Peter Hanley discusses Trust in marketing (can it be true) and often held discussions on your results and improvements that can be made.
What is trust in marketing?
You know the old saying that buyers are liars but marketing is controlled is in part true.
In most countries, you can not advertise/market anything that is not correct or you bear the consequences.
Here in Australia Telco advertised to a certain area that their broadband network was closing down and unless they acted now they could lose their telephone service.
This was partly true except many had already signed up for a new service and so the news did not apply to them.
The company was fined for false and misleading advertising. A fine line but it was misleading.
Know, like, and trust a marketer's guidelines
I often preach the Golden rule of know like and trust when building customer confidence and even seek what Wikipedia has to say as a guide to a rational discussion.
The buying public is generally very fickle and spends the most money with known outlets.
Outlets that they have used before or have seen inconsistent marketing on radio or TV.
Look around you and see where you shop and ask yourself why.
Convenience is always the answer but we will all drive past an outlet to go where we choose.
Marketing for the Know
A great example is in email marketing where we follow a very set template.
Introduction, bonding, who we deal with, and a great offer. Never in reverse.
It's like being at a barbeque and being introduced to a new friend, good-looking and single. We didn't make the final pitch we chat and bond and see how well we got on together. We use someone else to build up our plan before making a soft approach for a new get-together. A dinner or date before we go to the final sale on date three (or five) depending on the climate.
Marketing is no different.
Only by knowing you and liking you can I develop trust that what you offer is real.
How trust is being broken
Social media used correctly can really help in the journey. People read glowing things about you on LinkedIn and follow a few Facebook posts that show you in a great light. Your Instagram has a lot of followers and comments so this builds the illusion.
However, one bad comment can break the spell, two or more will destroy the attraction very quickly.
We all research a restaurant or new business to see what others say and base our new opinion on what someone else has to say.
This can be very flawed logic or even a true reflection but we will avoid trying places with bad comments.
The importance of fixing bad comments
We all get off comments. Sometimes because of perception or even when someone stuffs up and you wear the problem.
The difference is how you respond to the problem and what steps are taken to fix things.
It is understood that no one is perfect and when things happen the difference is in the response.
Never lie, never argue, Insult or ridicule a bad comment.
Importantly It can be seen very quickly.
Apologize, explain and solve.
Don't blow it up, hose it down, and be the best person to get respect for your mature handling of a comment.
You may be completely correct in your view but the world will take sides.
I'm sorry you feel like that, this is what we shall do to fix it.
Write to the readers and sell the sizzle, the sausage was flawed let's move on.
Like is instrumental in marketing
Do you have places that use your name, know who you are, and welcome you as a friend? These are the places you like.
I have a bundle of outlets to choose my daily coffee fix. They vary in quality, price, and speed of delivery. The one I frequent most is slow but I am a welcomed customer. Furthermore, they are the dearest of the lot, but the welcome mat is worth $0.30 extra.
A need for a doorman
In a recent post, I discussed how my wife shops at a supermarket of choice. Not the cheapest but we spend about $16,000 a year so you would think they should have a doorman running personal greetings. If they lose half a dozen clients in a year that's a hundred grand in turnover.
Yes, they give a small discount on the VIP card and have a couple of good senior operators that make the chat but generally they leave it to luck.
It is not worth it in any business
Then comes the trust in business
We don't get treated badly many times before we shop with our feet and change venues.
They know and like you but if you are seen as dodgy in someway we will find a better alternative and wave as we walk past.
I go to the same hairdresser nearly every time, great guy but always busy. A few times I have been convinced to try one of the associates and every time without the same result.
The dilemma became an embarrassment. Sean has been tied up for a while letting Violet do your hair today. Now I don't want to hurt the poor girl's feelings but I don't trust her to cut how I expect.
It is a trust situation.
(Yes I politely explained that Sean understands me and I would prefer to wait) however many would leave.
We have a local restaurant attached to the Movie complex. It is Asian food and was extremely popular and convenient for a quick meal before or after a movie.
We had a bad experience and we heard that others had suffered a similar problem. We watched the number of customers decline because of the trust issue.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle
You probably have your own stories to tell and the effect on the outlet that resulted.
Don't let it be you.
Conversational marketing is a way to get trust
What is customer trust?
Think of McDonald's, Aldi, Apple, they are companies that deliver excellence all the time. They also fix problems without complaint. They build a huge trust following because you know what to expect.
Steve Jobs insisted that everything was built for the customer experience and nothing was done on the cheap. A top price computer, the mobile phone even movie productions with Pixar. All priced on the product, not on the cheap market.
With trust comes loyalty
Why trust is important in the customer's mind
There are probably many reasons but a few important results include:
- With consistency, you get exactly what you expect.
- Content. Reliable and useable
- Delivery, with a smile
- Image and brand that has wow
- No big surprises
How to build a brand of trust
The local deli, online marketing, and a bigger business all need a brand that people respect. It may be a local brand, Best local Pie Cart, an online brand where you are recognised and trusted, or a BMW-style value.
Constituency, value, and delivery are the key ingredients.
Giveaways in business,
We had a French bakery open near us. A small shop that started with just a few products and no customers.
I noted to a friend that the shop was a failure waiting to happen. I tried the bread and a cake of different kinds and was pleasantly surprised.
Fast forward 3 months and I wandered down on a Sunday morning to buy a croissant for my wife's breakfast. Low and behold a queue going down the street waiting to be served.
They had just a few products but a very high quality and consistent delivery. The brand was made by word of mouth and the trust was all about quality.
In conclusion,
Finally, you should follow the rules of Know like and trust to build your brand while remembering that people like quality over price, value over quantity, and recognition before haste.
Trust in marketing (can it be true) by Peter Hanley
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