Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising Author: Dennis S. Vogel Date Posted: 09:37:09 05/23/01 Wed
This was previously posted in another blog.
Trust usually isn't established instantly. Trust is a compatibility issue that builds in stages. Faith comes first. Faith may come about because of credentials or a display of knowledge.
Here's an example- After reading my posts to this forum, you may have faith in my knowledge. But letting me handle your marketing program for you is a matter of trust.
It's best to build trust before a consumer needs you. Cultivate realistic sounding testimonials. Induce referrals. Write articles. Submit posts to discussion forums.
If you're the only product/service provider in a consumer's time of need. You may get a sale based on that even if you haven't established firm trust.
How can you set this up? It depends on your business. But I'll give some samples.
An appliance dealer can give/send magnetic advertising specialties for people to put on their appliances.
To supplement this, the dealer can establish a program of getting information about the specifications people will want/need in a replacement appliance. Some specifications are: Measurements, capacity, gas/electric, color, etc.
When an appliance breaks down, the customer can call for a price quote without having to supply the necessary information. (During a stressful time, people aren't apt to want to hassle with this information; they just want a solution NOW!)
I still have a business card for a lock-out service in my wallet. I got it at a gas station. I never met the owner of the service but if my keys are locked in my car on a cold winter day, it doesn't matter that I haven't met him, I'll call him.
We know people tend to hate advertising.
The whole truth is- People hate advertising that intrudes on them without giving them a benefit.
Entertainment is a benefit but it might not induce anybody to buy the advertised product though it may get them to pay attention to the ad.
Since people are more cure oriented than prevention oriented, it's necessary to fully describe undesirable effects.
This is something an appliance dealer can use but can be adapted for other businesses. "Did this ever happen to you or to somebody you know? The freezer breaks down & all of the food in it (possibly $200 worth) is going to spoil if it isn't put into a new freezer SOON! Now besides all of the other things you have to do, you have to buy a freezer NOW! Pre-shopping for a freezer will limit the hassle you go through at a stressful time like this. We can deliver the new freezer right away & take away the old one"
Then it's just a matter of introducing what I wrote above.
Just think, "Why or when would a consumer want my marketing message?" then base the message on the answer.
Dennis S. Vogel
thrivingbusiness@email.com
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies and tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
This was previously posted in another blog.
Subject: Re: Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising Author: SidK Date Posted: 09:40:03 05/23/01 Wed
In reply to: Dennis S. Vogel's message, "Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising" on 09:37:09 05/23/01 Wed
I know you didn't come right out with it. But it seems that you're implying that if customers don't want to receive personal messages from me, that they don't trust me.
They buy from me, so they must trust me.
This was previously posted in another blog.
Subject: Re: Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising Author:
Dennis S. Vogel Date Posted: 09:43:08 05/23/01 Wed
In reply to: SidK 's message, "Re: Building Trust And Receptivity To Your Advertising" on 09:40:03 05/23/01 Wed
Sid:
You're right; you have earned their trust, so they buy from you.
There are a lot of variables in this issue. I'll cut through most of it by writing that what you offer & your messages have to be relevant to your customers' lives.
If you sell chewing gum, they probably won't be thrilled by getting repeated messages about it. This may be true about any commodity.
To prevent something from becoming a commodity it's important to use the information I wrote in the other post I wrote for you in response to USP,PA,CA,USA, It's too much to keep up with!
Relevance is a deep subject, but as you pointed out, I should have covered it briefly in the original post. Thank you for pointing that out.
Dennis S. Vogel
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
Help People Receive Your Advertising
Being receptive to an ad doesn't mean people will buy what's offered.
Though people trust you, they might not be ready to buy for many reasons. Many internal & external things can block their receptivity to your offers.
When you understand some of these, you can try to work around them.
Receptivity Reality Check
When you advertise, you should consider what's painful & obvious.
People already have too many external distractions. Your ads are more distractions.
People already have many thoughts. You're asking people to think even more.
