In marketing, new trends, evolving technologies and the ability to tap into customer preferences require marketers to continually refine their methodologies. But methodologies alone don’t separate winners and losers. In a saturated marketplace, it’s equally crucial to demonstrate the behaviors and values that customers and prospects expect and demand from your company and its products or services. The two most important are transparency and honesty.

Transparency

73 percent of consumers say they’re willing to pay more for products that promise total transparency. Here are five tips to help you implement and practice transparency in your marketing efforts.

1. Incorporate transparency in your mission and brand. Your company’s mission should drive every facet of your company. Therefore, if you make transparency a part of your company’s mission, vision and brand identity, it will permeate your deliverables.
2. Provide clear and accurate product descriptions. Clients want to understand what they’re going to buy before they buy it. Ensure product and service descriptions are up to date and communicate a clear value proposition of the challenge you aim to solve and how your service or product can do it. 
3. Maintain consistent communications through the sales funnel. While clear and regularly updated product descriptions are vital, prospects always will have questions that can’t be answered in a catalog. Ensure that there are clear calls-to-action for prospects to get in touch with a representative, ask questions via chat or link to an FAQ. If a prospect downloaded a piece of content but then clicked away, follow up with an email or other communication to nurture the lead.
4. Produce regular news and updates for prospects, clients and investors. Clients who are dedicated to a company or brand like to stay up to date about changes, new products, events and news. Keep communications with your audiences consistent through monthly newsletters, press releases, articles, blogs and social media outreach. Discover which channels your clients use the most, and distribute via avenues that connect with your target markets. By maintaining a consistent rate of contact, content development becomes a habit.
5. Maintain transparency internally. In addition to your external efforts, maintain consistent internal communications. Align departments by providing them with the resources and information they need. The better employees understand their company and their role, the better they can serve their colleagues and external audiences as well.

Honesty  

For the most part, transparency and honesty go hand-in-hand. Because buyers are sophisticated, well-educated and highly resourceful, they’re unlikely to fall prey to gimmicks. They will see right past shifty marketing schemes that don’t have much basis in fact. And, when they do, there’s little to no chance of customer retention. Here are some key ways to ensure all advertising and promotional materials are honest:

• Clearly display promotion codes, expiration dates, exclusions and other restrictions.
• With email, SMS or other type of marketing messaging that requires a subscription, ensure sign-ups are clear, accurate and always give the option to opt out of future communications. When mistakes happen (and they will), take responsibility, apologize for the error and make amends.
• Set realistic expectations about your organization’s capabilities and areas of expertise. Sometimes this means telling a prospect your products and services may not be the best fit for their needs.

Building Trust

When companies market with transparency and honesty they create customer-centric messaging that builds trust with prospects and customers, demonstrates confidence in what they are selling and builds a brand based on authenticity and sincerity. Perhaps most important of all, being 100 percent open and honest surprises and delights customers. When you understand who your audience is, what they need, what makes your brand different and how transparency and honesty can redefine your industry, you’ll build the long-lasting relationships that create enduring success.