It seems inflation is all anyone talks about these days, but it’s for good reason. Increasing prices are impacting everyone, from regular people to B2B companies, and everyone in between. It’s gotten to a point where it’s simply too hard to ignore. And instead of just accepting that this is the state of the world at the moment, businesses should be proactive about turning things around.
Understanding the effects of inflation on consumers will allow you to get your business in a positive position so you’ll be more inclined to handle the changes that may come your way. And one of the best ways to do that is to prioritize building trust so you can easily attract new and returning business.
The Effects of Inflation on Consumers
Inflation is the sustained increase in the price of goods and services. The main driver of inflation is supply and demand. In many cases, there’s an increased demand for a good or service, but limited supply. As a result, prices typically skyrocket.
Businesses wind up struggling to keep up with the demand from their consumers and sometimes have to raise prices to keep profit margins up since they’re generating fewer sales. In turn, many consumers become hesitant to make buying decisions, particularly when it comes to more expensive items. Since they’re spending more on everyday necessities, they’re more cautious when it comes to money. Ultimately, this becomes a challenge for businesses that are relying on sales to stay afloat.
Although the effects of inflation on consumers may seem rather dire, it doesn’t have to be. Your business can still make it through these challenging times and continue to turn a steady profit.
5 Methods to Build Trust and Encourage New and Returning Business
To combat the effects of inflation on consumers, you need to prioritize building strong, trusting relationships with your target audience. Doing this can create a sense of loyalty, prompting them to want to buy from you now and again in the future. It’s essential for attracting new and repeat business. But the question is, how do you build that level of trust? Well, here are a few tips:
1. Focus on Creating High-Quality, Valuable Content
There are several benefits to having a content marketing strategy in place for your B2B company, one of them being that it can help establish trust. When you consistently show up and provide valuable, high-quality content for your audience to consume, it showcases your expertise and positions you as an authority within your field. This is great for attracting people to your company over a competitor because it shows they can count on you to deliver a great experience every time.
In our article about lead nurturing tactics, we mention how important it is to have content for every stage of the sales process. This allows you to slowly build a connection, establish trust, and lead potential buyers toward making a purchase. You need to consider what everyone needs at each stage of the journey, whether they’re a new or returning customer. Then, you can create content, such as blog posts or videos, which moves them along through the sales funnel. This is more important than ever when you consider the effects of inflation on consumers and how many are hesitant to buy right now.
2. Create a Strong Social Media Presence
These days, it’s pretty uncommon for a brand to not be on social media. That’s because it’s a powerful tool for creating valuable content as part of your content marketing strategy. However, it’s also effective for building a relationship with your target audience. If you want to attract people to your business, you need to be where they are – and they’re on social media. So, it’s more important than ever for you to be there engaging with them so they can form that connection with your company.
To put it simply, don’t be that brand that goes on social media just to broadcast content. Social media is meant to be social, so use it to your advantage by having conversations. Start discussions with people. Participate in conversations already taking place. And use social media as a way to answer questions and address concerns from those in your online community.
3. Be Sure to Share Social Proof
Sometimes the best way to build trust is to show what you’ve been able to do for others. What kind of results has your B2B company gotten for its clients? What sort of transformation has your product provided to those that purchased it? Don’t be afraid to showcase those results so people can see the value of your offerings. One of the negative effects of inflation on consumers is that they’re afraid to spend when prices are skyrocketing around them. However, you can’t afford to let sales dip.
When you showcase reviews and testimonials, it offers some solid social proof because it communicates the benefits of working with your company or purchasing from your company. Make sure to feature them on your website and social media. This way, whenever someone is contemplating making a purchase, they may see a positive testimonial that could seal the deal and encourage action.
4. Implement Website Personalization
When you’re in a rather saturated market, it can be hard to differentiate yourself from your competitors. However, you need to stand out to attract new and returning business. One way you can do that is by offering a personalized experience whenever they connect with your brand via your website.
This is where website personalization comes in. It’ll allow you to present custom content based on different factors, such as location. Those accessing your site will feel special as they check out what you have to offer because it’ll feel like everything is tailored to them. It’ll feel like you’re speaking directly to their interests and needs. This cultivates a more powerful experience overall that will set you apart from the competitors in your industry who have yet to implement this practice.
You can even take it a step further and implement personalized chat experiences, email personalization, and more. Essentially, you want to create an experience for your consumers that’s both unforgettable and irresistible, so they’ll want to become repeat customers.
5. Be Transparent About Your Values
With so much going on in the world today, many consumers want brands to take a stand. They want to know which values their favorite brands hold close. They want to know where they stand on important political and social issues. That’s because they want to know where their money is going when they purchase a product or service from a company. Instead of just giving any company their money, they want to support ones whose beliefs are aligned with theirs.
Now, many brands are hesitant to speak up on these topics because they can alienate a segment of your audience that disagrees with your views. However, not speaking up and being silent is sometimes seen by consumers as even worse. For that reason, you have to decide if your brand will be one to take a stand on important issues. Will you be vocal about these things? If you do, you may lose some customers, but others will love and support you even more for speaking up.
Mitigate the Effects of Inflation on Consumers by Building Trust
If you truly want to build trust with your consumer, make it personal! Website personalization is a fantastic way to cater to the needs and interests of the visitors to your website. It’ll allow you to speak directly to them, presenting them with the exact content they need the most. It shows you’re paying attention and that you understand them. And when you present them with an offer, they’ll be more inclined to buy.
If you’re curious about how the Hushly team can help you incorporate B2B personalization into your business strategy, contact us today to schedule a demo.
