Why Social Media Transparency Leads to Customer Trust
11Oct

Why Social Media Transparency Leads to Customer Trust

It’s no mystery social media has become a valuable asset to the customer experience. We’ve written about social media’s role in customer service before, but one of the biggest things we’ve seen evolve from brands utilizing social media channels is the ability to earn customer trust.

As we see businesses being rocked by data breaches, ironically like Facebook, it’s more important than ever to foster an atmosphere of trust with your customer base. A recent survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers in Sprout Social’s Social Media and the Evolution of Transparency report, had some interesting findings with regards to a business’ transparency and the impact it has on their customer loyalty.

First, what terminology did consumers relate the meaning of “transparency” to?

  • 59% defined transparency as being open
  • 53% defined transparency as being clear
  • 49% defined transparency as being honest

When starting the relationship with a business, 53% said they’re likely to consider a brand that’s transparent on social for their next purchase. Additionally, 86% thought it’s more important than ever before for businesses to be transparent and in fact, 81% said that businesses have a responsibility to be transparent on social. This expectation is actually higher than that for most other industries. Just check out this image courtesy of MarTech below.

Groups Responsible for Transparency

The survey also found some critical information when it came to staying loyal to a business despite a less than satisfactory situation. For example, 89% were willing to give transparent brands a second chance after a bad experience and 85% were willing to stick with them through a crisis.

Those may be staggering numbers, however lack of transparency from a company can also do just as much damage to customer loyalty and ultimately business. The report found that lack of transparency can lead 86% of customers to take their business elsewhere.

What does this mean for your dealership?

With such close ties between social media and customer loyalty, businesses need to build this into their marketing strategy. Having open and honest conversations on social media channels when something hasn’t been up to your dealership’s typical standards could potentially be hugely valuable and save you future business. For example, if you’re having issues with your internal system that may be setting your customers back, acknowledge it on social media and that you’re working to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Another way you can showcase transparency is through posting a link to a customer experience survey your dealership has created to get people’s honest feedback. In a follow up to that post, maybe post some examples of the feedback you received from the survey, like the areas the dealership can work on, and say something along the lines of you appreciate the feedback, are taking it into strong consideration. Then aim to make the changes!

Customers will quickly see your dedication to them and the desire to hold a honest relationship with them. This kind of relationship is one that creates loyalty for a lifetime.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelsey Fritz
Kelsey is the Marketing Coordinator at Commercial Web Services where she monitors the latest marketing advancements to better educate dealers on marketing trends that can further their business goals.

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