Devin Reed in his recent posts mentioned about how people buy from people they trust – not just simply like.

So, likeability goes deeper than what we entrust it for. It is the way people establish rapport with ‘people’ when they are looking to advance the relationship to consider something to buy. Liking is the beautiful anticipatory first step to know whether you are willing to go ahead in your pursuit to know brands (and the people representing them) more or not. Liking is deepened once people immerse into what drives them to like, trust and become advocate of a product or a solution.

Trust doesn’t come easy. Per Adobe’s future of marketing of research, it mentions that British businesses face losing a large portion of their customer base if they don’t prioritise trust, with 71% of UK consumers saying they will stop purchasing from a company altogether if their trust is broken.

Given that we are in a market of genuine liking and appreciation of people by people for the value we offer, here’s how you can cultivate it in your organisation’s DNA:

  • Truly listen to your customers. Not to just show the facade of getting to know them, but genuinely knowing them on the most fundamental level. Listen to decipher their aspirations, wants, needs, and bigger ambitions. Listen to learn what keeps them thinking about something in the night. Listen to analyse what they actually want versus what they seem to ‘get’ owing to reigning consideration circumstances.
  • Data is the real-deal. By accessing the consumer insights, you offer more personalized online experience to your customers/ buyers based on their integrative complexity: of the way they process the information/ content of your organisation. We all are a unique biography that shapes data for organisations to come up with better customer experience. This boosts sales, fosters brand loyalty, and overall digital experience for organisations once they win on the trust barometer.
  • Vulnerability and values can co-exist. Mistakes and mishaps can occur anytime. While clarity of intentions and corporate actions strengthens trust between the consumer and the organisation, but sometimes, chaos makes things clearer and rekindles the power of human erring to mobilise qualified consensus. It is this time when organisations need to go back to their values that established trust at the very first place. When people buy from people they trust, they also feel the emotional toll of the brands when things go wrong. And, they appreciate when brands echo their vulnerability when they are steering their ship towards the right communication of brand messages and values, consistently.

So, like to trust, and trust to become a brand evangelist of the value you create for your customers and audience.

Photo by Dave Lowe on Unsplash

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