Have You Tried Trust Marketing? Why It’s Crucial to Your Marketing Strategy

Trust marketing is exactly what your business needs to combat the very real fear consumers are feeling right now. In a world tainted by A LOT of fake news, faith in media, government, business, and especially marketing is at an all-time low. According to Edelmen’s trust barometer, “Trust in companies headquartered in the U.S. has dropped five points from 55 to 50 percent just in the last year, after having already fallen from 61 percent in 2014. This is much below trust accorded companies based in Canada and Switzerland at 68 and 67 percent, respectively.” [click_to_tweet tweet=”Trust marketing is exactly what your business needs to combat the very real fear consumers are feeling right now. Read more on V3!” quote=”Trust marketing is exactly what your business needs to combat the very real fear consumers are feeling right now.” theme=”style1″] Basically, convincing your target consumer of pretty much anything is an uphill battle. The general public is distrustful of the things they see and hear. People think marketing is synonymous with trickery and that businesses will say anything to make a dime. This is an issue that’s hard enough to overcome for major corporations, much less small business owners and solopreneurs. Aka people who don’t have the money to create and spread national advertisements or hire top tier PR firms. Ok, so that’s the bad news. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to get the bad news out of the way first. Now for the good news. There’s a way to break through the distrust fog your target market is stuck in right now: trust marketing.

What is trust marketing?

If you’re new to the term “trust marketing” that’s ok. It’s a fairly recent development (within the last 20 years) in marketing pioneered by MIT professor Glen Urban. Trust marketing stresses earning consumers’ trust through high quality, fair pricing, transparency, and honest and open communication. It assumes the consumer is intelligent and knows what they want. Marketing efforts go towards proving that the producer is the right person for them and operates with integrity. I discovered trust marketing after reading about the “collapse of the influencer market” in Forbes’ 2018 digital marketing trends predictions. Craig Greiwe of Rogers & Cowan said that, “The market will collapse as brands zero in on a few select individuals who drive results or move to organic grassroots promotion, and away from high-cost, middle-tier influencers who drive awareness but little ROI.” Why were the YouTube stars, IG celebs, and Twitter famous influencers driving awareness but brands weren’t seeing returns? My homegirl Junae Brown, another girlboss marketing maven, and I came to the conclusion that the answer is trust. Brands are finally realizing that a massive following means little if people aren’t engaged and invested in the influencer. ROI depends on how much people trust you or whoever you’ve asked to vouch for you. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Brands are finally realizing that a massive following means little if people aren’t engaged and invested in the influencer. Read more on V3!” quote=”Brands are finally realizing that a massive following means little if people aren’t engaged and invested in the influencer.” theme=”style1″] Trustworthiness is now extremely valuable currency in a world deep in a trust depression. What does this mean for you as an entrepreneur? You have to effectively navigate this distrust, market your business, and persuade consumers to believe what you’re selling. Bonus points if you get them to spread this belief to others, who tend to trust other people’s opinions over marketing campaigns. Which lead me to come up with my own definition of trust marketing. Marketing that attracts targeted high value clients and turns them into avid brandvangelists by establishing their confidence and belief in the business, product, and company leadership. [click_to_tweet tweet=”Trust Marketing: Marketing that attracts targeted high value customers or clients and turns them into avid brandvangelists by establishing their confidence and belief in the business, product, and company leadership. Read more on V3!” quote=”Trust Marketing: Marketing that attracts targeted high value customers or clients and turns them into avid brandvangelists by establishing their confidence and belief in the business, product, and company leadership. ” theme=”style1″]

Why you need trust marketing in your business

People are hit with millions of messages 24/7, most trying to persuade them to buy something. So your business needs to take a new approach. You need to instill confidence in both your potential and current customers. Show them your expertise and that your product or service is necessary and/or highly desirable to them. Then you’ll receive the benefits that come with being someone’s trusted business of choice:

Increased customer retention

Once you help people truly believe that your business is the right fit for their needs, they’ll keep coming back. Don’t let anyone tell you brand loyalty is dead. When people find a business that has the quality, price, customer service, and value they like? They stick with them. And even better? They’ll continue to buy from you. You won’t have to work as hard for up or cross sells because they trust you and believe your other products or services will be as good as whatever they previously purchased. Takeaway: Trust marketing reduces churn and increases customer lifetime value.

Lowered need and cost for acquisition

Now let’s say your current customers are happy. They’re satisfied with their purchase, enchanted by their interactions with you, and ready to sing it from the mountain tops. Wunderbar, they’re now your brandvangelists. They keep purchasing from you, so you’re not as hungry for new customers. You can focus on nurturing your relationship with them and reaping more benefits (read profit). And even better? They encourage other people to purchase from you online and in person. That takes some of the legwork off of you. Takeaway: Trust marketing lowers your cost of acquisition, reducing your marketing budget overall.

“Recruit” people who will market for you, for FREE

Mentioned this in the last section, but effective trust marketing creates an ever growing army of brand ambassadors who will spread the word about your business, your products/services, and you! People generally like to be seen as smart and helpful, especially to people they care about. So if they benefit from and genuinely enjoy your business, they’ll happily tell others about it in order to look smart and helpful. Takeaway: Without having to spend a ton of money on ads or influencers, you’ll have microinfluencers marketing your business for you pro-bono. Ok. Keep it 100 moment: These things aren’t happening as easily or as inexpensively with push marketing tactics like display ads, commercials, or paid social media ads. Consumers are finding new ways to ignore pushy messages every day. They block pop-ups, skip ads before videos, hide promoted tweets and Facebook ads, and fast-forward through commercials. In an era of broken trust, forcing people to see your message isn’t the wave.

So… how does trust marketing happen?

Good question! It happens through inbound marketing strategies, the cornerstone of trust marketing. Inbound marketing, or pull marketing, is the opposite of push marketing. I know. That seems obvious lol. It draws targeted people in who will love and buy into your message. Rather than pushing your advertising out to any and everybody and hoping to catch a few who can relate. A few of my favorite inbound marketing strategies, and the ones I use for myself and my clients are creating a robust, unique, and thoroughly developed brand, exhibiting expertise and/or utility through content marketing, spreading that knowledge via social media, and nurturing in-depth emotional connections through email marketing. The world is getting more and more consumed by what’s real and what’s fake. On the other hand, businesses that engage in trust marketing are becoming more and more important. Trust marketing is at the heart of my business, my personal and professional brands, and the tactics and strategies I use with others because I truly believe that’s the way to break through the noise of everyone willing to do and say anything to sell. So… what would you do if you could increase customer retention, lower the need and cost for acquisition, and recruit people who will market for you for free without breaking the bank or pulling your hair out in frustration? Better yet, what would stop you from doing it if you had clear strategies laid out for you? And if you need a little help, join my mailing list below! I create and curate a lot of great free content just for my subscribers. Plus I’m gonna send you my 4 Strategy Trust Marketing Guide! This PDF gives you 16 focus points you can implement asap to start trust marketing in your business. It covers brand development, content marketing, email marketing, and social media strategies. It’s time for your marketing to give you the results you dream of. If you’re ready to try something different, become one of my V3 Visionaries! Then I’ll provide weekly guidance right in your inbox!