You’re a new seller with top-quality products, but would potential customers buy them without social proof?
Making sales without reviews or previous purchases is every new seller’s challenge. To go over and beyond your product page, let’s go through strategic steps you can take to build your target buyers’ trust.
Build Trust Through Content
The most powerful tool to help you connect with potential customers and build their trust is quality content. Putting out good information and pertinent details about your business will allow others to get to know your brand, products, and unique value proposition.
Let's look at a few things to remember when creating content for your online store.
Customer-Centricity
You must understand your potential buyers’ persona before creating your content. Personalizing your content for their benefit is essential, affirming that addressing their needs and giving them value are your priorities.
Image source: IKEA Philippines
IKEA does this specifically well. They just recently launched their store in the Philippines, and their online store provides their customers with an understanding of how much Filipinos value Christmas.
Christmas is a big deal in the Philippines (apparently, they start playing Christmas songs in September), and their Home Page addresses their Christmas gift needs right away is an excellent example of customer-centricity.
It’s helpful to take these cues from more prominent brands. If they create customer-centric content, then there’s all the more an incentive to do so as a small business.
Share Credentials
You may also build trust by mentioning your impressive credentials in your product listings. For instance, if you’ve been in the business for more than a decade, it’s best to say that.
Have you received an award for your exceptional products, or were you featured in a notable media outlet? Are you certified by a credible business bureau? These are just some credentials that often build trust even without product reviews.
Be Authentic & Accessible
When we meet people, we tend to trust those who show authenticity. It’s the same with online stores; customers need to see the human side of businesses. Consumers don’t like it when a company blatantly wants to take their money and increase sales.
Image source: Truvani
Truvani gives us a good example. Aside from sharing their personal experience, they also tell their customers how much they want to improve the industry by providing top-quality products.
Showcase Attractive Yet Real-to-Life Product Shots
Without those five stars, customers would browse past listings unless your product picture stands out. Many seasoned sellers with reviews don’t put much effort into this endeavor. Thus, putting in the effort to take product pictures can go a long way.
Image source: Spectrum
Consider Outsourcing Content Experts
You may outsource specialists if you don’t have the expertise to create great content yourself. You don’t have to spend much money on a marketing agency, especially as a small business owner. Instead, you can outsource freelance content marketers at a much lower cost to create content for you.
Provide Product Details That Stand Out
Other good news – many sellers are too lazy to write a good description of their products. It's one more opportunity to stand out and build trust.
For one, you can include testimonials within your product descriptions. It’s a zero-review loophole to give buyers the much-needed proof of customer satisfaction.
You may also populate your product page with authentic videos and photos to keep your buyers engaged. Recruiter.com Founder Miles Jennings mentions that creating your product reviews and tutorials engagingly may draw more buyers to your products.
Offer a Stellar Return Policy
Since customers can’t fully trust you without those good reviews, an excellent return policy communicates that they have nothing to lose if they purchase your product. As occasional buyers, we gravitate towards purchasing refundable products since we know there’s minimal risk.
Have Exceptional Customer Service
You’ve already got an interested buyer, so much so that they ask about your products. But this doesn’t mean you’ve already made the sale.
Nothing is more off-putting than a bad customer service experience, so retain their interest and gain their trust by being responsive, accommodating, and informative. Once you give them a great purchasing experience, word-of-mouth will surely be on your side.
Therefore, reaching your customer support should be easy. You may add specific chat plugins to easily integrate live chats within your website.
We’ve listed customer engagement strategies that may further help you.
Give Away Product Samples
If you can afford it, give away product samples in exchange for reviews. People like receiving stuff without cost; leaving a review is barely considered a cost. They’d gladly talk about your products if they are truly exceptional.
Wrap Up
With any business, the goal is to delight your buyers and eventual customers, so they will continue to purchase from you and encourage others to do the same.
Everyone has to start somewhere, though, right? So the best course of action is to go out of your way to provide the best product or service and customer support possible to give yourself a better chance of getting those highly coveted reviews. It'll happen. Just give it time.
