Why honesty in marketing is the best approach

Ehrlichkeit im Marketing

Stefan Huber

Stefan Huber is Chief Operating Officer. He is in charge of the Content, Service & Delivery Unit, assists customers with advisory services and content know-how, and gains new creative input while climbing indoors and outdoors.

Content marketing is an important tool for reaching target groups. Good content catches peoples attention, solves their problems, entertains or informs – and thus offers added value that can go far beyond the marketing effect. But content marketing must be honest in order to have a lasting effect.

Dishonesty may backfire

Thousands of brands try to reach us with their marketing messages every day. And they like to promise the moon. But false promises and misleading marketing can be counterproductive and even harm the brand: Through the Internet and especially through social media, consumers today have more opportunities than ever to vent their dissatisfaction about products or their anger about questionable practices. And they do so publicly, where everyone can read it. So dishonest marketing doesn’t pay off, because the truth comes out.

Communicate honestly, authentically and transparently

Nowadays, it pays to take the opposite course and consciously communicate honestly, authentically and transparently. Because that can mean a competitive advantage: If a product is more expensive than the competition’s, for example, an honest justification for the higher price can be communicated in marketing. Is the product made of particularly high-quality materials, does it come from the region or is it made by hand? Then it is precisely these special features that should be communicated.

Honest content creates trust

In one of our last magazine articles, we looked at the Relevant Set and the purchasing decisions of consumers. Trust in the brand – along with brand awareness – has emerged as one of the most important goals of a marketing strategy. This trust can only be achieved through honest communication. And that’s exactly what content marketing is good for: a text that reaches customers about their problems and explains honestly and authentically how your company or product solves them is worth its weight in gold. Add a pinch of transparency – for example, about the production and ingredients of the product, the idea and motivation behind the founding of the company, or the current pricing policy – and trust in the brand is strengthened.

Open error communication

Those who want to go one step further also openly address mistakes and problems. After all, no one is perfect – and neither are companies. So anyone who recognizes their mistakes, admits them and shows that there is a genuine will to improve can further strengthen trust in the brand. This can even be a valuable means of customer loyalty: people simply like to buy from companies that admit to mistakes and improve. That way, you know directly how a delivery problem, a bad batch, etc. will be dealt with: openly, honestly, and solution-oriented.

So honesty is important for creating trust and winning and retaining customers. And content marketing is an ideal tool for communicating honest brand messages to the outside world.