Protecting customer data privacy is paramount for cultivating consumer trust and ensuring business operations run smoothly
In 2023, proving that it’s safe for customers to do business with you is paramount. Customer trust is second only to customer data privacy, and the two go hand in hand when creating a reputable company.
Use these six strategies to build consumer trust and improve your brand’s data privacy at the same time.
Modernise your website to gain customer trust
Few things scare off potential customers faster than an outdated website. It isn’t just that hard-to-navigate pages, poor mobile compatibility, and bright flash animations are annoying — it’s because sites that haven’t changed in years are often unsecured.
Bring your business’s website into the 21st century to attract and retain more visitors. In the process, you can ensure it has modern cybersecurity features to protect people’s data.
Turn on multi-factor authentication
2022 saw a dramatic uptick in the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) in Southeast Asia. Hong Kong-registered a 13 per cent increase in the technology’s use, while those in the Philippines used it 25 per cent more than in previous years.
If you’ve ever visited a website that sent a temporary, time-sensitive passcode via SMS to your phone to use alongside your password, you’ve used MFA. Technology has become popular because it makes it much harder to steal data — in addition to hacking into a website, threat actors also have to gain access to a phone or tablet.
Turning on MFA might pose a minor annoyance to some website visitors, but most people appreciate the added security measure. It’s beneficial for creating a safe checkout system for online shopping. It also conveys that you take customer data privacy seriously.
Employ AI to identify high-risk scenarios
Most cybersecurity software features an alert system to warn website owners of potential data breaches. For example, if someone fails multiple password attempts or logs into the site at an unusual time, the program will flag the unusual behaviour and issue an alert.
Software that uses AI goes a step further than just flagging suspicious activity. Some services also use machine-learning-powered alert scoring, sorting security alerts by urgency and relevance. You can prioritise the alerts to decide which ones need your attention most.
You might think your website is impenetrable to hackers, but even the most reputable companies fall victim to cyberattacks. In 2019, WhatsApp — one of Asia’s leading messaging apps — experienced a breach, compromising 1.5 billion user accounts and giving hackers access to personal information. As another example, the International Committee of the Red Cross experienced a cyberattack in 2022 that compromised over 510,000 people’s data across 60 locations.
The truth is that anyone can experience a cyberattack, so you must prioritise customer data privacy to build consumer trust. That starts with using better cybersecurity software.
Create clean URLs
Your website’s address bar can tell visitors a lot about your business — intentionally or not. Long, complicated URLs with numbers, symbols and jumbled letters look less trustworthy than a curated URL describing the page. For example, on a page where customers can buy a pink handbag, the URL should end with something like “buy-pink-handbag” rather than the slug the site builder automatically assigns.
Additionally, URLs with spelling errors are a red flag to many tech-savvy customers. That’s because untrustworthy sites often use subtle spelling mistakes to trick visitors into thinking they’re on a different page. Phishing scams often involve sites with names like Hotmail or Wells Fargo. Bloomberg.ma was a false news site designed to imitate Bloomberg.com, a legitimate financial news website.
Comb through your website’s URL slugs to ensure they reflect the actual content on the page and don’t contain spelling errors.
Explain your cookie policy
A popup explaining your website’s cookie policy might annoy some visitors, but many view it as a sign of good data management. By asking customers for consent to use their data — or allowing people to customise which data they provide — you can help build customer trust. In many cases, it’s also a legal requirement to have a transparent cookie use policy.
Display security logos
Another way to build consumer trust is through the use of logos. If your business is partnered with a network security company, include their logo on your website in a place customers can see it clearly. Make sure the image links to the company’s website and explains how the business protects data privacy.
For example, when customers visit your checkout page, put the security logo next to the section where people enter their credit card information. This will reassure people that your website takes extra steps to protect their data privacy.
Enhancing customer data privacy to gain consumer trust
Protecting customer data privacy is paramount for cultivating consumer trust and ensuring business operations run smoothly. A brand that conveys strong security measures is more likely to foster customer trust and develop a solid reputation.
Using modern cybersecurity and website design techniques, you can build a safe, trustworthy business where hackers fear to tread, attracting and retaining more customers in the long run.
Source: e27
