Do I really need to put myself out there?

[Tucker_J]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this and I have a weird question to ask. I was wondering if I really need to link my personal social media account(s) to my new Shopify store or Shopify store social media accounts. In other words, do people really need to know who I am and see pictures of me in order to have a Shopify store running successfully? Or can I remain anonymous?

[Aria]

Hey, @Tucker_J!

Aria here, I'm on the Social Care team at Shopify.

I don't recommend you link your personal Social Media accounts to your store but I do recommend you create Social Media accounts specifically for your business and link those on the footer. Building a Social Media following provides Social Proof as well as giving you an audience to market to without always paying for advertising. Building an email list is important for the same reason. Email marketing is a cost-effective method of retargeting your visitors. We have a free course on email marketing, as well as Instagram Marketing and Facebook ads on Shopify Academy.

If you'd like to build trust with your customers (and increase the chance of them making a purchase), it's better that you don't appear anonymous. A well-written About Us page can help establish your brand.

It's also vital that customers can reach you when they have a question. This will increase their confidence that they'll also be able to reach you if they have an issue with their purchase. Consider the following options:

• A FAQ page to preemptively answer questions to reduce the need for them to reach out. Customers are likely to want to know about your Returns Policy, how long shipping will take, how much shipping costs and more.
• An email form. It's not a good idea to put your email address on your store because bots often scan stores to find email addresses to send spam. A form will look more professional and allows your customer to email you without having to open their email account.
• A mailing address. You will need to provide this to accept returns anyway and customers are far more likely to trust your business if they can see where you are based.
• A phone number. This one is not so important for all stores but the higher the value of your merchandise, the more important it becomes. A lot of customers still appreciate being able to reach out by phone.
• Shopify Chat. This allows you to easily communicate with customers in real-time without the need for a phone number. You can quickly answer their questions, even from your phone to boost your chance of making sales.

This post has more information on how to build a professional and trustworthy store. Don't forget to start your own thread if you'd like us to give you feedback on your store.