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How to be Credible in Your Marketing Materials

Charen Smith

May 20, 2008

Gaining credibility is extremely important to pull in new customers. People trust companies that are credible. Credibility is defined as the power of inspiring belief or the capacity for belief. It goes hand in hand with trust. You can’t trust someone you don’t believe.

I read an article that had a story about a person seeing an incredible (meaning couldn’t be believed) flyer. The flyer looked nice, it was done in color printing, had a nice font. But it was so impersonal that it wasn’t credible. It was for a very personal service: child care. The flyer stated “Quality, affordable, licensed day care. Call XXX-XXXX.” No pictures. There was a name in a font written in the same type and the same size as the rest of the information – no logo, no picture. The chances of a parent calling for child care services to someone they’ve never seen and have never heard of is highly unlikely. This was not a quality marketing piece, which conveys that this was not a quality child care facility. This was not a credible company.

Credibility does involve building a brand and being around for a while. That does take some time, but it’s not hard to convey in your marketing materials. Your materials can show potential customers that they can trust you. Here are some easy techniques to use to ensure the quality of your marketing materials matches the quality of your company or product.

Use a photo. Nameless, faceless people are generally not trustworthy. Think about it. People that rob banks usually have ski masks on to conceal their faces. If someone comes up to you in a ski mask on a dark street, your first instinct won’t be to trust them. By showing your face you evoke trust, and people will feel like they already know you. When they see you in person, you’ll seem familiar to them.

Include your full address and phone number. This is especially important to do on your Web site. If I can’t find an address or phone number, I just assume that the company is not legitimate. What do they have to hide? I don’t even want to take the time to find out.

Include testimonials of local folks with their picture. Testimonials are often touted as a way to gain credibility, but I think unless they are accompanied by a picture, they are worthless. Anyone can make up a person’s name and a great quote. Adding pictures shows that the person is real, which adds to the credibility of the testimonial. Including a picture works especially well with local advertising.

Get an expert’s opinion or endorsement. Including a doctor’s opinion on your medical product will show that someone who is usually considered credible just by their occupation agrees with your claims. Again this works well when advertising locally, so that people don’t think you’ve made this person up. If you’re using a doctor, include the doctor’s address or phone number in print materials to add even more credibility.

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