The 2021 guide to building customer trust

How do brands foster loyalty among customers?

Everyone knows it’s better to keep a customer than having to replace one.

The Market Intelligence Team at Khoros surveyed over one thousand digitally-active consumers in the US to discover what drives lasting brand loyalty. The questions we asked can be roughly divided into two categories: the rational and the emotional.

In this definitive guide to building customer trust, you’ll learn the six ways brands can build customer trust to create brand loyalty:

1. Authentically connect with customers

2. Focus on relationship building

3. Nurture a strong digital presence

4. Offer multiple digital touchpoints

5. Use AI as a supplement to human agents

6. Guard against a negative customer experience

Customers equate brand loyalty with consistent purchases from a brand — driven by rational, transaction-related factors. But, many customers feel little connection or loyalty to the brands they interact with or buy from. Even though many customers note a lack of connection with brands, the appetite for connection exists.

Trust is the key in 2021 and beyond

This gap is where customer trust makes all the difference in building lasting brand loyalty.

Customers want to feel emotional connections to brands. And, when brands are more personable, feel more human, and are approachable, customers have an easier time forming those desired connections. Another important way to fill the loyalty and connection void that customers experience is for brands to be more relationship-oriented, as opposed to transaction-oriented. A strong digital presence through web chat, mobile messaging, online communities, and active social channels is necessary to support customers in their relationships with brands. As brands invest in their digital presence, it’s important to use innovative technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI), to supplement human agents.