What do you think generates more trust… if a brand writes in an article that his products are the best or if a brand connects a customer to an article from a professional journal which tested the products of this brand as great?
First of all we think about our customer if we think about trust. Is pushing everything in the direction of buy the right way or does it help to create moments and micro-moments?
Let’s have a look what logic, authenticity and empathy means within marketing and how they can help to generate trust.
Logic
Logic describes a stringent conclusion of something we think about. We hear a message or a story and believe it because it makes sense… it is clear, it is logic. This is what we need to integrate into our marketing messages and stories.
One goal of a brand is to generate a great experience. Here we are, we should talk about the experience logic. If we combine these two elements we have done the first step in direction of authenticity.
Content marketing has a long history and is (in his second wave) gone through the hype cycle. Now content marketing is in the phase of productivity. However there is still much to do. Content is the base for story telling. Some of the best communicators in the world are story tellers. Story telling needs time and requires that someone keeps on track (till the end of the story), so the logic needs to be within the story and needs to be visible quickly to keep attraction.
If the quality of logic is not at it’s best we have a huge problem we need to work on. In this case we may focus just on one strong point and back it with strong and stringent arguments to prove it.
Authenticity
Marketing creates desire, but if it comes to hard facts everybody is questioning it. Why? Because the goal of marketing is to sell something, even if it’s just the brand. Marketing puts everything in the right light for the target group and is looking for the ROI. Hardly spoken this is not without any hidden agenda, which is not honestly.
Brand marketing has much more room for authenticity than other marketing disciplines…. but has also a goal behind which let us doubt on the authenticity.
Being more present where our customers are and just show who we are instead of what we offer for our target group should be the direction. Ask yourself and others these simple questions:
How is our brand acting?
What are the words our customer would describe our brand and which words we do not want that they have in mind?
Customer problem solving is key, but how much does our brand helps here?
Do we seek the conversation and do we show respect?
Shortly spoke: Just be true!
Empathy
We have created logic and empathy. GREAT! But if someone loves our brand and products is more an empathic topic and not rational. Often it doesn’t matter if logic and authenticity is ok… sometimes or often someone will go for the brand / product which is not the best but which gives the best gut instinct. It is important that we trigger it. To do so, these are the main topics we should keep an eye on…. simple but difficult to implement.
Show emotions, the fire that burns in your topics
Show what you think and feel
Listen, repeat and ask the right questions
Show that you feel what someone moves
Trigger thoughts and reminder
This was the second part of a series of four. Have you seen the other once?
