Chapter 12: Playing Defense— Reputation Management
(Following is Chapter 12 of Trust Signals: Brand Building in a Post-Truth World.)
To borrow a phrase from George W. Bush’s now-famous critique of President Trump’s 2017 inaugural address: people are believing some “weird shit” these days.
Such as the following:
Starting on the social media site...
Chapter 11: Earning Approval—Third-Party Validation
(Following is Chapter 11 of Trust Signals: Brand Building in a Post-Truth World.)
Influencer endorsements didn’t begin with the Kardashians’ promotion of flat-tummy shakes, hair vitamins, and twenty-five-dollar “couture” lollipops. They go back much further.
One of their earliest uses as trust...
Capterra: Everything You Need to Know About the B2B Software Review Site
Capterra prides itself on being “the web's leading free resource for business software help.” Today, Capterra boasts over 1.5 million validated reviews for over 50,000 products across 900 software categories. Looking at these impressive numbers, it’s hard to believe how far they’ve come.
In this...
Chapter 10: The Grow With TRUST System
(Following is Chapter 10 of Trust Signals: Brand Building in a Post-Truth World.)
I started Idea Grove at the worst possible time in my life.
I left my last corporate job in the fall of 2004, with the intent to launch my own business in early 2005. But just as that plan was coming together, I was...
Taking a Look at Credder’s Content Credibility Database
Have you ever invested seven precious minutes of your time reading an article, only to discover that it was filled with misinformation and fake news? All of us have probably been through something similar, where clickbait titles have stolen our attention and our time.
Even worse - it seems like we...
Chapter 9: Choosing the Right Trust Signals in a Post-Truth World
(Following is Chapter 9 of Trust Signals: Brand Building in a Post-Truth World.)
An ancient Latin proverb offers some good advice about priorities: “Duos insequens lepores neutrum capit.”
He who chases two hares catches neither.
In today’s world, marketers and business owners are faced with a...
Chapter 8: Trust Signals, Conversions, and Growth
Everybody claims to be a growth hacker these days—at least if you check out people’s bios on LinkedIn.
The truth is that while marketers, developers, and product managers can team up on some clever customer acquisition strategies to build user bases fast, most things that last take time.
Trust, for...
Another Gatekeeper Falls: Have Movie Fans Stopped Trusting Critics?
If you've been following the news lately, you've probably noticed that the public keeps clashing with experts. Be it in government or science - the people know best. No wonder, then, that the entertainment business is facing similar issues.
Last summer, Bloomberg author Lucas Shaw suggested that ...
Chapter 7: SEO Trust Signals— For Google’s Eyes Only
In scholarly circles, academics have long relied on citations of their work by others in their field as trust signals. Having your research cited is the currency of academia. It can lead to prestigious awards, better jobs, and higher salaries.
This is what gave Stanford PhD students Larry Page and...
This Christmas, Retailers Are Tightening Up Their Return Policies—But Is That a Good Idea?
It's been a trust signal since the earliest days of ecommerce: easy return policies.
Why is this a trust signal? Because, just like money-back guarantees and other vendor commitments, it shows that the seller is putting the buyer's best interests first—not just in words but in actions.
In fact, a ...