Someone that can Teach You the Proper Use of Credibility and the Figure-4
January 2, 2007
The Official Direct Online Marketing™ Blog
Last night I’m having trouble sleeping. Still not quite back to normal after our trip to Germany. Trust me, it’s not from staying up too late on New Year’s Eve. My friend’s 15-month-old beat me (a very labored 9:00 PM vs. at least 9:30 if not later).
 So as I’m flipping through channels, I come across pro wrestling. And what’s that I see? The Nature Boy Ric Flair (wooooo!) in action. The man has to be, I’m not great with estimating age, at least 370 years old. Not that he couldn’t still throw me through a table and give me a crimson mask, but still.
He’s standing on the apron in a tag team match. The other guys are going at it and I hear the crowd yell, “woooo!” obviously in response to Ric giving it a good “woooo!” to keep the crowd alive. So even though he’s got more rings around his trunk than General Sherman - and this coming from a Ric Flair fan - he’s got all the credibility in the world with his target audience (not even in his home state of NC).
And he deserves it. He’s built it up over a number of years. So what’s the point? Well, it wasn’t supposed to be that I’m a loser who watched way too much wrestling as a kid and will still occasionally stop to watch if I see it on. Or that my mom still lays out my clothes for me every night. Or that...wait the best rasslin' joke I have is not appropriate for this blog.
The intended point is for you to think about your company. If you’re not Wal-Mart or Coca-Cola or the Nature Boy, when people see your ad or Web site, they probably don’t know you, at least not well enough to try out your product or give up their personal information. They won’t just add water and *poof* instant credibility.
So what can you do? Well, let’s take a search engine marketing campaign for a company looking to create leads for its sales force. You’ve done everything right and gotten someone truly interested to click on your ad to learn more about what you do or sell. The person is sent to your landing page and now you’re asking him or her to submit his personal information – however limited – to you in exchange for something.
One of the ways you can encourage people to sign up is with a great incentive – making them want to sign up. Sometimes more overlooked, though, you can also increase conversion rates by reducing the friction keeping them from signing up. One of the best ways is to show how credible your company is.
You need to show as much credibility as possible. Talk about or show logos of organizations you belong to. Better Business Bureau memberships are great, but other organizations work great, too. If you’ve been in business since the Ice Age, discuss it. If your advisors are all accredited by a standardization board, let people know. Do you have special guarantees? Seals of approval? Testimonials?
You may not have all the above choices, but you won’t need them, either. Just use the best of what you have and don’t be afraid to experiment to see what works best.
And just remember, to be the man, you gotta beat the man, woooo!
Related internet marketing links: landing pages, conversion rates, internet marketing, direct online marketing, search engine marketing, search marketing
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About The Official Direct Online Marketing™ Blog:
The Official Direct Online Marketing™ Blog posts are written by either Paul Woodhouse or Justin Seibert. Woodhouse is world-renowned as a business blogger and has received various global awards and recognition. Seibert has been involved in internet marketing and web development since 1999. The Direct Online Marketing™ Blog focuses on internet marketing and how businesses can use it to increase revenue. Feedback is always welcome.
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