Generating credibility for your brand is a challenge.
After all, we live in a world of scepticism and division. People aren’t just reluctant to trust the media, many also distrust their governments. But, research shows that people’s default emotion towards everything is distrust. In fact, almost 60% of people say they mistrust entities until they get proof that the source is trustworthy...
But what does this mean for businesses operating in the field service industry?
The data indicates that building brand credibility is more crucial than ever. Especially in niches where committed, trustworthy tradespeople suffer due to the bad reputation created by a chosen few dodgy practices.
Fortunately, there are many effective ways to build trust for your brand.
Digital marketing, for example, has helped a multitude of companies from various niches prove that they’re dependable businesses on whom customers can rely for exceptional service.
And while the idea of investing in your digital presence may seem like a lot of work, the truth is, working on your brand’s online reputation offers a host of benefits. Just consider that 77% of consumers regularly read reviews for local businesses, with service-area tradesmen being under the most scrutiny.
So, if you’re prepared to invest in your business and use your online reputation to win more work, here are the best digital marketing tactics to generate credibility for your brand.
1. Get specialist endorsement
One of the best ways to generate credibility for your brand with digital marketing is to look for ways to prove that your potential customers can count on you to deliver value.
For example, you might choose to add a gallery section to your website and upload photos of past projects. This is a great method to show off your work and give your audience a better idea of what they can expect.
However, the one problem with galleries is that not all services photograph well. For example, there are only so many images of electrical wiring and cable management that potential buyers will be willing to look at. An alternative way to boost trust would be to look towards a different form of social proof for your website.
Specialist endorsements are a fantastic website element to add to your pages. This form of social proof relies on the credibility of a person who has relevant certification in your field or simply has the reputation of knowing what they’re doing.
You can easily see this digital marketing strategy in action on e-commerce websites – like the SomniFix homepage shown below.
You can easily replicate this tactic for your own branded pages.
One thing to note: when employing this strategy, make sure your specialist endorsement comes from an expert with authority in their niche. And, of course, make sure their experience relates to the services you offer.
2. Publish customer reviews
Another excellent tactic when looking to generate brand credibility is to publish customer reviews.
As mentioned, most people look for social proof when deciding what local service providers to choose for a job. So, by doing something as simple as including these reviews on your website (as well as your social media channels), you can make it easier for people to choose your business.
For an excellent example of a brand that displays testimonials on its homepage, check out MF Construction & Design Inc.
See how the featured review includes information about the type of work the company did, how well the business handled the communication, and the quality of the final product.
As you look for ways to generate credibility for your brand through social proof, don’t limit yourself to your website.
Something as simple as publishing reviews on your social media pages, as shown by GILI below, is another example of how effectively you can use reviews to prove the trustworthiness of your brand.
Plus, this tactic is easy to replicate in any industry, as you most likely already have some form of social media strategy in place.
3. Be transparent about your pricing to build brand credibility
Pricing is a huge factor in people’s decision-making journey when choosing which company’s services to employ. But this doesn’t mean that lower prices are better.
On the contrary, research proves that pricing is a way for consumers to evaluate quality.
If you want to help people perceive your business as trustworthy, it can help to rethink your pricing strategy.
You see, when purchasing goods and employing services, people usually have clear expectations about what the final product should look like and how much the work should cost.
Unfortunately, many brands tend to let these expectations down. Whether it’s by allowing mistakes to sneak into the work, or failing to clearly communicate critical things like prices, deadlines, and possible setbacks.
Luckily, preventing these problems is super easy. The key lies in transparency.
Digital companies have long perfected the art of transparent product pages. And the best thing is that traditional brands in the field service industry can look at these digital assets to learn a thing or two about using transparency and expectation management when communicating costs.
For example, if you check out the Aura website, you’ll see it employs design strategies applicable to any industry. This brand’s pricing page is super straightforward; it:
As you can see, there’s no need for the brand to compete with its competitors by lowering prices. The only thing Aura has to do is be clear about the value customers receive by investing in its solution.
So, by practising transparency, Aura ensures that subscribers walk away with an exceptional experience. And that’s something that any brand wanting to build a positive reputation should be focusing on anyway.
4. Answer questions proactively
Another digital marketing strategy for building trust is investing in educational web content.
The reason for this is pretty straightforward. Your potential customers have distinct pain points. And they expect your business to solve them. However, when judging whether your company provides the solutions that will work for their specific needs, people are guaranteed to have a series of questions.
By doing something as simple as providing answers to those questions on your website, you can give your audience an exceptional customer experience. You can also show that you care about their concerns, respect their time, and offer the best value for money. Making this obvious generates a great amount of credibility for your brand.
The best part?
Being proactive about answering consumer questions can be an easy thing to do on your site.
For example, you can add a Frequently Asked Questions section to your homepage. Take this one, seen on the Voices website, as an example.
Or, you could invest in long-form content and create a blog section for your site. From this page, you can provide potential customers with helpful advice, as seen in this example by The HVAC Service.
To ensure that you’re providing relevant answers and publishing content that actually benefits your users, don’t forget to identify the issues your target audience deals with.
Whether you do this by making a list of customer support requests you regularly get, browsing the web for content ideas, or talking directly to your customers is up to you. But the preparatory step will guarantee that the answers you provide matter and that they show you have a good understanding of what your customers need.
5. Design and display trust badges to build brand credibility
Another way to build trust for your brand is to include trust badges on your website.
By employing these visuals, you can instil potential clients with a sense of security when choosing your services and quell some of their worries regarding the risks involved with their investment.
Ecommerce and digital brands like Ultimate Meal Plans often offer money-back guarantees, satisfaction guarantees, or free returns.
And in the field service industry, you can even play around with the types of trust badges you display.
For example, you may find it beneficial to design trust badges that communicate some of your certifications. Or, you might choose to show business accreditations. Even showing the logos of the brands you source spare parts from might go a long way in convincing your audience that your business can be trusted.
6. Be on social media
Finally, as you explore ways to generate credibility for your brand via digital marketing, don’t forget that having a strong online presence will go a long way in building your brand.
Sure, you may think that social media is a waste of time and money. However, the truth is that most potential customers will check your brand’s online profiles before getting in touch. And, if they see you haven’t posted in six months or longer, they might even conclude that your business is no longer active.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should go out and overdo social media. There’s absolutely no need to be on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and have a Discord channel.
Instead, pick the platform most likely to appeal to your audience. Then, focus your energy on doing well on that one channel:
For example, check out how well Ideal Plumbing & Drain does on Instagram, where it posts updates about projects, shows the team’s passion for their work, and allows potential customers to see how the process works from start to finish.
Building credibility for your brand is never easy – especially if you’re starting from scratch.
But, the truth is, you’re already likely to have some forms of social proof you can use to show your target audience that your business is worthy of their trust.
So, don’t hesitate to take the digital marketing strategies discussed in this article and modify them to fit your brand’s needs. The results are guaranteed to work in your favour.
Improving how you communicate with your customers is a stepping stone to building more trust.
In particular, it’s the presentation of your communications, as much as the content within them, that can help compel customers to work with you.
For a helping hand in improving the communications you send every day, check out The Customer Communication Toolkit. There’re over 10 templates that cover everything from booking jobs, invoicing, to service reminders, and more!
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