Excerpt fromTrust Signals: Brand Building in a Post-Truth WorldBy Scott Balladell. Published by Lioncrest Publishing Copyright © 2022.
in Grimm’s Fairy Tales Hansel and Gretel, Medieval Germany is ravaged by famine and a family of lumberjacks is starving. The Lumberjack and his wife plan to leave their children Hansel and Gretel deep in the woods so that they have fewer mouths to feed. However, Hansel overhears the plot and leaves a trail of breadcrumbs in the woods so that he and Gretel can find their way home.
Unfortunately, the crumbs are eaten by birds and the children get lost. They must defeat the Wicked Witch and finally escape being cooked and eaten themselves. The idea of following a “breadcrumb” is one thing that almost everyone is familiar with.
In digital marketing, breadcrumb paths are most closely related to web navigation. But there is another way of thinking about breadcrumbs in marketing.
of Hansel and Gretelchildren leave trails of food in the form of breadcrumbs to guide them home during times of great famine. You can guide the buyer to purchase.
From Inbound Marketing to Inbound Trust Signals
When HubSpot co-founders Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah coined the term “inbound marketing” in 2005, their thinking was that consumers were tired of being interrupted by marketers and annoyed by salespeople. It was said that there was They believed a better way to reach them was through informative, non-commercial content and conversations. It can be “inbound”.
I look at inbound marketing through a particular lens, one that centers on trust. That’s why I believe the best marketing programs focus on building channels for inbound trust signals.
In a world dominated by gatekeepers—media critics, analysts, and experts—the general public turns to peers first for advice on products and brands. And today, the most powerful form of peer influence is customer reviews.
Most consumers today trust online reviews from strangers as much as they trust the advice of friends and family. Compared to traditional word-of-mouth referrals, online reviews are more accessible and more likely to contain relevant use cases for the buyer.
Internet Yelpification
The first major success story in the review site space was Yelp, founded in 2004. Yelp provides crowdsourced recommendations for local businesses and services. Today, Yelp attracts 180 million unique users per month to his more than 225 million reviews on the site, despite stiff competition from the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Tripadvisor.
Meanwhile, public trust in online reviews now extends beyond local restaurants, hotels, and hospitality businesses to almost everything from vegan ice cream brands you can compare on Influenster to multi-million dollar enterprise software you can review. It extends across industries and products. at Gartner Peer Insights, PeerSpot, and other sites.
My agency is focused on B2B technology, and the proliferation of SaaS products has led review sites like G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius to far outstrip the influence of traditional gatekeepers like industry analysts and computer magazines. I’m here.
In fact, Chicago-based G2 appears to be repeating Yelp’s story in the B2B tech space. The site has over 1.5 million reviews of him.
Top 20 Inbound Trust Signals
If web users are more likely to trust the same brand testimonials from the same customers just because they are hosted on other sites, that is how inbound trust signals can help build, grow, and protect brands. It shows what is important.
Let’s take a closer look at 20 specific trust signals to drive brand interest and website traffic.
#1: Media coverage
Few forms of third-party verification are as powerful as well-known media coverage such as daily newspapers, national business publications, and respected trade publications. This is why so many brands invest in PR agencies for their media relations.
#2: Press Release
Press releases help establish credibility. Especially when distributed by major communications services with higher acceptance standards, such as PR Newswire and Business Wire. Wire releases are also more likely to appear in Google News search results.
#3: Bylines and Editorials
Submitting an article that has been published in a business or industry publication will earn your credibility as a thought leader for potential buyers.
#4: Blog guest posts
Many bloggers in your field may be open to providing guest posts. This gives you similar benefits to byline articles. But consider carefully. If Google decides that you’re littering the web with keyword-stuffed guest posts just to rank higher in search results, you could be penalized.
#5: Sponsored Content
Today, publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Fast Company offer paid programs that offer exclusive access to contribute and be quoted in stories. These usually appear in Google News search results.
#6: Celebrity and influencer endorsements
In virtually every industry today, especially in fashion, beauty, food and travel, influencer endorsements on social media, whether paid or unpaid, have a significant impact on buyers.
#7: Social Media Accounts
Active participation on major social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube is recommended for most brands. Your customers and prospects are looking forward to seeing you at these locations.
#8: Social Media Responsiveness
Many buyers check your social channels to see if customers have tagged you with complaints and, if so, how quickly you are responding.
#9: Google Business Profile
When people search for your brand by name, think of the first page of search results as your “second homepage.” If your business has local offices, your Google Business Profile should be the centerpiece of your page.
#10: List of Google Maps
Searching for a local business will show the top three results with a map at the top of the first page. Having your own place in this “Google 3-pack” is effective in building trust and even better for your traffic.
#11: Google Reviews
Google beats both Yelp and Facebook in reviews, and the results show up in your Google Business Profile and Google Maps listings. They are a must for most brands today.
#12: Customer reviews on related sites
Review sites are part of the decision-making process for nearly every product and industry. See which sites appear on the first three pages of branded search results, and reach out to your customers to leave reviews.
#13: Glassdoor Review
Glassdoor often comes up high when searching by company name. Getting him five-star reviews from current and former employees doesn’t just help with hiring. It is also important for acquiring new customers. If you treat people right, buyers are more likely to trust you.
#14: Participate in online forums
From LinkedIn and Facebook groups to industry-specific forums, company teams can engage in discussions to build relationships and earn brand trust.
#15: Attend industry events
Attending a trade show, virtual conference, or other industry event as a speaker, sponsor, or exhibitor is often endorsed on the event website or press release, creating credibility online and offline.
#16: Directory listing
Local and industry-specific business directories are an easy and usually free or inexpensive way to increase your authority and visibility. But be careful: some business directories are scams. Check your site’s domain authority with Moz for an easy way to see if your listing is worth it.
#17: Wikipedia entry
Securing an entry for your business on Wikipedia, the world’s most popular reference site, establishes your brand’s authority. The site’s editors carefully screen submissions to ensure they meet the “noticeability” criteria. Obtaining media coverage or other forms of third-party verification is a prerequisite for participation.
#18: Join the Community
Pursuing a social purpose strategy that includes nonprofit sponsorship and volunteerism can increase visibility on your nonprofit’s website and social media channels, and build goodwill within your community. .
#19: Top Rankings for Branded Search Queries
The majority of Google queries are searches for brands or specific websites (“youtube” and “facebook” are the top two Google searches). Make sure your site appears first in the results when someone types your company or product name in a search.
#20: Top Industry Keywords
Ranking higher for popular search terms in your market segment not only significantly increases your website traffic, but also gives your brand authority.
most important breadcrumbs
If Hansel and Gretel were lost in the woods today, all they would have to do is pull out their smartphones and enter their home address into Google Maps.
But if you’re looking for the best places to find candy (no witches nearby), you might look for online reviews, media reports, and other inbound trust signals. These are the most important breadcrumbs for the modern consumer and, by extension, the most important breadcrumbs for you.