Welcome back to Copyblogger!
I'm Stefanie, Copyblogger's Editor-in-Chief, and today's quick tip from Brian Clark is about building trust with your content marketing.
These three techniques focus on demonstrating your subject-matter expertise rather than merely claiming it.
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How to Build Trust in Relationships with Content Marketing
written by Brian Clark
Know, like, trust ...
If you're not hitting all three, you're likely not enjoying success with your content.
Traditional marketing is big on the know — it's all about creating awareness in the marketplace. Add in some clever messaging to prompt some level of liking, and mission accomplished, right?
It's as if awareness of a brand is enough to spark trust. And it's true — we do tend to prefer brands that we know, even if there's no true difference between one product and a generic one.
But when it comes down to choosing between two or more brands, trust becomes critical. This is one of the benefits that content marketers have over competitors.
And it can be a substantial benefit if done correctly.
3 ways to build trust
In terms of persuasion techniques dating back to the time of Aristotle, ethos is an appeal to the authority, honesty, and credibility of the person speaking or writing.
Aristotle also thought that a key component of effective ethos was a combination of likability and selflessness, which he characterized as "disinterested goodwill."
Disinterest here doesn't mean you don't care if you get a beneficial outcome — it means you serve your audience whether or not you get that benefit from any particular person.
The art of disinterested goodwill
When you give away quality content that's so good you could have charged money for it, you're acting with "disinterested goodwill." That means your audience received value regardless of whether they ever pay you a dime.
Just the act of performing content marketing triggers the power of disinterested goodwill. Lacking that, there are three techniques you can use to achieve the same goal.
1. The "reluctant conclusion" technique
A classic persuasion technique is the "reluctant conclusion." You share with your audience how you had a change of heart based on overwhelming evidence.
For example, you've recently raised the price of your digital products and discovered that it's killing your sales.
You could just quietly change the price back and hope no one notices, but you'll build more trust and goodwill with your audience if you explain that you were wrong about the price raise and will be reverting it.
Meanwhile, you've also met your goal of sparking dormant sales. It's a win-win-win when you count the additional trust that you've built with your audience for future products and promotions.
2. The "personal sacrifice" approach
Another tactic is the "personal sacrifice" approach.
Yes, your free online workshop could have been a paid product, but you've decided not to charge for it so you can help more people.
I'm sure you've seen this done many times before, with varying degrees of skill in the execution. The key to handling it well is, as always, to know your audience.
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3. The "Abraham Lincoln" technique
And finally there's the "Abraham Lincoln" technique.
Lincoln was an unusual-looking guy with a hick accent and a whiny voice. When he gave speeches during his run for president, he added fuel to his personal fire by claiming to be a poor public speaker with nothing new to say.
And yet, Lincoln was a very bright man with an excellent grasp of the nation's problems. He lowered expectations by presenting himself as a sincere fool, and by the end of a speech he had won the audience over completely.
So, if you're a chiropractor who also does content marketing, it's really easy to claim you're "no master copywriter." Again, you need to intimately know your audience to understand what's appropriate when it comes to these things.
What's in it for you?
If any of the three tactics above sounded hokey or even manipulative, you're not alone. That doesn't mean they don't work to build trust with certain audiences; they just might not work on you.
That's why I repeatedly say, "Know thy audience." I don't use those tactics on you, because I think I'd get a chorus of eye rolls. You're more sophisticated than a typical audience, so those approaches might hurt more than help.
My approach to building trust
My approach is to simply never be shy about saying what's in it for me. It was a lesson I learned back in 2007.
I had been giving away valuable free content on Copyblogger for 18 months at that point. No product, no service, just relentless focus on serving and building the audience.
Then a strange thing started happening. I began getting emails from people who didn't understand why I was giving everything away for free without asking for a sale.
It caught me off guard, but the people in my early audience were worried that they couldn't trust my content, because they didn't understand what was in it for me. Color me shocked.
So, even though I still try to be as generous as possible, I never shy away from saying what's in it for me. If we're doing our jobs correctly, what's in it for you should always come across as superior — which makes it a sales strategy as well.
Demonstrate trustworthiness
The most powerful way to establish yourself as a subject-matter expert is to demonstrate your authority with your content rather than simply claim to be an expert.
Overall, serving your audience with the right valuable content is the best way to demonstrate your trustworthiness and establish true "disinterested goodwill."
Other than that, the natural impulse to hide your economic motivations or business objectives is almost always a mistake. Realize that people increasingly think everyone is "on the take," and your primary job is to assure your audience that you're not.
Building trust is bigger than tactics — it's your entire mission.
Read on Copyblogger: How to Build Trust in Relationships with Content Marketing
Talk with you again soon,
Stefanie Flaxman
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, COPYBLOGGER MEDIA
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