5 Ways to Make a Good First Impression Online

It only takes seven seconds to make a first impression.

Make a poor first impression, and you could lose tons of potential customers (and profit). 

To make those seven seconds count, you’ll need to use the right approach to ensure your audiences see you as a relevant, legitimate, and authoritative brand from the get-go.

While making an excellent first impression is no walk in the park, there are reliable strategies you can adopt to do this effectively, and that’s what we’ll share in this guide. 

Why first impressions matter

First impressions don’t get do-overs. Bungle the first impression, and you could lose boatloads of conversions and sales opportunities.  

This makes it crucial to nail your first impression online because it sets the tone for how your potential customers perceive your brand, products, and services.

If you don’t make a good first impression, your audiences might get the wrong idea about your brand. This can prevent them from interacting with your business further. 

Online impressions are often created through websites, email messages, social media profiles, search engine results, and other channels. 

You’ll need to make good first impressions on two general types of prospective customers: 

• Audiences who are unaware of a problem or need a solution 
• Potential customers who are aware of the problem and are actively looking for an answer.  

Implement specific approaches for each type to ensure you leave them with a positive first impression. This, in turn, can help you properly promote your business and support your branding, marketing, and sales strategies.   

How to leave a memorable first impression

The first impression your brand makes can impact your potential customer’s decision to buy from you. 

Below are a few tips to help you make a solid first impression online. 

1. Add a professional email signature

One aspect that many companies tend to overlook when making great first impressions are email signatures. 

Your emails can get thousands of one-on-one daily audience impressions. This makes them some of the best spaces to influence your potential customer’s perception of your brand on your first encounter.   

To create stunning emails use free email signature templates for Gmail by Wisestamp. 

Choose and customize the e-signature template’s design and add your details, such as your name, title, company, and contact information. 

You can also enhance your signature by adding a styled sign-off, quote, video, an image gallery, and various calls-to-action (CTAs). 

A beautiful, professional email signature helps your business come off as credible and trustworthy. It also helps humanize your brand, encouraging further audience engagement, interaction, and actions on your offers. 

2. State a clear brand value on your website

Your value proposition conveys the distinct benefits your customers can get from your brand. 

Make this clear from the get-go, whether it’s your unique service or product, excellent customer service, or competitive pricing.   

Doing so at the earliest touchpoint helps customers perceive your brand as legitimate and a solution to their problem. 

Depending on your products or services, consider keeping your brand value clear and simple to make an impression instantly.  

The value proposition from Slack is a classic example of this. 

As soon as visitors land on the website, they can see the clear and crisp value proposition. This can help entice audiences to learn more about the product. 

A brand value that contributes to your brand making a good first impression can help you move your prospects further along the customer journey funnel to convert them into buyers ultimately.   

3. Publish how-to articles and videos

An excellent way to make a good first impression online is to convey your brand’s credibility and authority in your industry (or niche) through relevant content.  

You can publish tutorial videos on your website and social media channels about topics in your niche or post an article about tips to help customers find a specific product. 

It’s a great way to get your brand’s name and your expertise in front of your target audiences while helping you make a great first impression. 

The more credible your potential customers perceive your brand a few seconds into your first interaction, the more likely they will trust your brand, explore your offers, and buy from you. 

4. Display social proof through various channels

It can be challenging to make a positive first impression on audiences who know nothing about your brand.

After all, the average of seven seconds to make an impression isn’t enough time to explain and convey your brand’s benefits and inspire trust from your audiences.  

This is where social proof comes in handy.  

Social proof, such as customer reviews, recommendations, and ratings, helps new audiences form positive impressions of your brand. 

Data shows that 57% of surveyed customers stated that good reviews and ratings are the most important reasons they trust a brand. 

Social proof can serve as personal recommendations from family and friends, inspiring trust in your brand at the onset of your interactions with new audiences. 

Make your social proof display eye-catching. Add visuals, logos or photos of prominent customers, star ratings, and bite-sized quotes from satisfied customers.

For example, Poo-Pourri, a company that creates and sells fragrant toilet sprays, displays its five-star reviews on the home page. 

It’s a great way to share the positive experiences previous customers had with the brand, which helps encourage trust in potential buyers who have never heard of your brand. 

5. Match your social media profiles with your brand image

Social media is where you can engage and interact with your target audiences in more relaxed and personal ways.

However, it takes more than responding to your followers’ comments and posting relatable content to make a good first impression on your potential customer on social networks. 

Make sure your social media profiles are consistent with your brand image by following these tips. 

• Use or include your brand logo on your social profile photo
• Ensure your brand name is in your social profile URL and username
• Post engaging and relevant content regularly to maintain your social presence
• Create custom backgrounds that showcase your brand (or elements of it)

For instance, the Sweat Shop sportswear store uses its brand logo as its Facebook profile photo and a background image of a man running wearing the company’s products.

It’s an excellent way to imply what your brand is on your social channels, what it does, and who it’s for at a glance. This can help lead your new audiences to form a good perception of your business the moment they land on your social profile. 

Start making a striking first impression on potential customers

Potential customers form first impressions lighting fast, and they don’t often get enough time to make a conscious opinion. 

Take control of your target audience’s first impression of your brand by using strategic approaches. 

Implement the right tactics to convey your brand values, build trust, and connect with customers in the first few seconds they encounter your business. 

This way, you don’t lose them instantly, and you can draw them into more and deeper interactions, ultimately converting them into buyers. 

Use the tips in this guide as building blocks to kickstart your efforts on making a good first impression online. 

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