Building Online Trust: 7 Tips for Being Authentic Online
In order to cultivate mutually beneficial relationships with opinion leading peers, consumers are more likely to believe your claims if your company is transparent and honest in the market space. These tips below will assure you’re serving your online markets authentically:
1. Be Real- Use your name and contact information (or that of another real person at your company). Stop using generic email addresses, let them connect with a real caring person.
2. Be Responsive- If you give people a way to reach you (phone, e-mail, Facebook Page, Twitter feed) make sure someone is assigned to respond. All responses should be prompt, helpful, and engaging.
3. Respect Privacy- People are concerned about their online privacy and expect you to guard theirs. State how you intend to use or not use their contact information as well as a link to your more comprehensive privacy policy.
4. Spotlight Kudos and Comment on Critics- Include testimonials in your client’s own words. You get high authenticity points when your customers and admirers do your marketing for you.
5. Socialize Your Presence- Your management team and key people interacting with customers and prospects should have current and complete LinkedIn profiles posted. Their bios should be posted on your website and should include enough of their history to convey competence in their field.
6. Cultivate a Following- Blogs, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Quora, as well as your own website gives you a tremendous opportunity to articulate your point of view and assert thought leadership in your market space. Actively nurture dialogue with your followers so your tribe stays active and engaged.
7. Reveal Interesting Details- Provide details explaining what it’s like to do business with you at all points of customer interaction. Add video, audio, guest blog posts, or even simple pull-quotes about details of working with your business.
For more on this subject, see the full review at http://www.inc.com/guides/201104/how-to-build-online-trust-by-being-authentic.html
Tags: online business, social networking, trust
