Thoughts:
“No matter how good your ad is, if they don’t trust you – they’ll scroll past your bank alert.”
“People don’t believe brands. They believe people. Show them people.”
“A screenshot of one happy customer is more powerful than 1000 words of sales copy.”
Let me say the hard truth nobody likes to say…
If you’re selling physical products online in Nigeria, your customer does not trust you. At all.
You’re guilty until proven innocent.
That’s the game we’re playing.
And if you don’t fix it, you’ll keep hearing “I’ll get back to you” after…
…and your bank account will keep crying.
One time, I had a client selling a butt acne cream (yes, seriously)…
…and the product was fire.
Before-and-after results? Mad. (exactly what you’re thinking)
Ad creatives? Clean.
Replies? Plenty.
But sales?
Dry.
It wasn’t until we put a simple 14-second testimonial from one random girl…
…(who used it and got results in 30 days) that orders started flying in.
89 orders in 1 day!
The crazy thing is, I forced her to test the creative… It’s just 14 seconds, so she thought it wouldn’t convert.
Next day, over 120+ orders and many unconfirmed and unread messages.
Why?
Because customers don’t care what you say about your product.
They care what another customer like them is saying about it.
They want to see someone who had the same problem, solved it with your product… and didn’t die.
Building trust is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s the main thing.
Your job is not to convince people with grammar.
Your job is to make them feel safe.
Most buyers are not looking for the best product.
They’re looking for who they can risk their money with and still sleep well at night.
Once they trust you, they’ll pay you.
Sometimes, they’ll even prepay you without stress.
But if you keep hiding behind fake urgency, stock countdowns, and “we have only 2 left”…
…your sales will keep suffering.
Here’s what I learned about building trust with strangers online :
– Use Customer Reviews Everywhere
If you’ve seen any of my salespage, you know this is part of my secret weapon.
If you’re only posting reviews inside your saved IG highlights or on one corner of your sales page…
You’re leaving money on the table.
Use everything – voice notes, screenshots, selfies, unboxing videos, even text replies from happy customers.
Put them on your landing page.
Send them inside your WhatsApp broadcast.
Drop them inside your order confirmation messages.
Mention them when you’re chatting with new leads.
People are not trying to figure out if the product works.
They just want to know if it worked for someone like them.
So let your customers do the convincing. That’s what we call proof over pitch.
“Babe I used it for 30 days and my dark spots cleared.”
That one screenshot? Worth more than 2,000,000 Naira ad budget.
– Show Faces, Not Logos
I used to spend hours designing fancy flyers with mockups and brand colors.
Till one day I tried something different…
I used a customer selfie + a screenshot of their “thank you” message.
That ugly post beat my clean, designed ad by 31%.
Why? Because people don’t want perfection – they want real.
They want to see somebody like them that bought it…
…used it…
…and still came back to say “Thank you.”
Forget fine packaging.
Show people. Show joy. Show normal.
Marketing is like Nigerian movies. The more drama, the more real, the more engaging.
– Ask For Prepayment Anyway
Let me tell you the truth that shocked me…
Sometimes, the only reason they haven’t paid before delivery is because you never asked.
You assumed they won’t pay. So you didn’t offer it.
But if you’ve built trust properly – with reviews, proof, human interaction, some people will gladly pay.
They’re tired of scam pages too.
If you look legit, sound legit, and show other people’s happy results, many will ask you if they can pay now.
Here’s what you do: Offer it like a bonus or VIP option.
Say: “You can even pay ahead and we’ll process your order faster with priority free delivery.”
Boom. You’ll close more sales and reduce failed deliveries.
This is one of the reasons why our students in Ecommerce Success Launchpad get better sales.
We don’t just tell them “post testimonials.”
We teach them how to collect them, where to use them, and what type converts the most.
We even give them full copy-paste message templates to request reviews the right way without sounding desperate.
Because in Nigeria, no trust = no sales.
You can’t run a business on “hope.”
You need receipts.
Inside Ecommerce Success Launchpad, we give you:
Done-for-you sales page templates that show social proof properly
DM scripts for handling buyer objections and collecting reviews
Delivery lessons that help you switch to prepayment confidently
Testimonial formatting guides that turn normal chats into high-converting proof
And AI systems to auto-follow-up and build trust on autopilot
Whether you’re just starting or you’ve been doing Ecommerce for years…
If you’re tired of chasing people for payment…
If you’re tired of getting ignored on WhatsApp…
Then join Ecommerce Success Launchpad now, and let’s help you install trust into your system.
So your business stops feeling like begging and starts feeling like authority.
Join Ecommerce Success Launchpad here and start closing real customers faster.
