Yes and no.With any business, credibility is a key element to building trust which should ultimately lead to making a sale.
This is never truer than in Internet marketing for these reasons:
* People don't want to be sold to, they want information.
* People mostly use Internet to get information at no cost, not to purchase a good or service
* People are skeptical about purchasing online for fear of being "taken"
* The "would be" customer most likely has no idea who seller is and isn't guaranteed any type of communication after sale, no matter what website may say about a "guarantee"
* Internet marketing has been around long enough that savvy prospects have seen their share of scams, shoddy products, and outrageous promises and their defenses are heightened because of it
So what does newcomer and mid-level marketer do to gain credibility amidst all this skepticism? Validate their USP (Unique Selling Proposition) by ensuring that their prospect's perception of who they are and what they have to offer is one of quality.
Until sale is made and "prospect turned customer" actually has product in hand, perception of quality is just that, merely perception. Once product is in hand of new customer, perception of quality is purely defined by customer, not seller. How customer views product after sale is made determines his/her perception of quality of product. However, before sale is made, perception of quality is largely determined by seller, and that's where sales are made or lost.
Why is perception of quality determined by seller? Because prospect can't possibly validate a product's quality without owning it...the seller tells prospect what makes product have quality and how it will benefit them. The sales copy on web site, clarity of graphics, proposed benefits product delivers, and overall message that validates USP that is relayed to prospect, all define perception of quality of product as dictated by seller. It is up to prospect to decide whether he/she will believe message that seller is relaying to him/her.
Because of prospect's skepticism, validating USP and establishing credibility can be a chore for newbie and intermediate Internet marketer regardless of quality of product itself. Since newbie or intermediate marketer isn't a "household" Internet marketing name, action needs to be taken to establish online credibility.
How? Have other Internet marketers and "would be" customers help. Go to well- known forums on Internet and post messages asking for feedback in return for a copy of product being sold. This is one of most common methods to collect testimonials for products and services. Another effective way to gain credibility as it is perceived by prospect, is to gather testimonials by giving product to their list or a small portion of their list in exchange for a testimonial.