Build Trust & Credibility With Media
Many brands use trust, reliability, and credibility in their marketing. But as with every marketing promise, if you don't follow it with action, they end up as empty buzzwords.
Here's how a good media strategy can establish trust and credibility.
Step #1: Understand the trust scale built into the media landscape. On one end, you have commercial advertisements. The message here is clear: buy this product. Your business needs this information out there. People need to know how to do business with you and what they're getting.
But this messaging alone does not build trust and credibility because it is purely transactional. It serves your needs first - sales.
On the other end of the spectrum is third-party news sources (also known as editorial). This is where you insert your expertise into the news cycle with insightful commentary and broad solutions.
It is the absence of selling that builds trust and credibility, which can guide them to the point of sale. Knowing where to sell and where to inform on this spectrum is key to building trust and credibility in your brand.
Step #2: Share edotorial content on your social media. Owned content can drive SEO and GEO - this is table stakes. It is also where you can build trust with your target market while establishing credibility in your industry.
Webinars, podcasts, and blogs are all powerful tools to show what you know, so buyers feel comfortable doing business with you. Partner with reputable bodies in your field: schools, professional organizations, collaborators.
Prioritize showing up live and in-person. It can be tempting to repurpose old webinars as new lead magnets. Or worse, turn to deep-fake technology and use an avatar to deliver your specialized knowledge. When you take short-cuts sharing your expertise, you end up shortchanging your target client.
The more you put into building trust and credibility with leads, the better quality relationship you will create. This is why I always say the ROI on your expertise is limitless - it's a direct reflection of how and where you share it.
Step #3: Get third-party credibility. There’s a reason why large companies pay top dollar to PR teams to get featured in top-tier media outlets. The trust people have in legacy media transfers to your brand when it is used as a subject matter expert. And the more fractured the media landscape becomes, the more impactful these legacy media brands become.
Trust is instantly transferred when you appear positively in a major paper or TV newscast. Media outlets know they have this power, which is why there is no tolerance for backdoor selling or pitch-slapping - where you're asked to share advice or information, and you answer with branded messaging. It's wasted effort. Those branded soundbytes get cut. And the experience can create mistrust with the journalist, making it more difficult to contribute to future stories.
Many brands are reluctant to go down this path because they've been conditioned to sell in every situation. But today's consumer has a great deal of power in choosing what stories they connect with - and most don't involve selling. At least, not at first.
A good media strategy maps out the stories that build trust and credibility, while also laddering back to stories that sell. As long as these stories show up in the right place at the right time, you'll give your target client exactly what they need to feel good about doing business with you.