It involves the willingness to rely on another person or entity, even in situations involving some risk. You can build it over time through consistent actions and behavior that demonstrate reliability and integrity. It can facilitate communication, cooperation, and collaboration. Its absence can lead to conflict, misunderstandings, and breakdowns in relationships. What am I talking about? Trust! This post is all about trust signals. Keep reading if you’re ready to jump headfirst into the world of trust signals!
What are Trust Signals?
Trust signals are indications or cues that suggest that a website is trustworthy and reliable. They come in different forms, including website design, security certificates, customer reviews, testimonials, and brand recognition. Trust signals are necessary because they help build credibility and confidence in the minds of customers or clients, which can lead to increased trust and conversion rates.
For example, a website that prominently displays a secure SSL certificate and has a professional design may be more trusted by visitors than a site that lacks these elements. Similarly, a company that has positive customer reviews and testimonials is likely to be viewed as more trustworthy than one without such evidence of satisfied customers.
Trust signals can vary depending on the context and industry. Still, they all serve the same primary purpose of conveying to potential customers or clients that a business is trustworthy and reliable and that they can be confident in doing business with them.
What are Some Different Types of Trust Signals?
Some trust signals are easy to spot, whereas others are more subtle. It all depends on the type of business, the industry in which the business operates, and a handful of additional factors. This results in a plethora of different trust signals that convey different messages.
Guarantee Trust Signals
The timeless guarantee is among the most common types of trust signals.
These trust signals are potentially very powerful (and even expected in certain industries) since they offer peace of mind to the customer. They reassure potential customers that, in the event a retailer or website turns out to be sketchy, or the customer changes their mind or is not satisfied with their purchase, their money is protected. This can be something as unique to your business as a specific refund or return policy to the inclusion of the MasterCard or Visa logo on your website.
These trust signals are everywhere in the financial services market. These are also some of the world’s most commonplace and recognized symbols simply because we’re so accustomed to seeing them. They’re so common that we’re often caught off guard if we don’t see them.
Social Proof Trust Signals
The dawn and evolution of social media brought with it many things. One such thing was the quick rise of “social proof” as a trust signal.
This type of trust signal includes everything from customer reviews like the Google reviews featured above to word-of-mouth recommendations from happy customers and industry experts.
Similar to guarantees, social proof trust signals carry a lot of weight since few things are more convincing than positive feedback, superb reviews, and general positivity about a product or brand from “real” people. Furthermore, social signals can indirectly improve your SEO.
Some sites prefer industry-insider recommendations. Others include customer feedback via social media, such as the Google review above. If you’re considering using this type of social signal, make sure that the individual’s name and identity are easily verifiable – don’t use anonymized reviews that any random person could have written, and don’t use images with several people. The key here is to be as authentic as possible.
Trust by Association Trust Signals
This variety of trust signals includes several versions, each of which can help prospects feel more comfortable doing business with you.
The main “trust by association” signal you’ve come across is the client list. Many companies feature the logos of well-known brands on the sites to convey their trustworthiness. The rationale here lies in the implications that if a company can land a big-name brand client, they must be trustworthy – right?
Media mentions, such as the example above, can also be used as a trust signal. Some companies choose to use their media coverage as a trust signal.
This is especially common in the startup world and among companies still gaining a foothold. Their association with well-known media outlets serves as an implied trust signal, which they hope will reassure prospective customers that they’re making a good choice.
Membership Trust Signals
While this form of trust signal is similar to the “trust by association” variety, they’re worth mentioning.
Memberships in a professional organization are typically used as a trust signal. One of the best examples, at least in the United States, is the Better Business Bureau badge that everyone recognizes without a second thought.
This type of trust signal includes memberships in local chambers of commerce, workers’ unions, artisanal guilds, and other professional organizations.
What Makes Trust Signals so Effective?
The primary focus of most studies involving trust signals is the comfort and familiarity that standard trust signals provide. However, another source of trust signals’ power, which often flies under the radar, is that we want to find and believe them.
Trust Signals and Cognitive Biases
The relationship between cognitive biases and our behaviors regarding transactions and trust is unique.
If you’ve already decided to buy something, anything that validates the purchase can be a powerful motivator. This is especially true of big-ticket items. This is illustrated via the “zero-risk bias,” a cognitive bias that encourages people to prefer scenarios in which all risks are eliminated. The “zero-risk bias” is evident in the money-back guarantee and no-obligation free trials, even when other choices offer less risk, such as purchasing from another more established and trusted retailer for a slightly higher price.
