How to Build Trust with Your Email Subscribers
Once trust is broken, it’s hard to get it back. If you’ve ever been in a relationship where your partner cheated on you or lied to you, try as you may, it’s extremely difficult to go back to your previous levels of trust.
Not only does that singular incident negatively impact your ability to trust your partner, but it also negatively impacts your ability to trust your future partners.
This applies not just to romantic relationships but also to the relationships you’re trying to foster with your email subscribers. With all the scammy online marketing tactics that have come and gone over the years, chances are we’ve all been burned at one time or another.
As a result, we’re reluctant to give our email addresses to just anybody.
We’ve trusted brands in the past only to be burned. How do we know we won’t suffer the same fate this time?
Why Trust Matters for Subscriber Engagement
Trust is the foundation of any relationship, including the one between a brand and its audience.
When people trust you, they’re more likely to join your email list. As their trust in you and your product/service increases, so will their engagement with your content. This will eventually lead to them making purchases and staying loyal to your brand.
Trust directly impacts the success of your sales funnel because it increases engagement and leads to a more connected and responsive audience.
The Fear of Giving Away an Email Address
We’ve all hesitated to hand over our email address to a brand. Once, as I finished paying for clothes I probably didn’t need, the cashier asked me for my email address.
Immediately, my spidey senses were tingling.
To my knowledge, my email address is not needed to conclude a sales transaction. What could she possibly need it for?
So, I proceeded to fire off one question after another to ascertain the motive behind her request.
She assured me it was just to confirm the number of visitors they get in the store each day. Promised me that my inbox would not be bombarded with sales emails. Told me I had nothing to be worried about.
Wouldn’t you know it, before I got home, I had already started getting their emails?
When it comes to giving out your email address, the fear is real.
You can’t be sure what a brand will do with it. Will they sell it? Will we get spammed with endless sales pitches? Or worse, will we receive inappropriate emails?
How to Improve Subscriber Engagement
To overcome these fears and improve subscriber engagement, here are a few tips you can use to build trust with your audience:
1. Be Transparent in Your Opt-In Form
In your opt-in form, clearly state that you value consent and data protection. Let your audience know that their email address is safe with you and won’t be shared with third parties.
Let your audience know that consent and data protection are priorities for you.
Including this in the fine print of your opt-in form will help you build trust, reduce your unsubscribe rate, and enhance long-term subscriber engagement.
This assurance will help you overcome any hesitation they may have about giving it to you and go a long way to build trust and improve subscriber engagement.
2. Keep Your Promise
Once you’ve assured your subscribers that their data is safe, make sure to keep that promise.
Don’t sell their email addresses to a third party. Doing so will negatively affect their trust in all brands, not just yours.
3. Be Consistent
Keep the other promises you made in your opt-in form. Ensure you only send the type of content you said you would. Don’t switch up along the lines and start talking about completely unrelated topics.
Stick to a regular email schedule. Send emails when and as often as you said you’d send them.
Being consistent in this way will also aid in helping you build a reliable relationship with your subscribers and keep them engaged.
Building trust with your email subscribers is crucial for long-term success.
By keeping your promises, you’re better able to create a trustworthy and engaged email list that will respond positively to your email marketing strategy.
Trust takes time to build but can be easily lost. Don’t joke around with your subscribers’ trust in you. Prioritize their needs and concerns.
