Persuasive Copy: Establish Your Credibility
By Joe Ferry on Aug 4, 2009 in Featured, Marketing Communications | comments(0)
(Sixth in a Series)
Somewhat related to the previous post (Prove It), establishing credibility in your persuasive copy takes the process one step further. It makes your customers feel comfortable doing business with you and answers the question “Who am I dealing with” that inevitably crops up during the decision-making process.
How do you establish credibility? Emphasizing longevity in the field is a good way to let the world know you know what you are doing. The implication is you that wouldn’t have survived in business for a long time without being good at what you do. The number of employees you have, annual revenues, number of units sold, industry and community awards, commendations, and publications are also good tidbits that can be sprinkled throughout your copy to establish credibilty.
Don’t use all your credibility-building ammunition in one place – that makes it too easy for a propsoect to dismiss it as fluff. Carefully sprinkle it through your persuasive copy in subtle places that have relevance to the point you are making.
Here are some good examples:
“We guarantee the best technical service and support. Our certified technicians respond within six hours and complete an average of three repairs a day — and we’ve been doing it for 27 years.”
“You’ll have the expertise of 250 professionals around the world to ensure you system will never fail.”
Our product meets and exceeds industry standards, which is why we’ve won the Gold Medal Award for seven years in a row.”
Customer reviews, testimonials from real people just like your readers, independent survey results and media coverage also are good ways to establish credibility.
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