10 Ways To Build Customer Trust and Loyalty

The health and beauty landscape today is fiercely competitive. Building and maintaining customer trust and loyalty is essential for you to have an edge over your competitors. 

It’s hard to overemphasize the value of building customer trust and loyalty, as they are the bedrock of a successful, sustainable brand. 

Customer trust and loyalty are the building blocks upon which long-term customer relationships are built. 

As the renowned author and speaker once said: “If people like you, they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you, they’ll do business with you.”

In fact, 77% of consumers say they’d buy more from a brand they trust, according to a study from Adobe, while 83% say they’d recommend a brand they trust to others. 

In addition, a study from Nielsen found that 77% of US consumers are more likely to buy products from a brand if their friends recommended it.

This means that by prioritizing building trust and loyalty, you’re not just ensuring steady, repeated purchases from your customers but a boost in revenue growth, new leads, and also building a positive reputation for your brand. 

Building customers’ trust and loyalty is crucial and should be a top priority for health and beauty brands. 

While it’s not something that can be achieved overnight, there are proven steps to pave the way to achieving this goal.

In this article, we’ll explore ten proven strategies that will help you build customer trust and loyalty, fostering long-term relationships.

1. Understand your customer.
2. Create buyer personas. 
3. Leverage customer reviews and testimonials. 
4. Deliver exceptional customer service.
5. Consistency and reliability 
6. Honesty and transparency in marketing
7. Have a strong online presence. 
8. Loyalty programs and incentives
9. Community engagement
10. Have a personal brand.

 Let’s get to it.

1. Understand your customers:

In the realm of health and beauty, understanding your customers is highly important and is the very first step to building trust and loyalty. 

You must first understand who your customers are to be able to grab their attention and have them connect with your brand. 

Understanding your customers is beyond gender specifics, demographics, and language. It’s taking your time to clearly understand their needs, preferences, pain points, and expectations. 

By doing this, you gain insights that shape your business marketing strategy and build long-lasting relationships.

According to a McKinsey report, 72% of customers expect brands they buy from to recognize them as individuals and also know their interests and needs.

The report also reveals that brands that understand their customers deeply generate faster rates of revenue growth than their competitors.

2. Create buyer personas:

Beauty and healthcare consumers have so many choices at their fingertips and are increasingly looking for brands they can connect with on a personal level. 

Creating buyer personas can be a game changer for health and beauty brands who are looking to establish long-term relationships with their customers. 

Buyer personas are detailed illustrations of your ideal customers based on market research that delves into the very core of what gets your customers motivated.

They entail the unique challenges, needs, and desires of your customers in different segments and help you provide personalized solutions that cater to their needs and preferences.

Research from McKinsey shows that 71% of consumers expect brands to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

The research also reveals that companies that grow faster generate 40% more of their revenue from personalization compared to their slow-growing counterparts.

3. Customer reviews and testimonials:

Research has shown that reviews and testimonials play a major role in the buying decisions of customers. 

I mean, as an individual, which brand would you most likely go for – the one with no reviews or the one with a ton of positive reviews? Exactly.

When your brand advocates hype your product or service on your behalf, it can help other consumers view your brand in a positive light. 

Consumers are always going to check customer reviews before they make a buying decision, as they trust them more than the brand itself. 

Customer reviews and testimonials show how satisfied your customers are with your product and service, and there is no better marketing strategy than to position your brand as one that deeply satisfies the needs of your customers and is preferred by others. 

However, this doesn’t mean you should use fake or untrue reviews. In fact, consumer research by Bright Local noted that 42% of consumers have the savviness to detect fake reviews, an increase from 37% in the year 2021.

While 40% of consumers say they suspect a review is fake if it’s over the top in its praise.

The survey also reveals that 46% of consumers trust customer reviews and testimonials as much as product recommendations from friends and family.

And 69% say they are more likely to buy from a brand with positive reviews, while 40% say they’d choose to buy from a brand if the reviewer is named rather than anonymous.

The 2022 survey also reveals that 53% of healthcare consumers say that customer reviews are the most important, while 31% of beauty consumers say reviews are the most important when it comes to their buying decisions.

With 2022 findings, healthcare is the top industry where customer reviews have the highest importance to consumers.

Key takeaways

• Use authentic reviews 
• All reviews should reveal the reviewer’s name
• Display customer reviews and testimonials any chance you get

4. Deliver exceptional customer service:

The quality of customer service you provide to your customers determines your customer loyalty and retention. 

Customer service isn’t just about addressing your customer’s issues and requests but also proactively ensuring customers have a smooth and satisfying experience with your brand.

A research report from HubSpot shows that 68% of consumers say they’d pay more for products and services from a brand that offers good customer service.

While 33% of consumers are most frustrated by having to wait on hold, and another 33% say they are most frustrated by having to repeat themselves to multiple support reps.  

Customers love it when their needs are met swiftly. This means it’s important to have a dedicated support team with high speed for attending to your customers.

As soon as customers reach out to your brand with complaints or questions, make sure you’re consistent with your responses. 

Create guidelines for your support team that give appropriate answers to common inquiries and also ensure the right materials that provide solutions to complex tickets.

Your support team should always be on standby to respond to your customers as humans and not just a support ticket that’s responded to with some chatbot or some type of artificial intelligence.

Your goal should be to provide consistent and quality customer service with a personal touch to build trust and loyalty. 

5. Consistency and reliability:

When you are consistent in everything you do, be it blog posting, sending emails regularly, social media posting, or any activity you do that involves reaching out to your audience, your customers become more familiar with your brand and, as a result, build trust and loyalty.

