Today’s post is from guest contributor, Diana Gomez. 

Have you ever had the experience of shopping or otherwise doing business online, but you hesitated because you had no information about the merchant and you weren’t sure whether it was a trustworthy operation?

The simple fact is that seeing someone’s face and learning a bit about him or her establishes trust in that person. Therefore, you should strive to offer information on the Web about your business as much as possible in order to engage your clients and earn their trust.

But how can you ensure that the experience your clients have with you and your business is personal, especially in the isolating world of technology? Here are a few ways to break the barriers on the Internet. Best of all, both you and the client can participate.

Post photographs on social media pages.

Do you have a Facebook page or some other social media account where photographs are uploaded? Don’t make the mistake of only putting up pictures of the products you sell. Instead, put up a few personal photos of yourself and the staff – even a couple of shots of the company engaged in work could be of interest to clients.

You can further engage your clients by inviting them to upload their own photos onto your public pages. Make sure to engage them and help them feel welcomed by commenting on the photos they post!

Engage clients in video chats.

If your clients have questions about your business or any of your products or services, they will want prompt answers from a trustworthy source. Video chats have become more and more popular and are now available on most any phone, tablet or type of computer. Take advantage of this and sign up for an account just for your business. You may want someone to be “on call” much of the time in order to engage with clients. If this is the case, consider starting a video chat “team” with some of your employees and share the username and password with them in order to keep the conversation going.

Make sure to let clients and potential clients know that your company is now video friendly and encourage them to make use of the feature.

Create an Interactive Blog.

Another way to avoid being a stranger to your clients is to post blogs on your website and share them regularly. Not only will regular blog posts keep the fans of your business abreast of what is going on within the company, it’s also a great way to start conversations about topics floating around the Internet that pertain to your business.

Try posting and discussing relevant links on your blog on a regular basis. Invite your clients to visit the blog and share what they think about the topic. This is also a useful way to keep social media current; if you have new material shared on the blog, you also have new material to share on Facebook and Twitter.

Of course, don’t forget photos – of yourself, your staff and any others that might enhance the blog experience.

Ask Clients to Contribute.

When it comes to social media, anyone can post just about anywhere. But have you thought about giving your clients the opportunity to share information about themselves on the company blog or website?

Develop a page where your clients can share photos of themselves either interacting with, or enjoying your product or service. They may be shy at first, but customers like to know that you care.

Stay Mobile Friendly.

Your clients are on the go, just like you are. Therefore, making sure that your business is mobile friendly can up the interaction factor. If your clients can access you any time, they are more likely to stay in touch.

Continue to Meet In Person When You Can.

Sure, many of your clients are far away, and that’s great; it’s a benefit of the Internet. But don’t disregard meeting your local clients in person, and then driving them to the Internet to stay in touch. Networking functions and other gathering places are a great way to gather new fans. And, once these potential clients realize that your business has a strong Internet presence, they are more likely to remember you and pass the word along.

It may sound like an oxymoron to get personal on the World Wide Web. However, with the abundance of different ways to exchange information with your clients, relationships are becoming easier, and very necessary.

Diana Gomez is the Marketing Coordinator at Lyoness America, where she is instrumental in the implementation of marketing and social media strategies for USA and Canada. Lyoness is an international shopping community and loyalty rewards program, where businesses and consumers benefit with free membership and money back with every purchase. Check out Lyoness on Twitter.