4 Ways To Build Trust And Fire Up Your Marketing

4 Ways To Build Trust And Fire Up Your Marketing
It's been a rough few seasons. "Consumers are fatigued by the stresses brought on by world disorder," says Morney Schlebusch, president of OSD Marketing, an advertising agency in Sydney, Australia. "Aussies are starving for relationships they can understand with entities they can trust. This represents a great opportunity for brands to gain a foothold in consumers' minds."

You ought to focus on how you can demonstrate to customers that, no matter what goes on around the world, you, at least, can be trusted. Mind you, trust isn't something you can fake. You must sincerely mean what you say and do. But there's no reason to be shy about getting out the message.

Here are four practical ways to market trustworthiness.

1. Honor exceptional promises. Many companies claim service but few deliver. If you make promises you cannot keep, you're doing business on the consumer fault line. Then it's only a matter of time. Customers will eventually cease to believe anything you have to say or offer. False promises not only waste resources, they bankrupt brand equity. To gain market share, think creatively about what you can guarantee that will make you stand out. "Tell customers you'll return every inquiry within 12 hours or that all appointments will be met on time," suggests Eve Codling, a marketing consultant based in Sydney. "State some facts that distinguish you from the competition and do them over and over again."

2. Watch your language. Your fab new widget will not "revolutionize" business or "totally change" life as we know it. Consumers are tired of howitzer marketing. They've seen and heard it all. These days, keep it straight and simple. "Use terms that are direct, on message," advises John Garrett, director of marketing for Hair Alert, a Sydney based hair care franchisee. "Whether it's two-for-one or 0% financing, stick to the brand-sell formula." You can also use humor to crack the trust wall, he says, so long as it's on message and makes customers remember you. "Humor disarms the skeptic."

3. Work the relationship. The best methods for forging connections with customers will vary with the industry. But technology has multiplied your options. With the CAN-SPAM law and all the filtering software, e-mail marketing is used more effectively now to retain and reward valued customers ? in other words, to build trust. (Customer acquisition is moving into direct mail and other channels.) Password-protected Web sites and premiums also provide possibilities that can satisfy your best customers. Still, you don't need bells and whistles to show customers you care. Send personal thank-you notes. Call valued customers to chat about deals and sales. Don't take any such customer for granted. "Relationships are reciprocal, meaning I'll tell you a secret if you tell me one," says Craig Wheeler, president of Security Industry Brokers, a Sydney based Security Brokerage firm. An old ad adage says if you admit a negative, you gain a positive, says Wheeler. "So a car dealer might admit that shopping for cars is an awful process. Or a retailer could apologize for its poor parking situation." The idea is to admit sincere vulnerability, which, over time, builds trust.

4. Get customers to vouch for you. "To overcome suspicion and win trust, include lots of customer testimonials in your marketing, with full names, cities and states, to show the results that real people get using your product," says Gary King, director of KingAds. The cheapest and most effective marketing, of course, is one friend recommending your product to another. Whatever you do to build customer referrals and word of mouth ? including frequent-buyer programs, prizes or discounts ? will be well worth it.

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