Marketing has a unique edge over sales; it is a lot more customer-centric than sales. A marketer – unlike his sales counterpart, cares a lot more than just the one-off profit he could make from any particular customer, hence he always seeks to establish and build trust to ensure continued patronage. Principles of marketing revision, majorly, demands that you always ensure that any information you put out to your clients is completely based on facts and never misleading in any way. If the aim is to attract leads into a magnet and ultimately get them converted, why bother running a fact-check on any strategy or information you intend to utilize for this, you say? Here is why this is necessary for content commerce, especially for marketers and readers.
Why fact-checking essential in marketing
Let’s start with a quick fact-check definition before proceeding. Fact-checking is a method of verifying sometimes factual information to ensure that the information you are disseminating or reporting is accurate and reliable. This fact-checking process can either be done Ante Hoc (before) or Post Hoc (after) the content is published or otherwise disseminated. As a growing or even an already thriving business seeking to expand your market share through marketing, you must ensure that this process is always carried out very religiously because:
- You not only risk losing potential clients but even existing ones as well if it becomes established that your marketing offerings or information are unreliable or false in any way.
- Your brand could become synonymous with falsehood, which is entirely against everything that successful marketing is all about.
So, quality content marketing means accuracy. There are a couple more reasons why you must pay great attention to fact-checking in marketing though, and we would like to share with you as you read along.
Little misconceptions are extremely dangerous
Ever heard the saying: “Little foxes ruin the vine”? Well, that is exactly what so-called ‘little misconceptions’ or a little ‘white lie’ can potentially do to your brand and business – ruin it! A major objective of marketing is to create an environment where a client not only feels at home with your brand but also trusts you entirely. This way, you are practically assured of continued patronage for your business from them.
What happens when these little misconceptions about your brand start spreading due to your lack of proper fact-checking during marketing? You greatly lose face and trust with both existing and potential clients, and that is super dangerous not only in content commerce but in any other business venture as well.
Content fact-checking is your responsibility
One thing is for certain: your brand and business did not grow and make it this far by you leaving things to chance, now, did it? This same mindset and intentional attitude are what you must have towards fact-checking in your marketing approach. It is your responsibility to make sure that any information and content you put out to your clients are based on facts, duly verified, and reliable. Oh, and do note too that, this is not something that you do whenever you feel like it, or shabbily either. The success of your entire marketing efforts rides on this, and, we dare say, even the overall success of your brand as well.
What facts must you ensure to thoroughly check always
The problem with facts is that you must always know what facts to check; when to check them, where to check, and how to consistently apply them correctly. Always ensure that the facts you churn out are relevant, up-to-date, consistent with the reality of your business, and also in line with relevant principles of marketing revision as well.
Honestly, things can get a little bit tricky at this point – depending on what line of business you’re into – but it’s nothing you cannot handle though. How do we mean by this? Well, awhile back it was an accepted fact that man could never fly. Now, that erstwhile infallible fact is quite laughable if anyone ever puts it forward again. You get the picture now, right?
What should be on a content marketer’s accuracy checklist
Storytelling is a crucial part of content commerce, but the human nature of spreading misinformation is a hazard that needs to be consistently checked as a marketer. To ensure that your content is accurate and always based on facts, here is a checklist to follow to avoid misinformation:
- Make sure that source cited is original: Do not cite sources that are not reputable or credible.
- Double-check the accuracy of the content: No matter the established credibility of your source, always make sure to double-check the accuracy of any content you source from them. You can easily do this using several sources like Factcheck.org, Google Scholar, or simply running a Google search on it.
- Ensure that the names of the sources are consistently spelled correctly.
- Always ensure that the dates and numbers (especially monetary amounts, figures, and percentages) are double-checked and accurate.
- Make sure to always use the right pronouns as well: When it comes to gender identity in your content, do not ever compromise or be light-handed about this. Always ask your sources to include their preferred pronoun (they/them, he/him, she/her) whenever you ask for their identity information.
- Make sure the company name is also correctly spelled always: A mistake as grave as misspelling the name of a client’s company can cost you a lot more than just your reputation or even the business. Do not change the spacing and make sure to maintain the lowercase letters originally used even if they’re unusual.
- Double-check the accuracy of the person’s title: Ensure that the titles used are consistent with the correct ones across the board. This is easily verifiable on the company’s website, email signature of the source, or via social media profiles (for individuals) as well.
What benefits does fact-checking have for your business
What is the benefit that your business stands to enjoy from being very thorough and professional regarding fact-checking in marketing? By following your marketing strategy and always taking care of fact-checking, you become a go-to source for credible and reliable information in your market. This would eventually directly boost not only your business’s reputation but your profitability as well.
Conclusion
Fact-checking in marketing is not only essential but also very vital to the success of your marketing campaign and business as a whole. This process helps us all to retain our realities as it guards against misinformation. No matter how little or insignificant it may seem to you, a tiny misconception can cost your brand or business a lot more than you could ever imagine. Hence, fact-checking is non-negotiable in marketing.
