When it comes to marketing yourself in Professional Services, there's one thing that's more important than anything else - the Trust factor!

Trust is a super important marketing component. It’s the secret to getting more clients and repeat referrals for your practice. 

The aim of this concept is to get your clients and more particularly, target clients to understand and believe in your brand (i.e. you) – so that they become your clients. It is how well these clients (existing and future) know, like, and trust you, and you do that through building relationships.

If you have ventured out on your own and moved away from a firm, it's extremely important to build relationships and create connections - if people don't know who you are, they're not going to like you and they definitely won't trust you – and, if they don't like and trust you, they're not going to engage your services.

On the other hand, if your target clients do know who you are and they like what you stand for, then they're much more likely to feel a connection with you and therefore, trust you – and that means they are more likely to use your services.

Let’s face it, most businesses are looking for more clients and more specifically, loyal clients that will use them time and time again. So, the higher the level of like and trust, the easier it is for your target clients to make that decision to engage your services.

Clients, on the other hand, are bombarded with content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from different businesses trying to get them into their business pipeline – these potential clients don’t like feeling like a piece of meat that is being sized up for tonight’s dinner.

Building a relationship means that your clients feel that you understand them and what their lives are like - you speak their language – and that your services can really help them.

If your target market doesn’t know you exist, they're not going to be able to compare you to other businesses in your industry. However, when they know, like and trust you (and your services), they're much more likely to choose you over your competition - you can stand out from your competition!

When it comes to building your firm, it can be the difference between a client using your services or moving on to someone they perceive as more trustworthy. Also, when people know, like and trust you, they are more likely to recommend you to others.

However, establishing trust takes time but you can find ways to speed up the process and then you’ll be well on your way to gaining more clients and growing your business. So, how can you start building that all important know, like and trust factor? By using social media. Social media is changing the game when it comes to lead generation and is much easier than your typical methods like cold calling, email blasts, networking, junk mail etc.

At Sharpe Marketing we are experts in building social presence and ensuring your brand is aligned on all the platforms that you use.

We are proud to report that in a 12 month period, through our experience and skill set, we increased a clients’ total reach by 459% and increased the total impressions to over 1 million - which was a 950% increase. We also held an average monthly engagement rate of 10.2% - well over twice of a “very good” Facebook engagement rate. 

Every single time that your social media posts are seen, or engaged with, by prospective clients, you automatically win some more know, like and trust. Building the know, like and trust factor takes time, but it's worth it. If you focus on creating relationships with your target clients and providing them with value, you'll be well on your way to success. 

The trust factor is important because it helps you build relationships with your target clients, stand out from your competition and increase your client database. If you focus on creating a strong online presence, sharing your story, being consistent and providing value, you'll be well on your way to building the know, like, and trust factor in your practice.

Give us a call today on 021 819 691 or email info@sharpemarketing.co.nz to find out more.