Build Trust In Advertising

How many times have you forked over xx dollars just to watch that money go down the drain? Have you ever wondered what went wrong or what you could have done differently? I know I have.

Advertising is truly a game of hit and miss. It’s a numbers game. The more someone sees your company, your product, or your name advertised, the more someone hears it being talked about by columnists, reviewers, or a trusted friend, or reads about it on forums and blogs, the more trustworthy it becomes. And without trust, there simply is no way you or your business can win!

So how do you and I build that trust? That’s what I’ve been pondering the last few weeks and I have to say the only way to build trust is to create trust. And to create trust, you must:

• Be patient.

Trust doesn’t happen over night. Most people don’t willingly give trust away, you have to earn it.

• Pay for regular ad spots.

Don’t pay for a one shot deal, but pay for 6 months of advertising in the same publication. Give the publication’s readers a chance to familiarize themselves with your company and your products or services.

• Send samples.

      Send samples of your product to people who can and will tell others about your product.

• Ask for testimonies from past clients and/or customers.

Use those testimonies in all your marketing and advertising materials. And if a testimony is vague, ask for specifics. (Think of those infomercials. You don’t just hear that a product works, the guest tells you how it worked or why it worked.)

• Send press releases on a weekly basis.

It’s not enough to send a yearly press release. There are simply too many companies competing for the same free publicity. If your current press release doesn’t draw enough attention, perhaps the 2nd or 10th or 50th press release will.

As you begin planning the next stage of your marketing plan, I encourage you to think about ways you can build trust. Then take the necessary steps to turn that trust into profitable sales.