Gone🔍→ where’d customer trust go?

This is Inbox Hacking, a free newsletter with Email Marketing insights, tools, & tactics sent twice per week. If someone forwarded you our Newsletter, join marketers from Hubspot, the NBA, & Realtor.com and sign up for a Free subscription. Today— why brands struggle to gain trust from customers and how email can turn that around.

People are mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it anymore. Or do business with companies they don’t trust or like.

Lotta anger and trust issues out there, folks. So we’re gonna see why and learn how to keep customers/clients happier and your organization trustworthy. Yes, right now…

Takeaways from Below

People were not this surly in 2019
Good tech tools are being wasted
Company response time is pitiful in many cases
Reviews are trusted while company-produced info, not so much

Post-Pandemic Meanies

Except for unemotional sociopaths like myself, the pandemic altered how people treat each other.

In stores. Online. At work. I’m betting even Yelp reviews got 76% more venomous.

Then there was endless information flying around. Good, bad, stupid. Institutions lost a ton of trust because they deserved to and big targets are easy to hate on.

But that vibe’s still making it hard on decent businesses.

*2 in 5 consumers have less patience than pre-pandemic (Netomi)

Customer Anger & Fleeting Trust is Understandable

Nearly 9 outta 10 B2B companies don’t even have online booking 🤢

Only 17.2% of company websites had interactive product demos 😯

Avg. 2 days to get a response about a demo 😴

Why aren’t we using the useful tech available? I mean, we utilize useless tech like it’s going outta style!

It gets worse…

81% of B2B buyers hate digging for pricing info

41% of Gen Z & 29% of Millennials check review sites before any other buying journey step

“Having to contact sales for demo or free trial”— a top-3 reason 40% of buyers are less likely to buy

16% of buyers who can’t easily find pricing will cross that brand off their list❌(TrustRadius)

*It’s inboxes too. See this post about what frustrates email users.

It Can Get Better

1 in 4 adults have made a purchase based on an influencer’s recommendation.

Influencers are more trustworthy because they’re not directly tied to a brand. They get paid but don’t depend on one brand to keep their lights on. BTW, why don’t influencers tear 19 out of 20 brands apart so the single glowing review holds even more weight? Seems like fun😎, more effective too.

Now, being old and all, I’m no fanboy of influencers but they have a lot to teach us (not about crypto).

Use Your Inbox Influence

Every email you send is a chance to build trust with subscribers who eventually shop your store or hire your company.

Just trusting you with their email address is a big commitment these days.

Don’t let them down.

📭Be open and honest. Especially about your brand’s screw-ups

📭Don’t write emails like a corporation🤖 would

📭Dig up information for readers other newsletter creators are too lazy to hunt

Being liked by subscribers goes a long way toward being trusted… and forgiven.

Best Subject Line in My Inbox (+why it worked)

1)A review I need to do. Nice lady watched my dogs who are named in subject line (smart)!

Runner-up: SMH News pulled me in w/ 3 “Yous“

Keep reading below for a fresh traffic booster, YT Shorts tricks, & Today’s Hack.

If only you knew when your subscribers were staring at their inbox📬

Inbox Mailers does. And that’s how this patent-pending inbox tool gets up to 70% open rates.

Learn more with a free demo if your open rates are not what they used to be.

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Knowledge Base

🧠Knowledge is power, but first, a legit guarantee that sucks.

Quick tricks for making YouTube Shorts

💯Wanna boost traffic by as much as 106%? Freshen old content

How to maintain a clean email list (#10’s tough)

☑Checklist for rookie e-commerce shopkeepers

Google’s Inactive Email policy— is your industry at higher risk?

Follow Inbox Mailers…

Self Help

The long tail ain’t what it used to be and may leave you starving.

I wish persistence paid off every time. Even half the time.

It’s not enough though. Something’s missing when you’ve worked harder and longer than the people around you to no avail.

Or maybe nothing’s missing. Some plans just don’t pan out.

In those cases? Adopt a positive version of the Sour Grapes Story and force yourself to be truly glad you couldn’t reach them.

*Shout-out to Inbox Hackers:

📜Elsa at Potloc (survey tech)

📌Dave at Local By Choice (websites/ads)

Facts and Stats

Average cost per acquisition in e-commerce market increased by 5.12% from June 2022 to June 2023 (IRP)

57% gap between leaders’ estimate of their brand’s trustworthiness & how much consumers trust them (PWC)

67% of marketing experts are updating old content (Databox)

Bonus: June 2023 sales breakdown in e-commerce market by Traffic Channel→ Paid Search 57.8%, Direct 24.7%, Affiliate Marketing 7.7%, Paid Social Media 0.9%, & email marketing 8.9% (IRP)

Dead Email List? ⭐ Inactive segments?

Imagine resuscitating those inactive email subscribers and re-engaging them. Those email addresses were not easy to collect so don’t give up…

Inbox Mailers revives dead lists. This email tool is the most innovative (and simplest) re-engagement solution.

It’s powered by a patent-pending engagement trigger system that’s doubling, even tripling open rates for users. Learn more with a free demo.

*Inbox Mailers users are seeing up to 30% of their dead email lists re-engaged.

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Get Hacking

“Businesses absent from social media may as well not exist.”

Saw that on a site I respect but it’s BS 🐂💩.

Lots of small businesses don’t use social media. Many have bank accounts that prove dollars can pile up without likes.

I’m not saying abandon the social ship but I bet there’s one or two platforms wasting your time and effort?

Why not yank back that time and spend it on direct customer outreach? In person. On a call. Or with more sociable email campaigns.

(If your business hardly uses any social media, I’d love to hear about it)

Forward Inbox Hacking to your marketing friends so I can afford these dog Crocs.

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