The Whole Point – Trust

When marketing online, you want people to Know, Like, Trust, and Value you. One of the more challenging aspects of that is getting people to trust you. So how do you do that?

Getting people to Trust you requires that you Show Integrity. Let’s look at a few ways to visibly demonstrate integrity online.

One aspect of integrity is consistency. And one of the things you can do to show consistency is to update consistently on a regular schedule. Whether it’s your blog, email, or your social media updates, do it on a regular basis.

That can be challenging for some of us. Fortunately, scheduling tools exist for common online marketing platforms like social media, blogging, and email newsletters. So you can work on your online marketing sporadically in batching sessions, but maintain a consistent “publishing” schedule publicly.

A second action you can take is to respond to both positive and negative comments in a timely manner. But do so carefully! Do not over or under react.

Apologize publicly and acknowledge any criticism publicly. Feel free to take it private quickly. But if someone posts a complaint to your Facebook Page, and you call them directly to address it, but never note on your Facebook Page that you took care of it, people don’t know that. They will usually assume you ignored the request for help.

Third, share your phone number or email address publicly when someone has a question. Making yourself available by sharing contact information publicly shows integrity as well.

Fourth, avoid industry jargon. Don’t use buzz words that are specific to your industry, or that people may not know. Nothing makes people feel “not okay” as quickly as when they think they should know what something means, but they don’t.

Finally, don’t always make it about you. If you’re doing nothing but promoting yourself, people will at best, tune you out, and at worst, view you as selfish.

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