Trusted Email, It's Imperative
One of every marketer's primary aims is to earn consumer trust. Judging from a recent survey, many marketers need to get the trust issue right. Although trust plays a role in all forms of advertising, it has particular importance for email marketers.
Consumers responding to the survey indicate their trust level in terms of different advertising forms:
- Word of mouth from friends and family
- Branded Web sites
- Opt-in email
So how do these stats affect the email world? Very simple. For consumers to respond to e-mail marketing messages, they must have some degree of trust in:
* Product category
* Your company
* The message itself and emailing practices
Realistically you can't control your products' category, and it's difficult to change how your company is perceived. That leaves the e-mail message itself and the practices surrounding message delivery.
A few more relevant stats from the same study:
* 63% say most ads aren't relevant.
* 60% find ads to be misleading.
* 54% think ads manipulate consumers.
So what can you do to establish trust from your consumers?
* Target email so it's relevant; there's no sense in sending e-mail to people who never demonstrated any interest in your product.
* Never mislead.
* Don't try to manipulate customers. They're smart and will see right through it.
According to "The American Heritage Dictionary," trust is "firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing." The best advertising to produce is advertising that establishes trust. And advertising that is trusted is backed up by integrity and character.
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