What companies do we trust? Or, here’s an easier question… which DON’T we trust?
In the current climate of data breaches and dodgy websites, it’s more important than ever for businesses to show that they’re trustworthy. In this article, we’ll outline how to build trust online through the medium of video.
A successful business isn’t all about the product. It isn’t just a shiny website or how many celebrities have endorsed it. A successful business gets customers to experience a sense of trust in the brand that keeps them coming back for more.
Without this trust and security (whether financial, moral, or emotional) customers simply won’t part with their cash.
Video is the perfect answer for how to build trust online
You want trust? Be genuine.
That’s what makes companies thrive in the 21st century. The market is saturated with companies looking to sell sell sell, but those who can prove that there are good minds, good people and good ideas behind a product or service have the best chance of hooking in new customers.
In many ways, video seems like the pure distillation of what your company is about. This purity is exactly how to build trust online. In effect, it opens up the company, presenting it in its most visual and compelling sense. It seems far more personal and genuine than a blog post full of words, or a gallery full of still pictures. In a video, if a workshop is messy, it looks worked-in. A customer’s review is from the heart. Outtake footage that shows the founder laughing with their team on a break brings us into a world of healthy teamwork and real personalities that we can’t see from the outside.
There’s no more hiding behind words or promises in a video, and a great videographer will use this to the advantage of their client, help customers to see genuine humans behind the brand with whom they can build trust.
Which parts of a video help with how to build trust online?
The Brand Story
The story of your brand is super important for helping customers get on board with your vision.
No brand appears from nowhere in a puff of smoke, and rarely do brands achieve success without pitfalls along the way. Telling the human story of trial and tribulations is an emotional rollercoaster for the viewer, and makes them feel far more connected to a brand once it’s over.
Starting with the vision of the founders, and telling the story to show the fulfilment of that vision in the present day can be an excellent way of saying to your customers: ‘We achieve what we set out to do.’ This underlying brand message is incredibly genuine and answers a lot of customer concerns like ‘I wonder if my package will arrive on time’, or ‘is the dress the colour they show on the website?’ You don’t need to put these assurances in a Q&A if the message is already there in a compelling video.
Customer and team testimonials
People in the 21st century are tired of corporate jargon. Sometimes all we want to hear is a voice that sounds like ours, discussing the kinds of issues that have brought us to consider this company.
If you’re wondering how to build trust online, nothing beats seeing a real customer offering their uninfluenced view of a product or service, or watching one of your team members talk about their real passion for a project.
Seeing the product or service in action
Video is the second best thing to being in a room with the product or trying it out.
If a customer can’t get their hands on a product to test it, a mere description of its functions and dimensions is not enough to convince them that it’s the real deal. So, how do you build trust online when you can’t actually interact with a product? Showing people wearing it, using it, participating in it and interacting with the product in any other way, shape or form answers many questions and concerns without a single word or slick slogan to convince them.
Video should never try to manipulate the customer into buying.
It should convince them that your business has what it takes to give them what they’re looking for, and more. It should be honest without being self-deprecating and should demonstrate the genuine excitement and commitment of the team.
In essence, it’s the transfer of your own emotion onto the buyer, and nothing works better for building trust online than cutting the corporate stuff, the clichés and slogans. Just represent what you love about the brand instead! Find a videographer who shares your passion, and sooner or later you’ll develop a customer base who feel like part of the team themselves.