Honesty

It may not be enough to practice honesty in your
marketing messages, due to the fact that more
people than not have a sense of a
"feeling of deception" about marketing.

Perhaps this is best exemplified with the title of
Seth Godin's latest book: ALL MARKETERS
ARE LIARS: The Power of Telling Aughentic
Stories in a Low-Trust World. The back cover
tells the rest of the story, as well as providing
some context for the need of "honesty beyond reproach":

I was lying to you when I named this book. Marketers
aren't liars. They are just storytellers...Successful marketers
are just the providers of stories that consumers
choose to believe.

A good story is where genuine customer satisfaction
comes from. It's the source of growth and profit and it's
the future of your organization.

According to Levinson, it is very difficult to be
believed in the marketing environment in the first
place, even when you tell the truth. He suggests
that you've got to bend over backward to be
believed.

People will tend to believe your marketing based
upon their unconscious assessment of your most
unbelievable statement. As a rule of thumb, keep
in mind that almost every descriptive adjective in
your copy detracts from the feeling of honesty.

So how do you approach marketing when folks
seem conditioned to not believe what you say?
Robert Middleton suggests that your message
contain these 5 ideas:

1. gear the message to your market and let them
know that you know their problem
2. identify the ulitmate result of buying your offer
3. identify the immediate benefits and the value of
working with you or your product
4. Give them proof - testimonials often work best
5. Be clear about your call to action

If you are honest about these elements, your
marketing message will likely tell a story that
consumers choose to believe. And you will
be able to tell that story with integrity
and authenticity.

(c) 2005 Guerrilla Marketing Golden Rules e-zine

Steve Brewster
Executive & Business Coach
403.283.5706
steve@brewsterconsulting.com