The movement towards transparency is being driven by growing consumer concerns about business ethics and the competitive advantages that transparency can bring to an organization.
Building brand trust through transparency can boost success and reputation in business, while a lack of transparency can cause serious problems. According to one study, 94% of customers say they are likely to trust brands that demonstrate transparency, while 73% are willing to pay more for products purchased from these businesses. This is why long-term brand trust is so important.
In the past, it was natural for corporations to keep some secrets from their community, from how products are sourced to what their environmental impact might be. Today, secrecy is no longer tolerated. Building an authentic relationship with your customer means giving them full access to every stage of your brand journey, including the bad decisions you’ve made along the way.
Building customer trust is a slow and careful process that will certainly benefit your business. To achieve this, it is recommended that the company take several actions on a regular basis to ensure that customers fully trust their organization.
The first step is to start at home. You can’t be transparent about your brand values if your company doesn’t even live up to core values. It is essential to articulate those values and ensure that these are clearly communicated and understood by employees.
Employees who understand and support core business values are better equipped to help build brand trust. Likewise, employees who understand the brand’s values pay off for transparency efforts.
What comes next is getting involved, monitoring and fine-tuning your presence on social networks, as they can be an excellent vehicle to openly and honestly show the transparency of the brand. However, strategy and constant and sustained effort are necessary. The main tasks are to provide engaging, original, high-quality content and engage with followers and influencers. The tone of the interactions must feel personal to create a lasting impression and a valuable user experience.
Another relevant part is to intervene in the reviews that are presented in digital spaces. Brands that don’t acknowledge those comments are doomed to fail, as it’s a display of disinterest in the customer. Online reviews are a gold mine of information. Consumers can learn from what they read and then make an informed purchase decision, which also translates into a human connection between the brand and its customers.
Finally, you have to be realistic. If you choose to establish brand transparency, you have to accept that no company is perfect. With that in mind, don’t make promises you can’t keep. While there’s nothing wrong with telling your customers that you strive to be the best, don’t try to convince them that you’ll never face any problems. Instead, let your followers know that if they make a mistake, you’ll be the first to own up and fix the problem.
A business simply has no future without the trust and loyalty of its customer base. You have to work on multiple facets of the brand to get there. When used correctly, transparency and brand trust can favorably impact your bottom line. Transparency not only makes it easier for you to convert new customers, it also means your existing customers will stay with you for much longer.