regulations in the EU? Not exactly a minor adjustment.

Data

With increasing personalization and more precisely targeted advertising, data collection has the potential to significantly improve customer service (and hence brand trust). However, there is a paradoxical negative side for customers and companies.

The findings of a Ping Identity survey into public perceptions of data problems are alarming:

• Following a data breach, 81% of respondents said they would cease interacting online with a brand.
• A corporation is always accountable for securing its data, according to 63% of customers.
• 55% feel that a firm exposing their personal information without permission is more likely to prevent consumers from using that brand’s products than a data breach (27%).

Importantly, from the perspective of user experience, a third of users have stopped using a device, app, or service as a result of an uncomfortable login experience, and 65 per cent of consumers are irritated by them.

A company must react immediately, be upfront and honest with its customers about why a data breach occurred (or any other evidence of a breach of brand trust), and show what it is doing to make sure it won’t happen again. Read this article about data breaches and customer trust from the nice people at Brand Trust.

Key conclusions

There is a wealth of excellent material available on the significance of brand trust. It all leads to two crucial factors—a superb product (or service) offering and exceptional customer care—that count more than anything else when it comes to developing a trusted brand. If you get these two right, you’ll be well on your way to building a reliable, self-sustaining brand with a following of devoted customers. But is that really revolutionary?

According to surveys and research that go deeper, corporate and social responsibility, the standard of data protection, and how the business presents itself to the public through its website and branding are other factors that have a big impact on brand trust. The importance of brand trust is highlighted by the fact that factors like user experience on a company’s website, the calibre of its content and engagement across social media, and how current its image appears all significantly influence a client’s decision to trust a company at various crucial touchpoints in the marketing funnel. Building brand trust is difficult, but with consistent application of a few fundamental ideas, as well as our advice, it is possible, and the benefits are plentiful.

Making brands successful

We are the best at comprehending the significance of brand trust, which begins with an excellent first impression.

Contact us to set up a call if you want to chat with us about your brand and how we can build brand trust. You can see some of our work here. There is no cost or commitment, but we do pledge to provide strategic knowledge and creative insight.

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