Establishing Trust and Credibility Through Messaging

Communicating the benefits all the time and delivering those benefit statements at the right time

Part 4 – of “Focus on Business and Marketing Strategy”

When you communicate with any audience, whether it be targeted influencers or end customers, you want to convey consistent messaging about your product, service, or company.

I developed a template as part of the credibility branding system called the Messaging Timeline. It was create to assist in identifying the market conditions corresponding to the various stages in the corporate or product lifecycle, in order to then deliver succinct messaging at the right time.

You might ask, what is messaging? A message is a brief statement that succinctly describes the benefits of a product (or company or service) in 10 words or less. It is often used to create a picture of the “what,” “how,” and “why” of a product. It is oftentimes the hook that will draw influencers and customers in to hear and experience more.

A reminder, credibility is generated by trusted third-party advocates such as members of the press, analysts, pundits, and industry luminaries or influencers who can initiate a word-of-mouth chain reaction. To generate the kind of credibility that will act as the platform for a corporate brand, messaging must be strategically insightful and emotionally relevant. It must fundamentally change the attitudes of these opinion makers, and credibility is what seals the deal.

Companies and entrepreneurs that are winning credibility campaigns are identifying the market trends and examining which concepts are receiving buy-in from the editorial and analyst communities and customers, and spotting where their cynicism lies. Your job is to overcome assumptions and create messaging to leverage these editorial and market conditions to generate the kind of attention that will build credibility. So while the Credibility Pyramid encourages the establishment of credibility from within a corporation, the messaging leverages those points to create a credible story angle or proof of concept (i.e., testimonial) and in general manage perceptions.

The Messaging Timeline model offers the means to categorize the four phases of market and product development: Trend, Reality, Success, and Habit. Here again, managing perceptions through the four phases further enhances the foundation for word-of-mouth credibility. Marketing communications professionals can mold the word-of-mouth buzz by examining and responding to product and market lifecycles.

Trend

In this phase, the goal is to identify the industry trend and how it has been influenced.  For example, was it through a grass-roots effort, created by high-demand, or simply great marketing?  This will assist in positioning the vision of a company into the market in a way that will be embraced. Successfully positioning the company against the trend assists in creating a need, ultimately translating into sales.

Reality

The reality phase illustrates proof-of-concept through reputable partners and customers.  When a company is able to illustrate how it impacts the market and supports the needs of customers, its value proposition will become clear and compelling to its target audiences.

At each of these different phases the market perception of a company can change.  The messaging in the Trend phase starts with a vision statement.  As the company moves through the different levels, it might focus more on “reality-based” messaging to show a clear value proposition and that the company has delivered on its promise.

Success and Habit

Success and habit occur through repeated use by many customers, sometimes in different vertical markets, reinforcing the unique selling proposition and return on investment of the company’s product.

The perception timeline allows companies to track market change, recognizing that PR done properly impacts the competitive landscape.  As a result, companies are able to make the appropriate shifts in messaging to deliver the best vision possible. From this perspective, credibility becomes the means to anticipate market conditions rather than to react.

Stay tuned, I will be offering more succinct case studies illustrating the use of this template in the weeks and months to come.