Build a Trustworthy Brand by Being Transparent


Trust and transparency are critical elements of any brand. They can significantly boost the success and reputation of your company. However, conspiracy theories and beliefs that businesses take advantage of consumers have become pretty common. To win customers’ trust and set your company apart from the rest, you have to be transparent in all your dealings. Unfortunately, that’s not always an easy task. There’s a lot of work, commitment, and dedication that goes into building a trustworthy brand.

Are you eager to learn how to establish a trustworthy brand by being transparent? Here are 5 handy tips you need to try out. Keep reading!Business transparency is vital to building a trustworthy brand.

  1. Articulate Your Brand Values

Articulating the core values of your brand is the first act of transparency that helps build a trustworthy brand. After all, you can’t be transparent about your brand beliefs without customers understanding them.

In addition, you must make sure that these values are made known and understood. Therefore, publicize your mission statement. Share your intentions and let everyone know why you’re so passionate about what you do. More importantly, make sure that your activity and ongoing communications are consistent with your known beliefs. Consumers tend to like a genuine, trustworthy brand.

  1. Encourage Collective Enforcement of Transparency

It is not enough to publicize your brand values. Enforcing transparency is a collective duty – having all employees participate is best. Therefore, make sure your company leaders live by them. Let the employees talk and tell stories about them as well as use the values in their daily business language. It can also help if you encourage them to openly question actions or decisions that are incongruous with your brand values.

Employees who understand and support the core brand values are the best choices to lead the efforts of building a trustworthy brand. Whether they interact with customers directly or not, these employees will be transparent in their activities. Why? Because they know which brand values they are trying to achieve.

  1. Engage, Monitor, and Refine Your Social Media Presence

The age of the faceless corporation is long gone. Consumers, now more than ever before, crave for active interaction and authenticity from the brands they patronize. That’s why you need to develop your brand’s social media profiles and use them to showcase your brand transparency.

Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are often the perfect places to start. They require some authentication to create, and for this reason, search engines and internet users alike consider them to be more credible. Be sure to keep them active and up to date.

While it’s easy for almost anyone to run a social media platform, you must have a strategy and sustained effort. The best way to do this is by posting original and high-quality content. Ensure that what you share on your profile is compelling. Don’t forget to engage with fans and those who comment on the platforms.

Feedback from customers should receive a response to build trust in your brand.If you’re not sure of what type of content resonates with your audience, social media monitoring tools can come in handy. They will not only help you post the appropriate content type at the right times but refine your social media presence as well.

  1. Encourage, Embrace and Respond to Online Reviews

Typically, online reviews are modern-day referrals. Whenever consumers are shopping for a business on the Internet, they always want to know what other people think about a product or service. That’s why online reviews matter. In fact, companies that don’t welcome and engage with reviewers are likely to fail.

For that reason, you need to embrace feedback or reviews with open arms. Besides showing you who is interacting with you and giving vital insight into your reputation, reviews help you improve on your shortcomings (especially if they are negative). What’s even better, having a lot of positive reviews shows that many customers believe you have a trustworthy brand.

Nonetheless, it’s essential to keep in mind that some reviewers may be out to tarnish your brand. Such commenters are the kind you should never reason with; you should avoid them like the plague. A good idea is to always engage with reviews (positive or negative) from genuine consumers. With negative comments, always respond with respect and avoid online arguments or being defensive.

  1. Share Important Customer Survey Findings

When it comes to online reputation management, surveys are incredibly valuable tools. They showcase your brand transparency, thus help improve customer loyalty. Even when the results are negative, sharing your customer satisfaction survey shows that you are listening to your customers’ voices. Letting your fans know that you prioritize improvement in areas that achieve relatively low satisfaction boosts your customers’ trust even further.

The Bottom Line

Focusing on building a trustworthy brand through transparency can give you a competitive edge. So, why fear or avoid being transparent? Remember, greater levels of honesty generally translate to higher amounts of success.