5 Ideas for Building Customer Trust and Loyalty Via Facebook and Twitter

ZippyCart.com is a leading comparison site for top ecommerce solutions like Volusion. As a non-bias review site, they have gained the trust of many merchants in search of a shopping cart solution to power their online businesses. This week is Volusion Week on ZippyCart, and as part of our week long celebration of earning a great review on the site, we have agreed to exchange blog posts for a day so that our experts can provide tips to their readers and their experts can provide tips to ours. Below are the Top 5 Ideas for Building Customer Trust and Loyalty Via Facebook and Twitter, from ZippyCart social media expert and co-founder, Nick Grant.

1) Acknowledge Brand Mentions

Facebook fanpages and Twitter profiles are very popular places for people to mention brands that they enjoy as well as ecommerce sites where they purchase products. If you are a small online company, then you should do whatever it takes to acknowledge people who give positive praise to your brand or products. If you sell dresses online and someone compliments you on Twitter about the quality of the dress, then let them know as soon as possible how much you appreciate the kind words and feedback. Showing a customer that you care and pay attention to what people think of your ecommerce site will go a long way to build loyalty and trust.

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2) Keep Customers Updated and Engaged

Having a conversation with your customers on Facebook and Twitter is essential to building trust and loyalty, so that they continue to shop at your ecommerce site and recommend it to friends and family. The best way to keep the conversation going is to make sure that customers are always up to speed with everything going on at your ecommerce site. You acquire new customers almost every day, so therefore they might not be aware of your commitment to customer service. Update Facebook and Twitter on occasion asking customers if they have any questions or concerns about your store. Someone may not feel comfortable complaining about an order and just prefer to go shop elsewhere, but if you keep the communication open, then they will be more likely to let you know what they think. This feedback can go a long way toward improving your ecommerce business and building rapport with customers, which will keep them coming back to shop.

Not only do you want to keep customers updated, you want to keep them engaged with your ecommerce site. There are a variety of ways to do this via Facebook and Twitter, but the best ways are via promotions, contests and viral marketing. Get involved with your interactive advertising and try a viral video contest where customers submit ads for your ecommerce site. In terms of promotions and contests, try and rotate these throughout the year so customers have a reason to keep coming back.

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3) Let People Know Who is Behind the Company and Customer Support

People love ecommerce sites and shopping online, however they also like to feel comfortable with who they’re spending money with online. Therefore you should call out the members of your team, who are involved with your Twitter profile and Facebook fan page. The best way to do this is integrate team member names into the design, as you have a lot of real estate to play with on your Facebook fan page and Twitter profile. Then, when they communicate with customers via those channels, there will be a better sense of connection which will build trust and loyalty. Customers do not want to feel like they’re interacting with a robot who is giving them canned automated responses, so a personalized approach can gain you even more loyalty and trust among customers.

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4) Address Customer Complaints ASAP

If your ecommerce site is providing excellent customer service to your customers, then you should get very few complaints. However customer complaints do occur on occasion and it is best to address these complaints right away to do what you can to rectify the issue. Many think that a few upset customers will not hurt their online business, but those customers may be extremely vocal online. Therefore it is best to frequently monitor your complaints on Facebook, Twitter, and other complaints which you may get via Google Alerts. The great thing about addressing a customer on Twitter or Facebook is that it is out in the open for other customers to see how you handle complaints. This openness and commitment to superior customer service is a great way to build trust and loyalty among your current and future customers.
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5) Share Positive Feedback and Testimonials

Sharing real testimonials is a great way to build trust and loyalty among customers via Twitter and Facebook. It is best to have a section on your ecommerce site dedicated to customer testimonials, and then you can direct people to them via Facebook and Twitter. Not only is it a great way to drive traffic to your site, but will increase confidence so that customers come back to purchase more often. You can also use Twitter and Facebook to solicit testimonials, by asking what the experience was like for customers of your ecommerce site. Testimonials do not have to all look the same, you may get video from a customer who loved shopping at your site or an actual written letter you can scan and put on the site. A unique and frequently updated section for testimonials is a smart way to stand out among your competition, and help further customer trust and loyalty.

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Following these guidelines will help build a growing circle of trust with your customers via social media channels. It truly is a solid way to reach out and turn customers into your fiercest advocates. And while you’re out conquering the social stratosphere, why not check out the Volusion websitel? Catch them on Twitter (@ZippyCart & @volusion) and on Facebook, too!