The ‘Know, Like, Trust’ factor is a well-established marketing principle. How are you using your words to support this tried-and-trusted way to attract your ideal clients and customers? You need to build personality into your business writing…
The ‘Know, Like, Trust’ principle underpins all effective marketing activity. The core concept is that if you can provide the stepping stones to help your ideal clients get to know you, to like you and, ultimately, to trust you, they’re far more likely to be prepared to buy from you.
Without this staged relationship-building approach, the sale is less likely to happen. Because if these people have only just heard of you and certainly haven’t yet formed a good enough impression that they proactively like the sound of you, then you’ve barely got a chance…
So, how can you use your words and language to influence their opinion of you and your business?
Build personality into your business writing
During the course of your everyday business writing, try to keep the ‘Know, Like, Trust’ principle in mind. Consider how you can help nurture each step through what you write – whether it’s an introductory email, a response to a proposal request, a blog article, your social media profile or copy on your website.
If you can nail this ‘Know, Like, Trust’ thinking in your written communications, it’s easier for you to become known for your particular area of expertise. That will help you to build up an audience of interested followers, some of whom will then be far more inclined to become loyal customers.
Consider these pointers:
KNOW is about expressing who you are and what you do in an effective way – and about your audience understanding how you can potentially help them.
> Talk directly to your ideal client – create and position your content to meet their needs.
> Differentiate your proposition – what can you deliver that others can’t?
> Be clear about what you’re offering – and what you’re not.
> Make sure people understand where your expertise lies – and use that to build credibility.
LIKE is about building a sense of the personality of your business into your communications – to help your audience better appreciate who and what they’re potentially buying into.
> Which individual would you rather do business with: someone who writes in a boring and impersonal way or someone who sounds friendly and approachable?
> Raising your profile is great, but you need to tick the ‘likeability’ box too.
> Strive to build connections – share experiences and stories, and offer valuable, relevant content.
> Don’t be afraid to express your personality through your writing – people buy from people.
> Be authentic and embrace your uniqueness – it will attract clients you actually want to work with.
TRUST is about communicating your credibility and expertise – to help potential clients feel reassured that a decision to work with you would be a great idea.
> Be reliable – always deliver what you say you will, preferably in an impressive way.
> Demonstrate consistent quality – set the benchmark for what clients can always expect from you.
> Use testimonials – let others share positive experiences and tell potential clients how good you are.
> Create case studies – to showcase your capabilities and give potential customers a real-world insight into what it might be like to work with you.
Across all of these stages of the relationship-building process (and bear in mind that the whole process might take a week or a year, depending on the nature of your business), you want to convince potential clients with the quality of your writing – and win them over with your personality.
So keep your language clear, simple and compelling. Steer clear of jargon and over-complicated sentences, and check carefully for errors and unnecessary ‘fluff’.
Don’t let poor quality copy undermine all the effort you’re putting in elsewhere in your business.
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