Know, Like, and Trust Factor

I’ve been reading “Content Marketing Strategy” by Robert Rose. Well, re-reading it, to be honest. And while I’m not the target market of this book, it made me think about something.

You see, marketing & sales are the two business systems that every business owner I know and work with struggles with the most. Yes, me too. So, I’ve been thinking about it. Especially marketing.

How do I make it easy for my Launch360 clients? How do I demystify marketing for myself and my clients?

And it hit me. Go back to principles and fundamentals.

Ultimately, when it comes to marketing and sales, there’s one truth that is universal and is applicable even in the age of so-called AI. This is why so many people have built AI tools that no one buys. Because it’s never “make it and they’ll come.”

The principle I’m referring to and I want to dive deeper into this week is something I remember from “Endless Referrals” by Bob Burg.

“All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.”

Peeling the Onion

Marketing, like any mature discipline, has multiple frameworks and models that can feel overwhelming for people without a marketing degree or experience. One that comes to mind immediately is the 4Ps – product, price, place, and promotion. Then, we have the awareness stages from unaware to product aware. Or the cold to hot prospect stages.

Yet, under all these layers of the marketing onion, when we peel away the tactics, tools, and techniques, when we untangle the models, we are left with the basics.

For your business to succeed, for any business to succeed, the right people need to know about your product or service at the right time and like and trust you enough to purchase. That’s it.

Yes, I know. I just introduced two elements in addition to the know, like, and trust factor. Because you can have many friends and relatives who know, like, and trust you but if they are not the right people, your business will fail because no one will buy from you. Then, if they are the right people but you offer your solution at the wrong time, you won’t get a sale either.

Bridging the Gaps

So, after peeling the marketing onion, it actually turns out that the principle is down to “the right people need to know about your product or service at the right time and like and trust you enough to purchase.”

So, how do we demystify marketing and make it simple?

1.Find your right people

We start with the ideal customers. I’ll be sharing more about customer avatars in the future, but for now, think about these:

• Who is your ideal customer?

• Where do your ideal customers gather online and offline?

2.Get in front of them at the right time

One additional thing you need to know about your ideal customers is when they buy. What is the triggering event? When is the buying window?

No matter what you sell, there are triggering events and buying windows. For example, we go to the grocery store when we are close to running out of groceries, which usually is on Friday or Saturday. Many people look for a career change or decide to start a business when they turn 40.

What are some triggering events you can think of for your ideal customers?

3.Turn them from prospects to customers

Now, when you think about the simplest customer path out there it’s for a prospect to find out about your product or service, buy immediately, and then use the product or service.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen often. If at all.

And one of the reasons is the know, like, and trust factor. Or, more precisely, lack of it.

When someone comes into your world for the first time, chances are they don’t know enough about you to purchase immediately, even if you offer something inexpensive and even if this is your ideal customer at the right purchasing time.

This is where we get into adding lead magnets and nurturing environments. This is where “borrowing trust” comes in the form of referrals and recommendations. These are all tools and techniques to help with providing value and increasing the know, like, and trust factor to a level where a purchase happens.

So, think about your ideal customers and what you can do to increase the know, like, and trust factor.

Simple but not Easy

I know, you might be thinking that this is oversimplifying marketing. Well, in reality marketing is simple. It’s not easy but it’s simple.

And it seems to be getting harder than ever with all the AI slop out there.

Have you noticed how LLMs tend to generate a lot of text without saying anything? There are so many websites out there with “polished” copy but you can’t make out what they are offering and who it is for.

It’s so easy to get tangled into all the noise and the newest marketing gimmick out there.

But when you pause for a second and really think about it, marketing is really about the right people knowing about your product or service at the right time and liking and trusting you enough to purchase.

And in today’s world where everyone tries to sound polished and fancy, maybe the best thing to do is get back to first principles and be straightforward.

I’m a business coach and consultant. I work with aspiring and early stage founders helping them launch successful businesses. So, if you know anyone who is looking to start a business but doesn’t know what to do, send them my way.

I also work with solopreneurs who are ready to hire their first employee(s). So, if you know a business owner who is considering hiring and feels overwhelmed and maybe has tried hiring before but failed, send them may way too.

See. No fluff. Now you know what I do. And if you stay tuned and keep on coming back every week for my articles, and even better, join the Visionary Founders Club, you’ll get to know me better, hopefully like me and trust me enough to one day apply for Launch360 or Thrive360.

How I’m Applying the Know, Like, and Trust Factor

As I mentioned, I have been thinking about marketing a lot lately. And the know, like, and trust factor.

If you’ve been here the past couple of weeks, you might already know one of the things I’m doing to build more awareness about the work I do (know) and nurture relationships (like and trust). Yes, that’s correct. It’s this blog which I’m personally writing every week following the example of Ryan Levesque (btw, his latest book "Return to Real" is out. Make sure to grab a copy here).

In addition to my new weekly article, I’m starting the following funnels on LinkedIn.

Last but not least, I’m resuming networking in person and virtually. Most in person events will be with RHBOT and virtually I’m thinking of Alignable.

Final Thoughts on Trust

Have you heard of the Global Trust Barometer by Edelman? You can check it here for more information but the gist of it is that the world has been becoming less and less trusting. In other words, we are in the midst of a deepening crisis of trust.

What does it mean for you and your business?

First and foremost, as leaders, we, business owners, can and should do better. One thing we did at Leficomp is add AI policy, so it’s clear when and how we use LLMs and other so-called AI tools.

Second, we face an uphill battle. Gaining the trust of our prospects requires more transparency, more touchpoints, and more real life engagement.

Lastly, we are presented with an opportunity. An opportunity to stand out in a world full of quickly generated slop that creates no value. And getting back to the fundamentals of marketing and the know, like and trust factor is one of the first steps you can take to set yourself and your business up for success.