TRAFFIC
PR , BRANDS AND TRUST
When it comes to buying decisions customers seek reassurance . A framework that inspires confidence and security means they are likely to trust what ’ s in it . Nick Garner looks at how an affiliate can boost its rankings and profitability through customer satisfaction and trust , and how brands play an integral part in the marketing process
SKY BET AND HOW it pressed the reset button on its affiliate scheme – then quietly renegotiated deals with hundreds of affiliates – means affiliates account for at least 30 % of the igaming marketing ecosystem , so they can ’ t be ignored .
Ten years ago Eric Schmidt from Google said : “ Brands are the solution , not the problem … brands are how you sort out the cesspool .” My interpretation is that brands care about reputation and trust and Google wants these kinds of sites to be prominent in their search results .
Great internet brands engage , satisfy and help solve problems . The good news is you can start small within a micro-niche and work your way out and up . But trust is paramount because if you are trusted , you will rank and convert .
Brand trust and reassurance The notion that you don ’ t have to trust a brand to be reassured because it ’ s the ‘ law of associated trust ’ needs to be expanded . A brand is obviously the entity which wraps around the deliverable . Reassurance is the need on the part of the customer for security , safety and comfort .
Let ’ s take the example of trust , brand and reassurance and how it relates to a medical doctor . This doctor might not have much of a personal brand , but he or she has the qualifications and authorisation to practise medicine . If we don ’ t trust the qualifications or the integrity of the medical training , then it follows that we don ’ t trust that doctor . In other words , there are lots of
cases where we trust the framework around something and so trust what ’ s within the framework .
Back to search engines and which results do we trust more – Bing or Google ? If you ’ re one of the 96 % of web users that trusts Google you ’ ll appreciate how important it is to deliver on the trust promise that Google makes on your behalf .
If you rank as number one , it ’ s because Google believes you are the best answer to the question a web user is asking . You trust Google , Google trusts your website and in turn users trust your website the most .
Our brains are designed to take the shortest path from A to B . If we are asked to choose between a simple decision and a complex decision we will generally opt for the simple one , unless we are playing a game or are forced into making a decision .
Brands make it easier for us to make purchasing decisions because if we trust the brand , we don ’ t have to think as much . So if I trust Google and Google gives me the search result , I don ’ t have to
“ Trust is paramount because if you are trusted , you will rank and convert ” think so much about trusting that website . And the better Google gets , the less trust I need in the websites I see and the less thinking I have to do .
As an affiliate one of your priorities should be to make the decision-making process easier – reducing the number of brain cycles is fundamental to online success .
Engagement and satisfaction To understand what is engaging or satisfying it is important to understand the fundamentals of search queries and Google ’ s role in giving people answers . Every search query is a question . It is either explicit , such as : “ Who is the best bookmaker ?” or more ambient , which could simply mean keying in words such as “ free bets ”. Whatever you type into
iGB Affiliate Issue 68 APR / MAY 2018
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