People have many decisions to make. You're asking them to make another decision.
People have problems to solve & avoid.
To advertise successfully, you need your offer to match those problems & thoughts after getting past other distractions.
You should quickly show you understand how to solve or mitigate people's problems.
You should use the insights below & your knowledge about niche members to improve their lives.
In marketing, receptivity is a willingness & readiness to receive a message or a product/service.
Frequency can be important beyond getting people to notice & remember a message. A benefit of frequency is possibly reaching consumers when they're receptive.
Since people can't always pay attention to your messages, you need to test frequency levels.
Frequency can also increase people's comfort with your business, so they'll consider your offers.
Here Are Some Baseline Basics
When people are aware of a problem, they're apt to pay attention to a relevant message. Use words, sounds & images people recognize as relevant to a problem & solution.
You should learn what your niche members listen to & watch. You can find broadcasts, web & editorial content to match your messages.
Marketing messages convey ideas.
People aren't always open to ideas because they have too many things to think about already.
People aren't always able to think about a problem at a particular time. They have condition-specific priorities. Your offer might have a low priority if it isn't relevant in their current condition.
If your message reaches them when they're focused on a task, they might need to disregard your message.
You can learn when their leisure times are & what they do.
Do your best to have your messages reach niche members when they're ready to pay attention. Those are times they aren't distracted by issues that aren't related your offers.
They're more apt to be interested in your offers when they're actively involved in related issues & options.
Their desires will be high when problems & opportunities are acute.
They're more apt to buy if they can quickly go to a store or use a web site.
People are complex, so there are exceptions.
Though they have to put some priorities on a back burner, they feel 'heat' because that 'burner' is hot.
While people focus on primary tasks, they may be distracted by those other concerns or preferences.
Example - It's Friday afternoon. People are at work & listening to a radio. They hear commercials for a water park. In a few hours, they can leave monotonous conditions & have some fun.
In these commercials, sounds of splashing & laughing can attract attention so people might listen to the spoken message.
Too Many Messages For One Mind
People are often exposed to many messages each day. It's hard to pay attention to ads because most don't pertain to their situations.
Even if they have few external distractions, people have personal distractions.
Advertisers need to quickly express problems & solutions in ways that match consumers' experiences. Which images, sounds or words will fit consumers' beliefs about their situations?
It's hard to prioritize anything that doesn't seem immediately urgent or important.
High priority matters are processed subconsciously, a few of those evoke conscious attention. Subconscious minds block low priority messages & distractions.
Even when people want to pay attention, they might be too overwhelmed & tired to think about & remember messages.
Traction Distraction Subtraction
This is an imperfect analogy. Please don't judge it for technical correctness.
People can only think of a few things simultaneously. It's hard to add another issue when people are already distracted by problems.
Connections can happen when you express your offer with analogies, images, words & sounds people use to express thoughts & feelings.
To get traction in people's minds, you can connect with their current thoughts or distractions (other concerns or preferences).
In effect, traction is gripping something. When vehicles move, tires 'grip' a road & a road 'grips' tires.
Even when tires are in good condition, road conditions can interfere with traction.
Like planning a trip based on driving conditions, it's best to plan advertising according consumers' conditions.
You can use optimal images, words & sounds & still get suboptimal results because of conditions beyond your control.
If you want people to think of a problem (not related to current tasks), you need to get them to subtract an issue.
If you present problems & solutions that are more urgent &/or important than people's current thoughts, you might get their attention & interest.
If you present the most pleasant solution, you can inspire desire & get people into buying action.
People might be attracted & persuaded by familiar images, sounds &; words.
You can learn about appealing images, words & sounds by listening to niche members, noticing what they respond to & reading what they write in reviews.
You can observe how competitors communicate, but you shouldn't copy them. Like many things, best practices are good until they're used too much.
If your message is too familiar, people might not notice it. It could be like background noise. You need to consider what's common & test messages.
Unfamiliar things can be like friction.