Confirmation bias is another powerful motivator that can trust signals can amplify. For instance, let’s say you want to buy something – laptop, smartphone, etc. These purchases are typically expensive, so potential customers may hesitate before committing to a considerable investment of this magnitude.
Now let’s say you discover a Verified by Visa trust signal on the checkout page, where most online shoppers abandon their carts. The Verified by Visa logo signifies that the transaction is protected by one of the world’s most respected financial service providers – but that’s it. This trust signal only tells you that you won’t get ripped off when purchasing the big-ticket item. However, it’s still very compelling to someone who’s already decided to drop several hundred dollars on a luxury item.
Customer Trust Varies Greatly by Demographic
Another element you need to consider when exploring what makes trust signals so effective is demographics.
According to Nielsen, millennial consumers are far more trusting of advertising than any other age group.
Given that millennials make up a large portion of the workforce, it comes as little surprise that the most trusting age group has impacted the importance of trust in today’s transactions. This is among the numerous reasons why “social proof” and earned media have become power players for brands and marketers.
How and When to Use Trust Signals
So far, we’ve discussed what trust signals are, a few different types, and what makes them so effective. Now let’s get to the juicy stuff – how trust signals can improve your conversion rates and when to use them.
Let Your Customers Know They’re Safe
As we’ve already established, one of the primary reasons you should use trust signals on your site is to provide your customers with comfort. This often equates to putting the customer’s mind at ease that their hard-earned money is safe and that they’ll get what they expect when they submit their payment. In short, trust signals offer prospects the peace of mind they need to cross the finish line and convert.
Regarding which trust signals to use, this will vary depending on your business. If you run an e-commerce site, you should consider joining the Verified by Visa program to safeguard your customers’ credit card transactions.
Where to Use Security or Guarantee Trust Signals
Security emblems and other such trust signals can and should be placed on web pages asking users for sensitive information such as credit card details or checkout pages. You can also add these trust signals on product pages, especially if your company offers software or online services that operate on the integrity of user data or privacy.
Be Transparent with User Reviews and Customer Feedback
One of the fastest ways to build trust in your brand is to include satisfied customer feedback, such as reviews, on your site.
On the flip side, one of the fastest ways to tank that credibility is by trying to sweep the less-than-awesome feedback under the rug.
Somebody will eventually have an issue with you or your company, and they will vent about it, either on your site or a third-party site. While this isn’t what you want to hear, but there is nothing you can do to avoid this situation, and trying to bury bad reviews is about as sleazy as it gets.
If a customer leaves negative feedback or a bad review, look at it as an opportunity to demonstrate elite customer service. Be honest with yourself – does the unhappy customer have a fair point? Is there something you could have done better? Are you at fault? No matter the situation, be sure to act quickly, honestly, and transparently. This might mean replying to a poorly written comment on a Facebook post or sharing your version of the story with a third-party site or organization, such as the Better Business Bureau.
Transparency works in a similar way to trust signals, such that they make people feel better about doing business with you. This means you shouldn’t purchase false reviews. The same goes for those semi-anonymous testimonials by “Timmy T. of Detroit, MI” and the like. This is the trust signal equivalent of a Ponzi scheme.
If people can’t trust the reviews on your site – they can’t trust you.
Where to Use Customer Testimonials and Social Review Trust Signals
One of the top benefits of customer testimonials and social media recommendations is that they can be used anywhere on your website. This includes your homepage. You could include them in your homepage’s “See what our customers love about us” section. You can also feature them alongside product feature information or specification pages. Lastly, you can always highlight them as part of your special offers.
Limit Your Use of Trust Signals
Trust signals do improve conversion rates. However, as with anything in life, moderation is essential. In other words, you don’t want your site to have an absurd number of logos that overwhelms potential customers.
Instead, select one or two strong, established trust signals. Don’t clutter your site with dozens of logos that confuse or deter potential customers from converting.
Lastly, ensure that you A/B test your signal placement to ensure they’re not hurting your conversion rates!
A Matter of Trust
Trust signals are an effective way to calm your customers and potentially increase conversion rates. While potentially powerful, they’re not a substitute for phenomenal customer service, a commitment to ethical business practices, and offering the best possible product at the best price. You also need to remember that what works for one business may not work for another, so you need to test the inclusion of trust signals to see what your visitors are doing, not just what you think they’re doing.
