Remember watching testimonial commercials and asking yourself, “Would that product really work ‘as seen on TV?’” Do you remember asking your friends and family whether that particular product worked, or was it just some bogus product you do not really need? How about following a regimen shared on a magazine by a certain celebrity that you love? Or how about asking your older cousin if the university she is currently enrolled in is really worth the money? Do you remember any of these?

As humans, we usually rely on our connections before making a decision. Make it a career move, or a face cream, we count on people we trust for their “expert opinion.” Before the spread of the internet, we put our faith in the hands of our family and friends or some celebrity’s advice that we watched on TV or read about in a magazine. And now, we are surprised about inbound marketing, thinking it is a new development. It is just the same on what we do before, like relying on another opinion before buying a certain product or trying a certain service, but this time it is done virtually.

Inbound marketing is creating a certain pull and attraction to a certain product by making digital content or using social media platforms or SEO (search engine optimization). It creates a buzz to lure customers and create awareness of the products or services one wants to promote.

Word of Mouth

According to a study, almost 75% of the consumers use word of mouth as their number one influencer before buying a certain product. Word of mouth could be the oldest form of marketing you could use but also one of the most effective.

If someone wants to try a product, he or she is going to ask his or her friends or family members if that product really works.  And, as a seller, you should know that consumers rely on consumers who are just like them, someone they can relate to.

Friends, family members, colleagues, these are the pool of people you most identify with.  If they recommend you a certain product, most likely you would want to try it.

Online Recommendation

Meanwhile, in the virtual world, when a certain product is being recommended to you while you are browsing your Facebook or scrolling in Instagram is more or less the same feeling as having one of your peers recommend a certain product to you. The recommendation creates the feeling of familiarity since, the chances are, you might be interacting with that product often or it could be an effect of a social media platform’s algorithm.

Another virtual endorsement of a certain product is via internet influencers. Bloggers, vloggers, gurus, their recommendation means something to a lot of consumers especially if they rely on them. They are now internet celebrities and they became such because a lot of readers or viewers identify with them and trust their opinions on different things like fashion, beauty, video games, etc.

Building Trust And Good Relationship

Family, friends, influencers, and bloggers… what do these people have in common? Consumers trust them. Why do they trust them?  Because they have a close connection or belong to a single network, meaning, they identify with them. Some just simply like them and find their opinions important. They have a beneficial relationship with each other. Families and friends take care of you and they look out for what is best for you. Even influencers and bloggers need to create a good working relationship with their viewers and readers for them to trust their opinions. They do this by sharing their lives, entertaining them and sometimes having giveaways to give back to their avid supporters.

For someone who works in marketing, your takeaway for this is for you to gain your consumers’ trust. You must earn it and you must build it. You do not have to be too likable or too relatable, you just need to establish a rapport with your consumers for you to earn their trust.

In inbound marketing, trust is the one glue that binds everything together. The more you build on their trust the more they will rely on their product. And when your consumers started trusting you, you should know how to act on it and preserve it.

To build your consumer’s confidence in you, the first thing you should do is to be truthful. Just like any other relationship, you would not want someone to lie to you or cheat on you, therefore you must practice transparency. You must lay your card on the table and just be real to your consumers.

Of course, you do not have to all the time know each and every one of them but you should have an idea of what they are like and what other things do they like. Also, note that for you to have a connection, it is not enough that you know a lot about them, they should know a lot about you, too.

Reaching Out And Understanding

In an era of catfishing, one must know that the consumers are not as gullible as you may think. They are very cautious, especially when phishers and online scammers are just around the corner. They would not trust anyone in an instant. So drop that salesman vibe and instead build bridges to your consumers. Reach out to them and hope that they will reach out, too.

There are also times when your consumers will not return the favor. There will be a lot of holding-backs, especially if you do not know them too well and they do not know you as much either. There also times that even if you have created a rapport with your consumer, they will still be reluctant to tell you what they need and what they want. They are like new friends who are still unwilling to ask you a favor because they still see you as a stranger. But if you reach out and you make them comfortable, they would trust you more because you make them feel understood.

That is what inbound marketing wants you to do: To understand your consumer and to know what they want before they even ask for it and knowing that your product or your service is the one right for them.

Creating awareness for your product is just the first step, but knowing your consumers, knowing what they want and earning their trust will make you a step ahead of your competitors.

Date: January 17, 2019 / Categories: Marketing, / Author: Rich Drees