It’s little things that matter — Building Brand Trust.

It’s the little things that matter.

Trust is often times the reason a customer buys.

It’s not always easy to build trust on the first meet, unless it’s a referral (which your client may still not trust you yet), or something else.

It’s easy for the big brands because they’ve put in the work and have lasted the years.

The countless campaigns, community building, and branding.

Trust goes way beyond business.
It gives your clients confidence in YOU because they know you’re credible.

So, it’s a feeling.
A one of confidence and security that they’re going to the right person for the job.

It’s like there’s someone you like being around because they’re for you, they make you feel safe, and it builds your confidence.

You need to think of how to make your clients feel like this.

Make them feel listened to.
When they say something that’s supposed to piss you off, ask yourself, “do they understand the full picture?”

Most times, they’ll look at things from just one perspective and you have to find out if they fully understand.

But some people are just naturally jerks, and there’s nothing you can do about that.

Trust is the belief that clients have in your brand.
It’s based on things like your reputation, transparency, fairness and value.

These all work together to create trust.

It’s the little things.

Trust isn’t built overnight.
It’s earned through time, consistency, and effort put towards doing the little things that don’t seem to make a difference in the short-term view but in the long-term view.

Recommendation comes from trust.

You probably wouldn’t recommend a bad product or service.
Same with clients.

Word-of-mouth marketing reduces the effort you have to put into building trust because it has been passed down.

The PASS-DOWN EFFECT.

If your friend had suggested a product to you, and three options are presented to you at a later time, you’d probably pick the one recommended to you.

You had the choice to pick any of the three, but you chose that particular one. This is to also say that your competition shouldn’t be much of a problem if you’re able to do the things you say do.

When your client trusts you, they’re more likely to continue working with you although there are thousands of other options available.

Loyalty like this leads to repeat business and long-term relationships.

So, here’s what I do to build trust with my clients:

Be Authentic.

As much you want to stand out, do it in your own way.
Being authentic means being original, adding your touch to everything you put out.

We all know when a post is AI generated.
I mean, it’s so obvious.

Besides the fact there’s nothing new, some people want to hear it from you. Because why bother adding your personal touch when you can let AI do it for you? Originality and human connection are so overrated, after all.

Authentic content is in your story.
No one can feel all the emotions you feel in one day. So maybe try writing them down and expressing your feelings so you can use for content later.

Nothing says ‘authentic content’ like using your deepest feelings and thoughts as material. Let’s not forget the creepy ones — they’re just perfect for public consumption, right?

Jokes aside,
If your content aligns with the story you’re trying to tell, it’ll be much easier to go viral.

And I don’t want to go viral (Translation: I totally want to go viral) but it’s important for content to be relatable.

Talking about yourself only isn’t going to make clients come rushing, it’ll only set you off as an excessively self-absorbed individual. You need to address the needs of your audience.

One more thing, don’t forget to steal content and do it like an artist.

Copying content word for word deserves the middle finger.

Be Easy to Find.

It’s easy to give into anxiety and be like:

There’s too much! There’s just too many! How would I even get found? There’s like a million other people doing this!

But look at it from my perspective:

“There are over 8 billion people in the world, stop freaking out.”

Ask yourself, can they find you when they need you?
NO? Get to work.

There’s no limit to the amount of information you can find today.
Just adjust your marketing till it works.

Be Valuable.

This stems from being authentic.
Don’t just post valuable content, let other people see that value — social proof.

You’re valuable, don’t keep it to yourself.
We’re all here to serve.
Start serving your value to the world.

The world right now needs raw content.
Authentic stuff.

Transparency.

Authenticity is about being true to oneself, while transparency is about being open and accountable — Google Search.

Transparency is about having honest and open conversations with your audience.

Being accountable for the things you say, said, did and do.
It’s a loop.

It helps to build stronger relationships and if you own a company, it makes employees trust you as a leader.

Being Consistent.

I remember reading posts on LinkedIn telling me to stay consistent, you don’t know who is watching.

I honestly thought it was just propaganda until it happened to me.

Someone told me, they’d been following me for a while and gave me a job.

I’m not saying consistency is key.
Consistency doing the right things is the right key.

Be sure to stay true to you.
It’s easy to slip into feeling like rubbish because of the success you’ll others talking about.

Create Video Content.

Video content is a fast way to build trust.
It is because it helps your clients to know that you actually know what you’re talking about.

It’s funny how you’d feel that you know nothing when you first pick up a camera to talk about what you do. But that’s how it is at first, you’ll pick up with more practice.

Think about why it’s so easy to believe what an Instagram reel said because there’s a person talking.

Videos are second to human interaction, it’s why they work.

Lastly, I don’t need to explicitly tell you this because of its obviousness, but…

Put a face to the brand.

Don’t be the person behind the logo; it’s harder to build trust that way.

Be the person that comes to mind when the logo is in sight.

Be the face of your brand.
Its okay if you don’t want to be.

Not everyone wants to be in the spotlight.
Just find what works for you.

But in all that you do, show some personality.

Thanks for reading.
See you later!