Impressions - February 2015 - 41

they ﬁnd what they want at XYZ.com (ﬁctitious name) and they love what they see.
The next search is for "XYZ.com Scam" or
they go to RipoffReport.com and search
for XYZ.com.
They're looking for validation across
multiple rating sites giving the same star
ratings. This is called Social Proof. The
Nielsen Co. tracks this kind of thing and
there are some big revelations in its 2013
Nielsen Online Trust Survey.
Check out the peer-to-peer validation
chart (page 38) showing how consumers
view the advertising message, and the
channels through which they're delivered.
The bottom line for all of us is the average consumer doesn't trust a business they
don't know. If this is the case, what can we
do to increase the trust level in the eyes of
the people buying our services?
It's really pretty simple. People buy from
the companies they like, know and trust.
Anything we can do to elevate our credibility
in the communities in which we sell is
good. The term "community" describes not
only your physical location, but also the
niche market communities to which you
sell. They may vary geographically and not
be local to where you produce.
This is the strategy big companies like
CustomInk and TeeSpring successfully use.
They have created a trusted brand and
validated it in the marketplace. They have
guarantees, get great reviews, and respond
to positive and negative feedback. They are
transparent in their messaging. How can
you act like one of the big brands?
If you don't already have Facebook,
Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter accounts,
set them up. Begin posting examples of
your work. Tag them with niche keywords,
locations, events, dates and so on. In 2015,
people are going to ﬁnd you from your social presence. It's social media that's now
the main arena for consumer search.
If my niche were fun runs, a typical
example might be: fun run T-shirts, 10K
T-shirts, San Luis Obispo, Mitchell Park,
Heart Association Family Walk, 2014.
There's a lot of tagged information in this
and it's all searchable. When you post
a picture of the shirt, or the shirt at the
event, people will interact with the post.
All of the social media channels allow for
likes, shares and comments. This provides
social proof and encourages word-ofmouth sharing.
People now are searching not only for
the product, but also for validation of who
is providing the product or service. Your
impressionsmag.com

ability to compete moving forward will be
based on how well you connect with your
target market and how much they trust
you. Trust is built upon reliability and expectation. The searches taking place around
what you offer are about validating you.
Being found on the Internet in 2015
means you need to be on the Internet.
Start by thinking like consumers think.
It's all about them. If your content, images

and posts connect with your customers,
you'll get the shares, comments, ratings
and trafﬁc you need.
Mark A. Coudray has been an active
member of the Academy of Screen Printing
and Digital Technology since 1989, and
has written for Impressions since 1978. For
more information or to comment on this article, email him at coudray@coudray.com.

Use Info*Action #18 at impressionsmag.com/infoaction

February 2015 | Impressions

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