If you want to produce enough revenue from your online store, you must earn the trust of your customers. A smile or handshake could make all the difference in your customer service within a traditional business setting where you get to meet your customers in person. It’s a little different for your online business. Before your customers make an online transaction on your online store, they conduct thorough research to establish your business’ credibility- this is your online business’ “e-smile” to customers. This means your business’ credibility is significant. Here are some ways you can use to help increase your credibility to attract customers and make sales.
1. Build a solid profile page
Besides looking out for prices, customers are actively looking up the profiles of the businesses they come across. On search engines, they look up a company to see what comes up. Top results are regarded as more credible and would be the ones they purchase items from. To be a part of these companies, you should create a solid profile page. Include excellent reviews, social media accounts, your virtual address (which you can get from physicaladdress.com), and other details that would help customers feel your company can be trusted.
2. Use video content
Interactive content like videos is another way to improve your store’s credibility. All words and no visuals can make your customers question your products and services. By including video content, you give customers a chance to view the product or better understand the services you provide. In addition, it builds on your customer’s trust in your company as it shows them what exactly they would be paying for. Consult professionals to help you create video content to reflect what you and your business do to build your credibility amongst your customers.
3. Blogging
Blogging gives your online store a platform to communicate with your customers. You can offer advice, information, and suggestions on your blog for your customers to indulge in. Be sure that the information you provide is reliable and accurate. If customers believe your blog is misleading and inaccurate, you would be deemed untrustworthy, and this can affect your sales.
4. Client referrals and testimonials
Statistics show that about 61% of shoppers read customer evaluations before making a purchase. Yelp is well-liked for a reason. Before they commit to your services, they want to know what others are saying about them. What better way to do so than by displaying them on your website? Including client reviews on your website immediately communicates to visitors that your company is open and eager to take control of its image. Transparency and consistency are both critical components in establishing your brand’s long-term confidence.
5. Build a significant social media following
In today’s digital age, social media platforms do and mean more for your business. For businesses, these platforms give you access to a wide range of potential customers. For customers, they say a lot about a business. A business with a strong social media presence interacts with customers and is seen as attentive to its customers’ needs.
This, in effect, reflects that business can be trusted. Therefore, be sure to be more active on your social media platforms and interact with your customers. You should avoid buying followers because many social media platforms are cracking down on this practice, and most of the followers you buy are inactive accounts that will not engage with your posts. As your following grows organically, so would your credibility
6. Promote online customer reviews
One of the most common ways for customers to assess a company’s reliability is online customer reviews. The most frequent review systems are Trip Advisor, Google Plus, and Trust Pilot, and you should take steps to encourage reviews on all of them. Having more favorable evaluations than negative ones is preferable, which involves providing high-quality service and encouraging all of your satisfied clients to submit reviews. Negative reviews may be unavoidable, and you won’t be able to get them removed unless they violate the review platform’s criteria, especially if they’re discriminating.
You can, however, respond to these reviews on some sites, allowing you to publicly apologize or fight back if you believe the review is unfair or a troll but be careful about it. Consumers may assume you’re petite or haven’t had any customers if you don’t have any reviews; as a result, if you don’t have any, you should try your hardest to earn some. However, you should avoid posting your phony evaluations because you will only be deceiving yourself.