In my last blog I focused on the need to show your prospects they can trust you by weaving credibility into all you do. Now I’d like to share 4 ideas that will take you a step further in your credibility efforts.
- Connect with thought leaders. A survey by ITSMA shows that independent validation and third party experts increase the impact of your message. How can you put this statistic to work for you? You need to start with knowing who the experts are. Build a list of the thought leaders in your industry. Do searches on LinkedIn for groups that relate to your target markets. Check out association and trade magazine pages. See who’s writing and posting on topics of industry importance to your prospects and then reach out. Your ask? Be an expert speaker at an event or webinar, do an introduction to a whitepaper, or guest blog on their site. Yes, you may have to pay for this. Trust me – it’s worth it.
- Third party affiliations and awards. Seek them out, apply for them and market them. Got an award from a software publisher? Feature it on your home page and blog about what it means (from the customer perspective, of course). Make sure any third party affiliations (such as associations you belong to) are also featured prominently.
- Your people. Yes, in my previous post I said I don’t care about your ‘About Us’ page. I’m going to make an exception for your brilliant people, particularly those with years of industry experience, publications to their name, etc. If you have these brilliant people, bring them front and center. Create profiles, feature them prominently, release news about what they’re doing in the industry. A tip: buy Get Slightly Famous. It’s an oldie but a goodie.
- Be helpful. I opened this blog with the idea of bringing thought leaders into your content. Now it’s your turn to become that thought leader. Using that list of forums, LinkedIn Groups and other social properties you developed in the first tip, start reading and sharing your knowledge. Focus on the most valuable groups so that you have the time to be engaged and consistent. Although it should go without saying – don’t sell! By the way, for extra credit bring the experiences from your groups and forums into your blog. Answering questions there? Share that with the readers of your blog and point them back to the forum too.
One final note on credibility. Regardless of the tactics you use, credibility is fundamentally about honesty. Honesty in how you write (avoid the buzz words, superlatives and absolutes), how you engage (without selling) and how you represent what you can honestly do for your prospect. Stick with that and you’ll come out on top every time.
By Barbara Pfeiffer, is a Senior Consultant at The Partner Marketing Group and a passionate credibility writer.
