For lead generation to work, one thing needs to be true.
Your audience needs to trust you’ll provide something valuable.
Think of this trust as a bank account. You earn trust — get deposits — by demonstrating your expertise, providing social proof, or showing people what value they’ll derive by giving you their contact info.
You can then spend your hard-earned Trust Bucks to ask your audience to act. Every time you ask your audience to do something, you’re withdrawing from your account.
It’s a simple concept but marketers seem to forget it easily.
***
This past weekend, I was going through the presentations from BrightonSEO. If you’re not familiar with the event – it’s one of the biggest SEO conferences in the world. All the big names are there. And they come equipped with their big ideas.
Thanks to the amazing work of SEO expert Lino Uruñuela, all BrightonSEO slide decks are collected to the benefit of mere mortals like me who didn’t attend the event.
Most decks are uploaded to a platform with free access, but some speakers go a step further. They create a dedicated page where the deck can be downloaded – if you leave your email address, that is.
This can work great for a visitor of Brighton SEO who watched the talk live.
But when I go there, I’m met with a withdrawal request from a trust account no one has put a deposit in.
I see a link in a list of links. I see the title of the presentation and the speaker’s name.
But I don’t really know what the talk is about. Or who the speaker is. Or if there’s anything valuable in the deck.
How can you make this experience better for all visitors?
Put a visible download form for the event visitors who already know you. But add some info for the people who come through a recap link. Or, even better, leave the deck visible for everyone and add some additional downloadable materials related to the talk.
Putting some effort into trust deposits means visitors are that much more likely to give you the information you want.
***
This same idea works in all kinds of situations.
When building a landing page for your product asking visitors to sign up for a free trial.
When creating a piece of content asking readers to subscribe to your newsletter.
When your sales team reaches out to a prospect asking for their time for a demo.
It’s all a balance between trust deposits and withdrawals. And you need to get it right to succeed.
Balance matters,
⚖️ P.S. What do you do to build trust with your target audience? And what obstacles do you see in finding the balance between trust deposits and withdrawals? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
———
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🎂 A celebration
1 Year of “Strategic Content & Messaging”
1 year ago today (according to my iPhone), we did the first screen tests for what became the “Strategic Content & Messaging” online video course. If I had known the amount of effort this enterprise would take, I probably would have postponed it for another indefinite amount of time.
And thank God I didn’t know what I was getting into! It’s been a great journey!
To celebrate, I set up the biggest discount the course has seen since its launch. If you’re curious, check out the curriculum and see if it’s the right fit for you.
👌 Handpicked stories for you
Lead Magnets: Full Guide (+70 Lead Magnet Ideas and Examples)
You’ve definitely seen lead magnets already and you’ve probably created a few of your own. But even so, this post can be helpful in idea generation. It contains a hefty list of examples you can test for your brand.
Using Scarcity in Marketing: A Roadmap to Higher Conversions
A quick recap of a powerful psychological principle, this post divides scarcity into four sub-categories: time-related, supply-related, limited editions, and demand-related (think Booking.com’s notifications that most rooms in your area are already occupied). I’ve never seen this split before and thought it’s quite interesting.
Demand Curve’s Copywriting Cheatsheet
This is a single file but one you’d like to download and keep close. It covers key copywriting principles, hook ideas, and writing formulas that will make writing persuasive content easier.
A Step-By-Step Guide To Creating Segments And Audiences In GA4 With Examples
If you’re still not used to GA4, you may find the difference between segments and audiences a bit confusing. They are set up in much the same way but they can be used in different parts of the platform. This post will show you how and when to use one or the other.
24 creative B2B email marketing examples
Product updates, case studies, sales promos, or educational content. Email is a versatile medium and this post proves it. Use the inspiration to plan how to expand your email marketing campaigns.
👀 Interesting stuff to click on
- This art installation – there’s something so joyful and calming in blowing bubbles.
- This TikTok brand account – I spent the better part of an hour just mindlessly scrolling through Lucidchart’s TikToks. Such a clever way to show the product in action!
- Weekly cat – I feel the same way at the end of the week…
I hope these put a smile on your face!
🔥 That’s a wrap! Before you go…
If you enjoy my newsletter and want more, here are three options:
- Was this email forwarded to you? Then get your own subscription!
- Hit reply and say hi – I’d love to know what you’re interested in reading next!
- Check out my course on strategic content marketing and brand messaging.
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