Build Trust for Black Friday, Cyber Monday

Shoppers want to know that the brand/company that they are buying from is trustworthy! They want to know that if they give you their hard-earned money, that you will send them their product in return. It is a sad but true fact that too many shoppers have gotten burned or know someone who has taken in by a scam or give a product that is nothing like the picture.

Customers look for ‘trust signals’ when they are shopping online. These are signs that show the brand/company they want to buy from can be trusted.

Let’s talk about these trust signals and how to build trust using them in the lead up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday.

There are 5 main ways that you can build trust. By having a(n):

1. About Us Page

2. Reviews and Testimonials

3. Site Design

4. Product Photos

5. Contact Us Page

About Us Page

An about us page is a significant page to have for any business. It's where you can put your story of how you came to be, what you want to give to your customers and let your customers know the people behind the business. It is an incredibly important page if you are a new brand. This will allow your customers to learn more about you and your business!

Reviews and Testimonials

Customers care about reviews!  Social proof is a powerful tool, one that you should be using to bring in more customers. 

Shoppers want to see reviews (the first-hand experience) from other customers, and if there is a photo to go along with the review or testimonial, that’s even better. They use these reviews and testimonials to see if they will get what they think they are going to get when they place an order.

Gather Reviews

If you haven’t already started gathering reviews from your customers, start. As for specific reviews (products) or testimonials (for the experience they have had with your brand generally). 

You can do this by sending out follow-up emails (a week or two after the product has been delivered) or when they purchase from you, including a message thanking them for their purchase and encouraging them to leave a review.

Place your Reviews Strategically

You don’t want to place your reviews or testimonials just anywhere on your website; you need to be thoughtful about the placement!

Your reviews should be on your product page, where you can earn the trust of your shoppers. If you don’t have a review for a particular product, don’t worry! You can show reviews of a similar product in its stead.

Why would you do this?

Well, there is such a thing as negative social proof. If you have too many products with no reviews, it looks like people aren’t buying your products or, even worse, bought it but didn’t like it, and that doesn’t make you look trustworthy!

Site Design

There is nothing worse than going to a website and seeing a set up that is more reminiscent of the early 2010s (unless it’s for nostalgia) or worse, the site taking forever to load! To sell to the modern-day customer, your website also has to be modern.

Design

If your website looks old-school or pre-2010, it is time for an update. If shoppers see an old website for a modern brand, they may get the idea that you’re out of business because you haven’t taken the time to update your website or that you’re lazy! And neither of these are things we want your customers to think of you!

You don’t want people thinking that you didn’t put time and effort into your business, so a modern design is necessary.

User Experience

A good user experience means that your website is easy for shoppers to use and has a modern design that helps with the ease of navigation. 

You don’t want to frustrate your users; frustration leads to shoppers leaving your site!

On Brand

Make sure that your website makes sense for your brand. You don’t want to have a trendy website just for trend’s sake. Your website should be on brand and resonate with your customers. This is another way that you can build trust.

Product Photos

One of the best ways to build trust with your customers is to show what your products look like in real life! Not only will it build trust, but customers love it too.

Curate customer photos, ask for, and find photos of your product being used in real life. Customer reviews can take time to get, so here are two ways to curate customer product photos.

Request Customer Photos

1. There is no harm in asking for customer reviews and photos! It’s an easy way to gauge how your customers feel about your product and a powerful trust signal.

2. When requesting the reviews and photos, you can offer them incentives such as cashback, loyalty points, and discounts!

Find Photos on Instagram

1. Using a specific or unique hashtag is a great way to find photos of your product or service online. This hashtag can be used by customers or influencers and will help to build a personal brand online. You can then use these photos where you can on your store or website!

2. Another great way to show off your product, what it looks like, how others use/wear it is by creating a customer photo wall. It’s a great way to show off your product IRL and how many happy customers you have!

Contact Us Page

Being online doesn’t mean that people aren’t interested in seeing that you’re a real business with a physical address, nor does it mean that they don’t want to be able to contact you. Giving customers a way to contact you and understand where you are located is just as important as if you were a brick and mortar store!

Having a phone number and a physical location makes you seem more trustworthy as a business. Most won’t contact you, but it’s the fact that you exist, that means it you are a legitimate business.

Google also requires you to have certain contact information on your online store if you want to advertise with them.

Here are a few contacts you may want to include:

• Text/SMS

• Email

• Social Media

Building trust with your customers is essential and goes a long way in bringing customers back and bringing in new ones. In the lead up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, this is especially important.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday customers are especially cautious because there have been too many stories of people being scammed during this time.

These are easy ways to build trust, trust that will last long past Black Friday, Cyber Monday!