5 Ways small businesses can build customer trust using email marketing

Every business holds on to values such as honesty, loyalty, and respect, but one value that stands as the key to success for any business is gaining and retaining customer trust.

The digital revolution is screaming for business transparency and customer trust with the rapid expansion of online reviews, community forums, and more. This clearly signals that businesses should make special efforts to establish a good brand image and embrace customer trust.

DID YOU KNOW?

85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations

Trust takes time and consistent effort to sprout. Customers trust businesses that’ve been around a while because time has allowed those companies to establish their brand, grow their customer base, and recruit experienced employees.

Take the case of two businesses, Business A which has had a long term presence, and Business B, which is very new in the market.

So, how can this new small business quickly build enough trust to compete? They must use a smarter approach to winning customer trust.

Marketing to the rescue!

Well, the good news is the thorns on the roads of trust-building for small businesses can be removed using consistent communication and a smart marketing strategy.

DID YOU KNOW?

84% of marketers believe that building trust will be the primary focus for marketing efforts in the future.

The best marketing solution for small businesses is one that is easy-to-use, is budget-friendly, and provides a flexible platform for a consistent flow of communication.

All of this can be easily served on a single plate by using an email marketing tool, which also provides a great ROI.

DID YOU KNOW?

In 2018, the number of global e-mail users amounted to 3.8 billion and is set to grow to 4.4 billion users in 2023.

Five bricks of email marketing to build trust

There are numerous ways to use email marketing to build and retain customer trust. To get started, we’ll focus on five methods.

Ask before you shake hands

In the age of GDPR and other privacy requirements and consumer protections, it’s important to have your lead or customer’s consent before engaging them with communications or promotions. One easy way to gain their consent is by using sign-up forms.

Before this step, ensure you have a website that stands as the face of your business in the digital world. It should have engaging content with a CTA (call-to-action) at the end that will convert casual readers into potential customers.

If your site content feeds the need of the users, they’ll begin to show interest in your business and will get in touch with you voluntarily. This is the ideal situation. Readers who reach out to you on their own are the ones who have begun to trust you, but their trust at this stage is still very fragile.

Embedding a sign-up form on your website can invite readers to engage with you in a hassle-free way. Many email marketing tools offer numerous sign-up form templates from which you can choose.

Nurture and build

After your readers have reached out to you, the next step to build up their trust is to nurture them with well-planned and consistent email follow-ups. The amount of effort, planning, and care you present through consistent email nurturing will show that your business is serious and eager to serve them. This will strengthen the fragile trust and help convert them into a customer. However, the drawback for small businesses is the lack of time and resources to craft and send nurturing emails.

Fortunately, your email marketing tool should offer various automation workflow series that can easily help you automate these routine engagements within a short period of time.

Be human

While nurturing your contacts with regular emails, avoid sending them out in bulk to your entire contact list. Your contacts are living, breathing humans with unique interests of their own, so it’s natural for them to trust the business that best understands their unique needs and serves them accordingly. This sort of personalization is a key element to increasing conversions.

To do this, use analytics to understand the behavior of your contacts, segment your contact list based on their interests, and use personalization tags to send out uniquely tailored content. 

Feedback matters

After consistently sending out tailor-made content to those contacts who’ve reached out on their own, it’s now time to learn what they think about your business. This will tell your customers that you value their opinions about your offering.

The best time to request feedback is usually after customers have used your product or service at least once, by using your email marketing tool to collect valuable feedback.

Retain and grow

Now you have sowed the seed of trust and the plant has grown and produced sweet fruits. So what next? Will you just abandon them and forget about them forever? Well, obviously no, you will continue to take good care of them in order to retain that trust.

A great way to do this is by giving them exclusive promotions every now and then. Offer festival gifts, special coupons, and giveaways that ensure your customers understand their presence matters for your business. 

Customer trust is a must-have insurance policy for small businesses, so start building it and watch your business grow within a short period.

Best wishes!