“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.”
~ Andrew Davis
What is brand trust?
Brand trust is the assurance customers feel about the reliability and integrity of a brand. It’s the confidence that the brand will meet their expectations, consistently delivering on its promises. For home builders, it signifies that clients believe in the quality of their craftsmanship, the honesty of their communications, and the authenticity of their intentions.
How to Build Brand Trust Through Your Marketing
- Transparent communication: When communicating with customers, past, present and future, make sure you are transparent and honest in your communication. Make sure there aren’t hidden fees, give realistic timelines, and don’t be afraid to tell people when things aren’t quite going to plan. People value honesty and authenticity more than they value perceived perfection.
- The power of content: Use content as a trust-building tool by not only educating your audience (which we’ll talk about below), but also sharing behind the scenes information and showing the faces behind your brand. Allow customers to engage with the progress of your communities, builds, and the journey of your company.
- Showcase your credibility: Collect testimonials and share them in your marketing; they are the next best thing to word of mouth, especially when they are video testimonials. You can also showcase your credibility through sharing past builds and your team’s credentials, especially when they complete training courses or get a promotion.
- Consistent branding: Consistent branding communicates reliability. From your company logo on your website to the tone of voice in your social media posts and newsletters, consistency reassures customers that they know what to expect from you. Make sure everything from your graphics to your brand personality is consistent across all platforms.
- Engage with your community: You know that building homes isn’t just about construction; it’s about creating communities. Represent this same sentiment online and off by establishing your brand as a part of the community, working to bring people together.
- Showcase your guarantees and warranties: You already offer guarantees and warranties on your homes, but are you talking about it in your marketing? If not, sharing about the ways you support your buyers post-purchase is an instant way to build likability and trust with your audience.
- Educate your clients: Fear and uncertainty comes from a lack of data, so go the extra mile to educate your clients so they feel well equipped to move forward with their home purchase. Tell them about your processes, including what you do that perhaps your competitors do not, and what they should know to avoid common pitfalls when buying a new home. What do they need to know to secure financing? These are all worries that can make potential buyers delay their move, so alleviate their fears and they may become a customer sooner rather than later.
- Ask for feedback: Marketing shouldn’t be a one-way street; so ask for feedback from your audience on things both big and small. When you take their advice and implement changes, show that you have. Not only will this breed trust, but it will make people more invested in your brand.
How to Measure Brand Trust
Here are a few ways you can measure brand trust to see if your marketing efforts are making a difference:
- Customer reviews and testimonials: Positive reviews and testimonials signal trust.
- Customer referrals and retention: While repeat customers are less frequent in this industry–given that people don’t often move–both repeat customers and referrals are strong indicators of growing brand trust.
- Engagement: Meaningful engagement shows that your audience trusts you and wants to engage with you. Try to avoid getting caught up in vanity metrics and look at the meaningful interaction that’s taking place on social media and behind closed doors with your OSC.
- Direct feedback: Surveys can help you gauge if your marketing efforts are helping or hindering you. Ask your audience to give you feedback to gather insight into trust levels and what they do and don’t like about what you are doing.
Building trust as a home builder extends beyond building quality homes. You must nurture it with clear communication, meaningful content, and a genuine commitment for delivering an incredible experience to anyone coming into contact with your brand.
Building homes starts with building trust, embedding authenticity into your brand’s foundation. If your marketing feels stagnant and you need a refresh, we’re here to help. We innovate to connect with customers transparently and meaningfully. To learn more about our marketing services, click here.
