Evidence is wonderful stuff and hard evidence is the best!
When to Display Hard Evidence
The first thing to note is when to share evidence with a prospect. It is not generally a good idea to introduce evidence too soon. The early stages of conversation with a prospect is better spent listening to them and establishing what they need.
A website needs to establish its offer and the benefits to the visitor first. Evidence at this stage should be minimal. It might be worth displaying an award or trustmark early on a web page. But at this stage, if you do it at all, point towards evidence but don’t actually supply it.
Why? Well, there’s little point introducing a prospect to evidence until they are ready to hear or read it. Evidence introduced too soon may be seen as a hard sell. It could put the prospect on the defensive.
The best time to present evidence is at stage 4 on the awareness ladder, after you have introduced and explained your offer. Evidence helps fill in gaps or answer the prospect’s questions.
How to Display Hard Evidence
If there is a lot of detailed information, it should be available to those who are interested. However, it is usually best if it is available on request. So, a key paragraph from a report can be quoted on your website, with a link to the full paper.
Most people will note the link but not follow it. The fact the information is available is enough. However, be sure the full report supports the details you quote. There is nothing worse than providing information that contradicts your main account.
If you link to a web page on someone else’s site, keep an eye on it! If they move the information, you will need to revise the link.
You can provide hard evidence in summary on your website and in your literature. If you are going to do this, make it accessible. So, use graphs, charts and diagrams. You can use key quotes and of course Frequently Asked Questions.
What is Hard Evidence?
Hard evidence is backed by clearly sourced research. Like everything else it is a matter of judgement. So, an independent source is usually better than the results of your own research but selectively quoting independent evidence might devalue it, whilst well-designed personal research might carry real persuasive power. If you are using independent source material, quote from it and offer a link to the original.
- Case studies are often used for educational purposes. As such they are a specialist medium. However, if you are planning to use them for marketing they can be a helpful way of managing expectations. You can show what the original problem was, how you approached it and the outcome for the client. It may be possible to provide further evidence, eg by linking to websites, testimonials and so on.
- Reports can be useful but the chances are you will need to quote from them as visitors to your site are unlikely to have the time to read it. Provide a link to the full report so that the interested visitor can check the report for themselves.
- Statistics can be misleading and if you are going to use them it is worth getting expert guidance. Don’t assume the statistics presented in a report are not misleading. Beware of things like pictograms and logarithmic curves. The raw data may be fine but the way you present it can mislead. Wherever possible, link to the original data.
There may be other options. Evidence can be considered hard if it is well-researched and ideally independently generated. It is not always available and so don’t worry if you can’t produce hard evidence, there is always soft evidence to consider.
Have you good examples of using hard evidence in marketing?