I’d like to take a look at one of Google’s “Expertise Questions” from their Search Central page. The question asks, “Does [your] content present information in a way that makes you want to trust it…?” I want you to stop and think about this one. When you read through your website, your blogs, your social posts…anything you put online; do you trust it?
In most cases, people are going to see something online like a product or service and they’re going to immediately turn to Google to verify its authenticity before purchase, especially when they don’t feel overwhelming trust from the original source.
So how do we build trust?
It’s actually not as hard as people like to make it out to be. Let’s run through a few ideas that you can use to enhance your content and build more trust with your potential customers.
Real World Experience
If you have real world experience relating to your chosen industry, talk about it! Don’t leave your audience hanging. Let them know what sort of experiences you had and why you care so much about your field. I don’t want some random person giving me advice or recommending products to me; I want someone who was in-the-know.
Photo by Malte Luk from Pexels:
Now one thing I caution against is casting deceit towards your audience when discussing experiences and recommendations. If you are selling baking products, for instance, and you’ve never baked a thing in your life, then you shouldn’t try to sound like a seasoned officer in the Betty Crocker Army. All it takes in one person to catch on and you’re whole facade crumbles like a dry cake. Best to be honest with your audience when sharing your experience.
“But what if I really don’t have experience with industry X?” It’s ok if you’re new to a chosen product or industry. There are other ways to build trust that doesn’t involve telling them fairy tales.
Take Us Along for the Ride
If you’re learning a new industry or there are aspects of your field that you’re still not comfortable with, that’s ok. Seriously! Just be honest about it. If you’re learning something new, take the audience along on your educational journey. When they’re able to learn with you, they learn to trust in what you’re doing. You establish yourself as a leader for those who are also learning, and you earn respect from those who came before you because you’re not trying to fake it.
Some of the best, most relatable content involves folks going on a journey of self-discovery.
Find Trusted Sources
Let’s say your trying to review a product that you’ve never used before. Tricky situation, right? Let’s start by finding reference points on the web for that product or materials that indirectly feature similar products.
Are there quotes, videos, demos, etc where people are using that product that we can share? If yes, fantastic. Let’s share them and show people the power of our products!
If no, we’ll have to work a little harder and be a touch more creative. Let’s go back to the baking industry example. If you were selling muffin tins but you couldn’t find an honest, credible source that says, “This specific muffin tin rocks,” then you’ll have to find the next best thing…baking videos. If you show me videos or recipes that involve the baking of tasty muffins where they’re using muffin baking tins and then you show me any good-looking and affordable muffin tins for sale, I’ll probably sell myself on getting one. It’s an indirect way to build trust because you’re building up people’s warm and fuzzy muffin-eating dreams over hitting them with solid product facts and testimonials. You’re showing them the possibilities associated with the product, now. As long as your muffin tin does the job and will get me the results I saw in that video, sounds good to me.
Offer Hope and Potential
As long as we’re talking about muffins… Let’s say you’re selling a muffin tin, you’ve never used it, you don’t have a lot of experience, and you’re not finding resources that bolster your position or build value and trust. Ooof! What can we do?
Let’s build some value from scratch by connecting with our audience directly. Just like we discussed a moment ago, we’ll offer the possibilities associated with the product, but from our point of view.
Don’t lie to your customers. Don’t try to force content. Be yourself and tell them what you would do with that muffin tin. What recipes would you try? What caught your eye about the product? Use your opinions. Fact is, you won’t resonate with everyone. It’s like they say, “you can’t please everyone all of the time,” and that’s ok. There will be people who read what you write and absolutely click with your hopes, your opinions and your ideas. That can be enough sometimes.
Building trust and ensuring that the content you put out there is viable can be a difficult task. But the best advice I can offer is to be honest about your experiences, your ideas, and your thoughts on a product.
