If you’re keeping track of the current state of social media, you know maintaining consumer trust is a growing challenge. In his opening talk at this year’s Social Media Week NYC, Executive Director Toby Daniels emphasized the need to address the growing lack of trust in social media and its effects on businesses today.
Building and maintaining trust in your brand has become more important than ever. In fact, it was one of the most talked about concepts at this year’s conference. Here are three key takeaways from Social Media Week NY, at which I was also a speaker, to help your business foster trust in light of the recent shift.
Be authentic.
Perhaps one of the biggest themes at this year’s SMW was authenticity. In today’s social climate, it’s what consumers value most. With countless viral marketing efforts that are easily forgotten when the next trend comes along, regular communication with customers is a key differentiator for small businesses. Cultivating a loyal customer base is a reliable and sustainable way to succeed on social media.
In a panel covering news and noise on social media, Mastercard’s EVP Christine Elliot suggested that you will miss the boat if you try to jump on every trend. So how do you know which trends are appropriate to jump on? How can you be sure you’re being authentic?
Authenticity is difficult to come by, but it isn’t unattainable. Successful brands are leading the way with content that creates value for consumers by following a few simple practices. These guidelines can help your business foster trust and transparency:
• Build loyalty through personalization. Audiences now expect that. Personalizing your marketing messages shows your audience that your product or service is right for your customers.
• Before jumping on a social trend, consider whether it aligns with your customers’ interests and whether it makes sense for your brand to talk about it.
• Incorporate video into your marketing strategy. Not only is it the most authentic way to express yourself, but it can also help differentiate your brand as one that is transparent and trustworthy. As I discussed in a recent article, it’s how businesses are driving growth and success on social media today.
Get to know your audience.
To create content that resonates with your customers, you’ll need to genuinely know your audience and communicate with them on a regular basis. Explore who your customers are and why they are interested in your product or service. When possible, have one-on-one conversations with your customers. Once you know what your audience cares about, it’s easier to create value for your customers and keep them coming back.
Using data to understand a niche community of customers helps your business create content that is relevant and deeply powerful. This fosters a memorable relationship between you and your customer. Need tips on how to get started? Try this:
• Send a survey with questions that can help you gain insight into your customers.
• Create a video ending with a call to action that asks customers to share their opinions.
• Keep up with customer reviews – they can help inform your marketing decisions.
• Engage with questions or comments on your social channels to create an expectation of easy and open communication with your brand.
• Look into insights and analytics to see where your customers are already engaging. Then, create more of the content that your audience loves.
Amplify trust.
Once you’ve familiarized yourself with your customer base and what they care about, make sure you’re communicating in a way that is effective and relevant to them as well. Recent research from HubSpot, an Animoto partner, shares that “54% of consumers want to see videos from brands they support in comparison to email newsletters (46%) or social image (41%) based content.” This is likely because video gives consumers a personal look at your brand.
Luckily, incorporating video into your current marketing efforts is less time consuming than you might think. It’s easy to repurpose your website, blog and static content into video. And you don’t need a studio, videographer or even a fancy camera to get started. Any business can create professional, social-friendly videos using a video-editing tool and a mobile device.
Claire King, head of culinary for Buzzfeed's Tasty, said in a Social Media Week panel that you have to be able to move and adapt quickly in order to survive in digital. In fact, Christina Peirona, Executive Director of Global Consumer Marketing at MAC Cosmetics, suggests being nimble, scrappy and willing to fail. The cosmetics brand shoots quickly on a mobile device to share relevant video content with its customers.
Here’s some inspiration to amplify trust and reach for your business.
• Share behind-the-scenes video allowing consumers to get to know your brand – the first step toward building a relationship with customers.
• Create how-to tutorials to help your business add value to your customers without being overly promotional.
• Showcase happy customers in testimonial videos to amplify trust in your brand.
When you use video to communicate with your customers regularly, you cultivate a genuine relationship with your audience. For small businesses, this can drive real results. Trust and authenticity, common themes at this year’s Social Media Week conference, lay the foundation for a loyal customer base – a crucial step in growing your business. Use these tips to keep your audience front and center, and start amplifying your brand today.