Traction requires some friction (unfamiliarity). Overused messages could be like bald tires on ice.
If people think they've heard or seen something before, why should they listen or look again?
You can make your advertising recognizable with consistent images or sounds. Your new ads should be different enough so people know you've made a new offer.
Disappointing Results Interfere With Receptivity
Receptive can also mean being ready to consider a possibility. After a disappointment, people might be skeptical & think there's no solution.
People might've expected a full solution but only experienced mitigation.
Despite disappointments, if a full solution exists, people can be convinced to try it. Do your best to explain how your offer fits their conditions & what you do to make a solution complete.
They're willing to pay for full satisfaction. They don't want to pay just to decrease their dissatisfaction.
Will a product/service only mitigate a problem? Can you make it the best mitigation people can afford?
Receptivity & Affordability
Receptivity may depend on a person's budget & available credit.
A product is more relevant when people can afford it. It's vital to develop versions of offers niche members can afford.
Some people will do some or all of the work to save money. Others expect & can afford a full service solution.
Some will buy incremental solutions. They'll buy what they can afford. They'll invest more money when they can afford it.
What's the minimum, but significant increment you can offer?
Attractive Names
Since people are receptive to solutions, it's good to package products & services together to create total solutions.
Manufacturers name products. Retailers can set package names based on benefits niche members will buy.
The package names can be part of your sales copy.
Example - Gardeners buy seeds, fertilizers, hoes & rakes. Retailers can group products people need to produce benefits. Retailers could test package names like "Quick Plump Vegetables" & "Easy Weed Free".
Retail packages can include free or low-priced services to help customers make products fit their situations better. Customer service can include lessons to help people reduce frustrations & increase benefits.
Ask about their conditions.
As customers to describe conditions, you'll learn more about customizing offers for them. You'll learn how to add superior value to what they buy.
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
Please use my blog for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
You Can Help People Decide To Buy From You
The ideas below can help you develop advertising, point-of-purchase signs & sales presentations.
These aren't templates, these are insights you could use with templates.
What's In It For Them?
There are general & specific reasons to buy things.
You can start with general reasons, then focus on what applies in particular situations.
You can list the insights by subject & use the most urgent & important answers as your opening statement or headline.
Here are important questions in general -
When people determine if they need your product/service, what do they need to know?
What should people know about you to assure them you're the best provider for their situations?
Here are more specific considerations -
What's happening now in your area?
How does your product/service help people cope with what's happening?
What kind of value can you add to make that product/service better for people in those conditions?
How can you help people get maximum benefits from the value you add?
How can you help people maintain those benefits?
Do you have another product/service to increase those benefits?
Do you have more knowledge than competitors? How can you apply your knowledge to people's conditions?
When people solve problems, those solutions might cause other problems. How can you help people decrease problems?
Example - I mow my lawn to fulfill a legal requirement. Now I have grass clippings. What can I do with the clippings?
Some lawn mowers cut grass into mulch (small bits). That mulch becomes fertilizer.
Products & services aren't perfect solutions. What can you do to decrease inconveniences, imperfections & side effects?
Example - Before I use my lawn mower, I need to put fuel in the tank. If I spill any gas, it's a hazardous mess.
Some gas cans are more convenient to use because they're made for pouring into small engines.
Overworked Minds Resist More Decisions
Let's start this next topic with an obvious point as a baseline.
People have "decision loads". You can help people manage decision loads.
Though some enjoy shopping, people are unlikely to enjoy making more decisions.
People want to decrease the numbers of decisions. They want to decrease the time they spend in making decisions.
You should use your knowledge about your niche & products to help people make good decisions quickly.
When you establish a reputation for helping people make good, quick decisions, people will be more receptive to your offers.
If you offer "turn key" solutions, people can get problems solved by letting you make some decisions.
Example - I have old lawn & bushes that are dying. A landscaper agreed to remove the bushes & lawn.
He'll also plant grass seed & set up sprinklers with a timer.
