Can you buy trust? Possibly
We are hard wired for self preservation. It's a concept we learn early on—don't touch a hot stove if you don't want to get burned. So when we, as humans, put someone else's needs ahead of our own, it's attention grabbing. More than that, it's triggering (in a good way).
Reciprocity: Is payback optional?
It turns out, most people can't receive a gift without giving a reciprocal gift.
Call it guilt, call it human nature. But whatever the reason—we feel the need to reciprocate when someone does something nice for us. That is an important, if counterintuitive, concept for marketing.
When you do something nice for a person, they feel obligated to even the score.
They don't want to be in your debt. So if, for example, you send a personalized gift to someone that they truly appreciate... they're far more likely to take your call or respond to a follow-up email.
Build a connection with gifts—a case study
A wholesaler noticed financial advisors weren't selling their products anymore, and they knew reengaging the advisors would be a challenge. They couldn't say "try our products to see how great they are!" because they advisors already had. And chances are, they were currently using one of the wholesaler's competitors.
So, the wholesaler tried a new approach. They sent a framed cartoon by a New Yorker artist that included the advisor's name. It was the kind of clever gift they knew advisors would want to hang in their office. Then, the wholesaler sent followup emails.
The result? High response rate for the emails. Some advisors even reached out proactively. And advisors started selling the wholesaler's products again.
All because a thoughtful gift triggered an instant connection. Read the full case study by Nancy Harhut.
How to use gifts in your marketing
Good news: You don't have to know a famous cartoonist to make this principle work for you. Here are a few real-life examples:
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The charity Disabled American Veterans famously sends return address labels to everyone in its address book.
Not all gifts are the same, however. Many people want to offer gifts *in exchange for something* which... spoiler alert... is not a gift.
Of course, gated content, or a free gift with purchase, is still an incentive that can work from a marketing point of view, but it's not going to trigger the same behavior as a simple gift.
You don't have to spend money
If you're like me, your next followup question is: I'm not a web developer, I can't code a free tool for my website, and I can't afford to send free gifts to every client or prospect... now what?!
The good news is... most content marketing is based on this principle—you're giving out free entertainment or education. To truly build reciprocation and trust, however, there are a few rules you'll probably need to follow.
Be transparent—especially about pricing, competition, and the industry. People assume that you're going to try to sell them something. If you talk about topics where people expect you to be biased—like your competitors—and give an honest answer, that builds trust.
Be useful—this is another side of the same coin but: Talk about services you don't offer if they're relevant to your clients. For instance, you might offer a webinar on estate planning even if you don't have an attorney on your team.
Play a long game—the reciprocity principle is strong. If they can't work with you right now, but you've done something nice for them, even if it's just providing them with helpful information... they will remember that in the future. This is particularly useful for advisors.