5 Ways To Be More Transparent In Your Marketing
Marc Harty on Mar 20 2008 at 2:43 pm | Filed under: Advertising and Branding
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I’ve got transparency on my mind…
You hear a lot about this with politics and government these
days. Yet as marketers, we could ALL be much more open
and transparent.
I recently attended and spoke at Alex Mandossian’s
Teleseminar Secrets Reunion event.
Alex started things off by saying the event had three
goals:
1. Transparency
2. Dialogue
3. Connecting
And one of the first things that Alex did was say that
only one person was allowed to “sell from the stage”
and that person was Paul Colligan of Podcast Secrets.
Alex also said Paul only had 5 minutes. I’ve noticed
that Alex is equally transparent on his teleseminars.
He mentions the content as well as a special offer
before the call event starts.
That got me thinking about how transparency and
marketing often clash with one another.
I wonder what drives that desire to be more secretive
and less transparent. Is it fear? Is it coming from a place
of scarcity rather than abundance?
Once I dug a little deeper I decided to make some changes.
First, I’m revising my email autoresponder series for my
customers of PR Traffic. My copy is much more forthcoming
and transparent about my intent to communicate with my
customers on a frequent basis.
I’m also disclosing anytime I use an affiliate link in
my email communications to my list. I think one reason
transparency speaks to me is that is congruent with my
#1 value: Integrity.
I fully believe that you build greater rapport and trust
by being transparent. People aren’t idiots. OK, well some
are but they’re not stupid. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist
to see through thinly veiled sales pitches.
In terms of transparency, that’s also one reason you NEVER
hear me utter that 4-letter word when in comes to PR: spin.
Spinning isn’t transparent. Creating a compelling story truly is.
So what can you do to be more transparent in your marketing?
Here are FIVE ways to be more transparent in your marketing:
- Be Candid and Upfront. Don’t hide or obscure. If you are going to sell something let your audience/readers know. Full disclosure is the best policy.
- Disclose Affiliate Links. Ahh yes, the affiliate game. Let’s trick people into thinking you are being overly helpful and have no piece of the action. Tell them they are affiliate links. Also, you build more trust if you have personal experience with a product you are recommending rather than just being a middleman passing along information.
- Selling From The Stage? Tell Them So! You don’t have to be blatant about it. You can share that you are providing 95% content and have a 5% message for those that want to take things to the next level. (Don’t say “continuing education.” Who wants education, emphasize
results instead.) - Admit Mistakes, Even If They’re Not Your Own. This is especially true if someone on your staff commits a blunder. Take responsibility and don’t pass the buck. Also, and this comes from attending Harv Eker’s Enlightened Warrior Camp, “your word is law.” Don’t get involved in the story of the mistake, go about making it right.
- Share Your Contact Info Right Away. I attended “The MasterMind Seminar” in Dallas recently and Amit Suneja had a great suggestion: he puts his contact info on the top of his sales letter. He said it helps build trust and shows you are a real person with a real company. Here’s an example on how Amit handles this with one of his sites.
So what do you think? What are your ideas on how to be more transparent?
