What does a brand need to do to gain the trust and loyalty of a consumer? Nowadays, this answer is not so easy, given such a competitive market and the amount of information we are bombarded with daily. This is a delicate construction that requires a lot of care in the relationship between the parties – which, when well conducted, can strengthen customer trust with the company, their retention, and a significant increase in sales.
According to the most recent survey by FGV IBRE, a reference in monitoring and economic analysis in the country, the Consumer Confidence Index fell by 2.6 points in February this year, a loss of 10.8 points in the last three months. There are several reasons that justify this worrying drop, related to mistakes made by companies that can affect their credibility and harm trust with the target audience.
One of the most common mistakes in this regard is promising what cannot be delivered. Whether in delivery time, product quality, customer support, generic, impersonal or inconsistent communication with the brand’s values, or any other aspect, any misalignment between expectation and reality is extremely detrimental to this. Another delicate point is the lack of transparency in crisis situations – silencing or trying to ‘cover up’ mistakes, which can have a devastating effect on its reputation.
Exacerbating this situation even more, the fact that we live in an environment saturated with content, advertising messages, and stimuli coming from all sides, brings an inevitable overload that makes the consumer much more selective, skeptical, and often distrustful of corporate communications. Today, it is no longer enough to just show up: it must mean something.
In this scenario, being authentic as a brand requires more than just pretty words, demanding consistency between what is said, what is done, and what is delivered. This is a credibility built on details: in the way the company responds to criticism, how it acknowledges a mistake, how it takes a stand on relevant causes, and most importantly, how it relates to people in everyday life.
Scaling communication and service without losing proximity is another point that deserves attention. After all, even though automation and artificial intelligence have brought efficiency gains, many companies have ended up distancing themselves from the human touch. The key is to find balance: using technology as an ally to optimize processes, without neglecting empathy, active listening, and personalization.
Furthermore, today’s audience values brands with a clear purpose, that take a responsible stance and show their behind-the-scenes with transparency. Being authentic in this context involves adopting a more human, vulnerable, and less polished posture. Showing who is behind it all, how decisions are made, and what really matters to the business creates real identification.
Building this trust and loyalty is not simple, requiring companies to know and put their customers at the center of all strategies, being consistent in communication and across all channels, investing in creating and disseminating relevant content with maximum transparency always. Something that, to contribute to this success, can be supported by the robust tools available in the market, such as RCS.
With this messaging system from Google, brands will be able to communicate with their consumers using much more comprehensive features that will enrich the user experience. Messages can include text, images, gifs, videos, and a complete carousel that allows the user to navigate their journey in a single environment. All of this, ensured by an authenticity seal that guarantees the trust of the content sender.
These and many other multichannel communication platforms allow for greater agility in customer service and enable the company to be present where their customer is. Combine these tools with integrated CRMs that bring the history of each person to personalize communication, as well as to have and track relationship metrics, identifying the effectiveness of these actions or the need for adjustments.
One of the biggest barriers to building trust with consumers is the overwhelming volume of information they are exposed to. It is by no means an easy task to accomplish, but by following the highlighted precautions, the chances of your company strengthening a closer and more secure relationship will be much higher, attracting and retaining customers who will be loyal to your brand.