Customers feel confident when you provide a consistent experience whenever they engage with your brand. Consistently delivering on your promises and meeting expectations will help build your brand’s reputation.

Delivering products or services to your customers on time without delays and also providing helpful solutions and great customer support will make customers perceive your brand as reliable, increasing customer retention.

6. Honesty and Transparency in marketing:

Maximizing customer retention is highly achievable when you are honest

with your customers. 

Being transparent about your business practices, pricing, and any potential conflicts of interest can help build trust with customers.

It’s crucial to be as transparent as possible about what your brand offers and set clear expectations from the onset. 

Your customers should know exactly what to expect before purchasing your product or service. 

Even though sharing certain information may prevent a lead or two from converting, it’s better to come clean from the start than to have your customers find out things about your product or service out of the blue that they may not even be comfortable with, which will result in a lack of trust and a poor customer retention rate. 

Always ensure to provide timely updates on tickets, products, or services and offer exceptional customer service.

Avoid misleading or false advertising or exaggerating. Make sure your marketing message accurately represents what your products or services CAN deliver.

Mistakes happen, and when they do, acknowledge them, take responsibility, and rectify the situation immediately. 

Customers appreciate a business that owns up to its errors.

A 2022 study by NielsenIQ revealed that 74% of Gen Z consumers and 79% of millennial consumers say that brand transparency is highly important to them.

In addition to this, a report from Canto reveals that 65% of consumers say they stay loyal to a transparent brand, and approximately 75% of the same consumers say they’ll be happy to pay more for products or services from a brand they believe to be genuine. 

Authenticity is something that health and beauty brands must strive to achieve. By being transparent in your business activities, you build a good brand reputation and build customer trust, resulting in loyal customers and new leads.

7. Have a strong online presence:

In today’s digital age, your website or social media page is often the first point of contact for potential customers. 

This is where you show them that you understand their needs, care about their journey, and are committed to delivering the best possible experience.

Actively engaging with your audience when they first come in contact with your brand sets the tone of how they view your brand and also builds a sense of community and trust around your brand. 

Branch out into different online platforms, like Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc,  actively respond to online reviews and comments, engage in discussions, and share valuable content.

According to research from Sprout Social, 65% of consumers say they feel more connected to brands that have a strong online presence.

Having a strong online presence can establish credibility and develop customer trust and loyalty.

8. Loyalty programs and incentives:

Customer loyalty programs are a sure-fire way to increase customer lifetime value. 

A loyalty program helps encourage repeat purchases by offering rewards, discounts, or any special incentives to customers, building a base of loyal customers.

Rather than going with the usual method of offering discounts and loyalty points to customers, brands can come up with an innovative approach to create more impact. 

For example, beauty brands can offer attractive incentives like cinemas, spas, stays, and exclusive access to limited edition or upcoming products, which will create a sense of community that will make customers feel emotionally connected to your brand.

Combining this strategy with personalization will leave a much stronger impact on your customers.

In  A 2022 survey from Yotpo, 83% of consumers say being part of a loyalty program influences them to buy often from a brand, while 84% of consumers say they are more likely to stick with a brand that offers a loyalty program.

Loyalty programs are the golden tickets to long-term success. If your brand still needs to set up a loyalty program, now is the best time to start and get those customers coming back for more.

9. Community engagement:

Building a strong community where customers can connect and engage with your brand on a personal level helps build and maintain relationships, interactions, and connections between a brand and its customers, as well as among customers themselves.

Having a community can birth brand advocates that not only spread positive word of mouth but also become a driving force behind your brand’s growth and establishing a good reputation.

Community engagement plays a significant role in customer retention. 

A study from Vesta reveals that 69% of consumers say that being part of a brand community makes them more likely to purchase the brand more often.

And 74% of consumers say that being part of a brand community makes them more likely to write reviews about the brand.

By creating a sense of community and providing exceptional experiences within your community, you build trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships.

Engaged community members are more likely to remain customers, resulting in long-term brand success.

10. Have a personal brand:

Having a great personal brand is the key to setting yourself apart from your competitors.

Personal branding is the art of presenting the human side of your brand to your customers. It’s about creating a distinct and authentic persona that people can relate to and trust.

In the health and beauty industry, personal branding can be a game changer, allowing your brand to become more than just another label on a bottle.

Consumers are naturally inclined to trust people more than faceless brands. 

By incorporating personal branding, your brand can humanize itself, allowing consumers to connect with real people rather than an impersonal entity.

When customers see a relatable human face or story behind a brand, it results in increased trust. They perceive your brand as transparent, genuine, and accountable. 

This trust creates a deep bond, fostering loyalty that goes beyond product purchase.

For example, when a new customer signs up to your email list, sending a welcome email from the CEO that shares the story behind the brand and its values and shows credibility will make your customers feel important and increase the level of trust, they have for your brand.

According to a study from the Brand Builders Group, 67% of Americans would be willing to spend more money on products and services on brands that have a strong personal brand.

Trust and loyalty naturally follow when customers feel a personal connection with your brand. Embracing personal branding will help gain your customer’s trust and loyalty.

Typically, the goal of every brand should be to put your customers first and make them aware that they can rely on you. 

By understanding your customers, delivering exceptional service, maintaining consistency and transparency, and actively engaging with your community, you can build a solid trust and loyalty that will drive your brand to success. 

Remember, it’s not just about making a sale. It’s about building lasting relationships and a brand that customers can count on.