Creating Trust in a Digital World
Steven Woods, a name many might remember as a founding partner of Eloqua, a software system designed to help marketers understand consumers’ digital body language, has remained steadfast in his vision to bring trust and emotional connections to the digital world. Since selling Eloqua to Oracle, he and partner, Paul Teshima, have started a new business called Nudge, which is a platform designed to help people actually leverage their massive digital networks of connections and engage in trusting ways that have actual benefits. Their tool helps people nudge each other to create dialogue, stay current, make recommendations and professional introductions — all of which help produce meaningful outcomes.
“Without trust, even the best business proposals are set up to fail,” says Woods. “Trust, which is built up over time, allows a buyer to believe that a seller will deliver the change that is promised. Today, that trust is more important than marketing, selling or product capabilities, in most cases.”
Per Woods, without a foundation of trust, our social networks are futile and do little more than make us look popular. Nudge has developed a framework whereby users can build essential trust and have productive relationships with all their social networks, be it Linkedin, Facebook or Twitter. Steps toward digital trust include:
- Connect
- Assist
- Remember
- Engage
- Socialize
These are the same steps that helped spark one of the biggest social movements of all time - the civil rights movement, started when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person. The day she was arrested, civil rights activists got on the phone to connect with her immediate network of friends from church, her sewing club and more. They asked that first tier of friends to assist with a bus boycott by calling their friends and asking them to do the same. Most did, in hopes that the friend for whom they did the favor would remember them when they needed help or support. As a result, an entire network of friends and associates with like values were engaged in a meaningful cause that had significant social outcomes for all involved.
Jeanette McMurtry is a psychology-based marketing expert providing strategy, campaign development, and sales and marketing training to brands in all industries on how to achieve psychological relevance for all aspects of a customer's experience. She is the author of the recently released edition of “Marketing for Dummies” (Fifth Edition, Wiley) and “Big Business Marketing for Small Business Budgets” (McGraw Hill). She is a popular and engaging keynote speaker and workshop instructor on marketing psychology worldwide. Her blog will share insights and tactics for engaging B2B and B2C purchasers' unconscious minds which drive 90 percent of our thoughts, attitudes and behavior, and provide actionable and affordable tips for upping sales and ROI through emotional selling propositions. Her blog will share insights and tactics for engaging consumers' unconscious minds, which drive 90 percent of our thoughts and purchasing attitudes and behavior. She'll explore how color, images and social influences like scarcity, peer pressure and even religion affect consumers' interest in engaging with your brand, your message and buying from you. Reach her at Jeanette@e4marketingco.com.