He'll check the grass & remove the automatic sprinklers at the right time.
I won't need to deal with any of it until it's time to mow my new lawn.
Often people don't know where to start when they think about decisions.
Ask about their conditions. Ask what they've done so far. Ask what they want to achieve.
They might not have an answer for each question. You can help find answers by showing different options.
Make it as easy as possible for consumers to fill gaps.
Determine the gap between current conditions & customers' desires. Show how your product will fill gaps.
Decisions & Thought Patterns
If people often make decisions about offers like yours, they might decide quickly.
Their thought patterns & receptivity to offers will change as conditions change.
When product categories & people's experiences change, they might deliberate longer because previous thought patterns were set for other conditions.
It depends which benefits people want at a particular time. What's more important now? Do they value convenience, functionality, reliability, durability, price or another feature & benefit?
The importance of a benefit varies depending on competitive offers & people's experiences.
Example - If people keep upgrading, they won't keep a product for long. Durability would be less important.
Functionality might be the most important general benefit. A specific function might the reason for an upgrade.
Your supply chain & trade journals might have helpful information.
You should offer more than product benefits. You should offer a strong benefit of buying specifically from you instead of competitors.
Decisions Are Big & Small
You should develop advertising based on people's decisions. I've included a few factors below.
What will they buy? When will they buy it? Can they rent it? Will they use it enough to justify buying it?
When do they have time to shop? How much can they afford? Which model & brand should they buy for their conditions?
How many offers/stores do they check?
How will they learn to use it? Do you offer lessons? Are there instruction books or videos?
Do instruction books or videos have general tips or detailed steps?
Do you have suggestions about storing the product?
Do you offer delivery & set up?
Detailed testimonials could help people choose options.
They might be guided by testimonials (including case studies) from people in similar conditions.
Why did customers buy certain products? How do those products help them?
What advice do they have about getting maximum benefits & avoiding mistakes?
Help People Decide Based On Their Problems
Are people apt to buy now or ask for information? How much information will they listen to or read at a time?
If you advertise in mass media, can you afford a full sales message or urge people to ask for information?
If it's a multiple step sales process, you should guide people through a decision process.
In each increment, you should provide information for their next step.
There are various logical scenarios.
1. You could start by describing a problem, so people can determine if they have it.
2. If they have that problem, they can get information about solutions.
3. With that information, they can determine which solution they can afford.
4. They can decide when to buy a solution based on their priorities.
5. They can choose a payment option.
Issues Are Confusing Or Simple
Some people know how to simplify decisions. When they have key information, they can process big & small issues.
Others will endure problems because they delay purchases until they're comfortable with a decision.
You can ask people which issues are confusing or simple. You can offer information to help clarify issues.
Sometimes many simple issues combine into a confusing mess. You can ask people how many decisions might be too many.
Multiple step selling lets people gather incremental information & make incremental decisions.
Information can overwhelm people. You should help people put information together easily so they can make simple decisions.
Example - If multiple sizes or styles are available, how will you help people choose a size or style?
If you offer payment options, how will you help people choose an option?
Thinking & making decisions requires effort & people often have low energy. When they feel pressure to decide, they use more energy. As they use energy, deciding gets harder.
A wide selection of models & brands can be a benefit because people might find what matches their situations. A wide selection also increases the decisions to make.
You might help people determine which models to consider by eliminating whatever doesn't match their situations.
Ask prospects if they feel comfortable with standard combinations or if they want to decide each option separately.
How much information do people need to make the best decisions? If you guide them about facts to consider, you can make decision processes easier & faster. You can put questions & factors in diagnostic charts to guide people's thoughts. (You can use a search engine to find sample diagnostic charts.)
You could help by giving information or advising them which information sources to check.
Thank you for using my blog.
Please let me know if you need any clarifications.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
thrivingbusiness@email.com
No competitor is invincible. You don't need
a miracle. Your business will THRIVE if you
have the right marketing.
You can use these URLs for free information.
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/
