Digital development has changed our lives completely. As a result, consumers today are savvier and more data-driven compared to their ancestors.
The higher buyers’ expectations, the ease of information exchange, and the fierce competition have put great pressure on brands. Additionally, consumers tend to mistrust advertising and cast doubt upon how transparent the brand is.
In fact, 54% of people do not trust brands.
As a result, companies today must implement an upgraded marketing approach. In other words, marketers must catch consumer attention and win their diminished trust back.
Nowadays, consumers mistrust advertising and cast doubt upon brand’ transparency and truthfulness.
Read this blog until the end, and educate yourself on the vital importance of brand trust. In addition, it will reveal the most effective way of closing the gap between your brand and customers.
The challenge in winning consumers’ trust
It all begins with the Internet and social media. Today, each of us can be a professional researcher on his own. From the comfort of our homes, we can browse the net and educate ourselves on every existing topic. Especially, in terms of shopping, we can spend hours googling until we find out the best deal.
As a result, our behaviour, attitude, and consumption habits transform completely. The online space is bombarded by a variety of global brands. In short, all of them fight for us to spend some money on their products.
While brands possessed the power in the past, today there is a shift towards the hands of the consumer. Consumers are more aware of their rights. Supported by knowledge about industries, products, and services, users cannot be easily influenced anymore. To clarify, there is a huge gap between brands and their audiences.
Brands are no longer capable of conveying their values. Correspondingly, consumers do not trust brand communication anymore. Moreover, they refer to it as “pushy” or misleading.
Marketers must find what appeals to their audience, in order to win consumers’ trust back.
Due to technological development, our consumption behaviour is completely transformed.
Authenticity creates trust
Authenticity is simply the key to trust. Certainly, brands must find a way to prove their transparency and credibility to the audience. Only by doing this, the company will stand out from competitors.
If the audience trusts you, it is much easier to make them buy from you. Moreover, trust can result in loyalty and advocacy. An already acquired customer that trusts you will most probably choose you again. After that, they can spread out positive opinions about the brand with their friends and family, creating powerful word-of-mouth.
This process will help a marketer to legitimize a brand and differentiate it from competitors.
Trust creates loyalty and advocacy.
Consumers trust people
Finally, take advantage of the popularity of social media platforms and create a real social buzz. In 2023, on Instagram alone, there are more than 1.386 billion active users daily worldwide. For businesses, this is a great opportunity to present their values in front of a large audience.
An effective way to bypass the concept of advertisement is a collaboration with influencers. With this strategy, marketers can create an even greater impact on consumers’ minds, without making it too obvious. People today trust and respond positively to friend’s recommendations and opinions, or individuals they look up to.
As a matter of a fact, 92% of people trust influencers more than any advertisement or traditional celebrity endorsement.
Digital platforms have become a powerful tool. Each individual has the chance to gain great influence over a huge network. An influential social media account can unite a whole community with created content. Common interests and lifestyles strengthen the bond between individuals within these communities.
Influencers can successfully fill in the gap between a brand and its customers. Indeed, their responsibility as a mediator is to introduce the company’s values indirectly to the public. Otherwise speaking, content creators rely on creativeness to communicate their opinions. In this way, they seem authentic, and, most importantly, people trust them.
An effective way to bypass the concept of advertisement is by making collaborations with a beloved influencer.
Takeaway
The bond between content and trust is indisputable. In a time, when transparency is sought and highly appreciated, pushy ads are no longer effective to catch attention.
In short, consumers trust people they look up to and admire. Each brand must add a human touch to its promotional methods, and enlighten the emotional connection with its customers. Nowadays, this is the path to success.
