Would you buy from a company you didn’t trust? Maybe if the conditions were ideal if you visited an unfamiliar store in a mall, for instance, and could proceed with confidence that you’d be able to get a refund if there were an issue with your purchase but not otherwise. You certainly wouldn’t go ahead if you were shopping online, because anything could happen. You could see your purchase arrive unreasonably late. You could order one thing and receive another, or receive nothing at all. You could see your financial details leak and the store vanish overnight, leaving you with no decent options for getting back what you lost. With so many ways for things to go horribly wrong, it’s easy to see why e-Commerce buyers choose stores carefully.

And things actually get more serious for service-based businesses, because they tend to charge more and work on more important projects. Something like getting some work done on your home can be hugely costly, running to thousands of dollars and relying on the worker (or workers) showing-up at the right times on the right days. Even if a company means well, you need to trust that it can actually deliver on its commitments.

From the perspective of a business owner, finding ways to earn trust is a top priority and while the largest portion of that task comes down to providing great customer service, you must not overlook the extent to which branding and marketing affect how much people trust your company. Here are some tips for building trust using these pursuits:

Show Personality through Marketing Content
Which do you trust more the faceless brand with a strict focus on formality, or the company with identified employees and a willingness to talk openly about the issues it faces? It’s going to be the latter, surely. This is because trust is strongest between people, and seeing a business as a group of people rather than a profit-hungry entity will inevitably make you more likely to trust it.

So how do you show that there are people behind your business? Well, you write content that shows personality. If formality doesn’t suit your company, don’t bother being formal; embrace whatever tone comes naturally to you, and people will welcome the authenticity. Additionally, talk about the inner workings of your company. If you’ve had a bad week, say so.

There’s a limit to this exposure, of course, because you shouldn’t be talking to people through your latest tax returns. Just be willing to discuss issues beyond the scope of your company and do your best to come across as like able and reliable. If you can do that, then your overall brand image will see steady improvement.

Cooperate with Independent Reviewers
People are more skeptical now than they’ve ever been. There are several reasons for this. The internet makes it easy to read about worst-case scenarios, and countless companies in the digital era have made brazen attempts to commit fraud, and these are difficult times economically (and in other ways, of course). All of this makes it hard for them to believe your claims.

That’s why it comes across as so amusing when new businesses brag about how great and reliable they are while using extremely vague terms. They’ll say they’re the cheapest, but provide no points of comparison. They’ll say they have ‘high-quality products’ without establishing a quality standard. It all amounts to nothing more than hot air.

But people will listen to independent reviewers, which is why you should endeavor to cooperate with them however you can. Think of chiefly what you can to be featured in roundups. Roundups lend vital context to customers lacking the experience to decide for themselves (and unwilling to trust the brands).

Independent assessments are big for businesses of all kinds, but they’re particularly huge for YMYL brands in the online marketplace (YMYL stands for your money or your life, referring to companies that have the potential to seriously damage their customers’ finances or health). Think about top-level YMYL sites like lotteries. Online lotteries can be international (American jackpots are available in India, for instance, with Powerball USA being one example), and this can make it unclear exactly how they operate, leading possible players to need clarification.

You can also look at how online banking services fight to secure new customers. When the average person looks to swap their bank account, they’re making an effort to act with optimal rationality, trying to save as much money as they can. That makes them want to dig into the particulars of every introductory offer and sign-up bonus. Only independent arbiters can offer guidance regarding the best bank accounts and actually be believed.

Take a look around for roundups relevant to your business. If you sold phone cases, for instance, you could search for ‘best phone case sellers’ though be sure to avoid roundups written by non-independent companies (your competitors, for instance). When you find something suitable, reach out to the writer to suggest that they give your brand a try, and don’t pressure them to give you a favorable review. Legitimacy is essential; you’ll just need to accept the risk that they’ll give you a bad rating.

Focus on Assurances & Guarantees
There are some areas in which people probably will trust you, so you must take advantage of them to boost your efforts. These areas concern assurances and guarantees. In other words, clear expansions upon your core value proposition that provide customers with explicit protections in the event that they’re unhappy with their experiences.

The classic example of this is the 100 percent money-back guarantee. If a customer isn’t entirely happy with your service, they can get their money back with no questions asked. It’s fairly compelling since it shows great confidence in the quality of the products or services on offer. Anyone providing such a guarantee (or a general satisfaction guarantee) without the quality to render it mostly irrelevant would soon lose a lot of money (and most likely go out of business).

You can also provide assurances in the form of other trust indicators. You could talk about the security system used to secure your financial transactions, for instance, showing people that your operation is legitimate and worthy of consideration. You should absolutely make the best possible use of all the social proof at your disposal, featuring it on your website and in your content else where. Just one glowing review from a believable source can be a huge help.