Why do we trust it more when an impartial third party says, "It was truly delicious"?

I am Kazumi Koda.
I spend my days testing sustainable customer acquisition systems that combine AI and marketing. In this note, I focus on "web marketing concepts" that you might have heard of, but are still vague about how to actually use. Based on my field practice and personal experiments, I have summarized them in the most down-to-earth language possible.

The phrase "If you aren't known, you don't exist" is often heard in business. This is a truly harsh reality.

For example, if we think about a restaurant, no matter how much a chef hones their skills and creates exquisite dishes with the best ingredients, that taste is only conveyed "after the customer sits in the seat and takes a bite." If there is no hook to make them think "let's go there" before they eat, no matter how wonderful the technique is, it becomes as if it doesn't exist in this world.

Instead of just making good things and "waiting," you must actively expand awareness. I would like to share what kind of approaches exist for that, also as a way to organize my own thoughts.

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Breaking down three approaches

As concrete actions, there are broadly three forms of marketing.

1. Web/SNS Marketing (Visuals and Information Sharing)

This is a method of "setting up a digital sign on the internet to convey the atmosphere of the shop."

• What is it? It means correctly listing your shop's information on smartphone map apps (like Google Maps) or posting photos and videos on social media like Instagram or TikTok.

• Merits (Strengths) You can instantly deliver information to people far away who don't know your shop yet. While the taste of the food or the quality of the service itself doesn't come through the screen, by using "the juicy sound of meat grilling" or "videos of a stylish space," you can directly deliver a "delicious atmosphere" into the viewer's brain and build up the expectation that "I want to go there!"

• Points to note Because everyone is doing it, information is easily buried, and it tends to be judged solely by the appearance (first impression) of photos and videos. Also, a characteristic of customers who come after seeing this is that they are often in a "let's try it once" trial mindset.

2. Word-of-Mouth Marketing (Third-Party Endorsement)

This is a method of "pushing them forward with the 'raw voices' of people who have experienced it, rather than the shop's own boasting."

• What is it? It is when customers who have actually experienced the product or service write their impressions in online review sections or on social media, saying, "This place was really great!"

• Merits (Strengths) No matter how much the shop side appeals, "We are the best!", it is trusted many times more when an impartial third party says, "It was truly delicious." It becomes the greatest source of reassurance (an endorsement) when a potential new customer is hesitating at the very last moment, wondering, "Will I really not be disappointed at this shop?"

• Points to note You won't easily get reviews just by "waiting." However, if you put returns like discounts too much in the foreground, the impressions can end up feeling mechanical. You need to set up "ways to make it a story worth sharing" from your side, so that people think, "I want to tell someone about this excitement" or "This keyword makes it easy to talk to others."

3. Referral Marketing (The Relay of Trust)

This is a method of "using the 'trust relationship' between people as a baton to expand connections."

• What is it? It is having an acquaintance directly introduce you to a business, such as when a member of an existing community like a business networking group or a local gathering says, "You should try that place, it's a sure thing."

• Benefits (Strengths) Unlike mere internet rumors, customers arrive with a strong sense of trust, thinking, "If that reliable person says so, I definitely have to go." Because of this, they are favorably disposed toward the shop from the start, the average spend per customer tends to be higher, and the greatest feature is that it easily creates an ideal cycle where "good customers bring in more good customers."
  

• Points to note The "face" of the member who made the introduction is at stake. If you provide even slightly sloppy service to a customer who came through a referral, you will damage the reputation of the member who introduced them. You must not take advantage of the personal connection; instead, you need a strong resolve to "provide the best hospitality anywhere to save face for the person who made the introduction."

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The most important thing might be
to "verify" these things.

If you ask AI, it will teach you any amount of effective marketing know-how. However, AI cannot know whether that know-how is "truly right for your business."

That is precisely why I believe that actually trying it out and "verifying" it is more important than anything else.

What I want to be especially conscious of here issetting aside emotions and assumptions to "quantify and compare everything." That is what I mean.

"I worked hard on social media this month, so the social media effect should be showing."
"That community is comfortable, so it must be leading to referrals."

Reset such subjective expectations once and look only at the actual numbers. Furthermore, it is good to track not just the number of people who came, but also"which route the customers came from and how much they spent (average spend per customer and repeat rate)." That is what you should track.

If this were the case, SNS would win if you only looked at the number of visits, but if you consider business results and the return on investment of resources (time and cost performance), you can see that you should overwhelmingly focus your efforts on "referrals."

And you can also see what kind of menu you should prepare.

Only by lining up and comparing the numbers in this way can you see"the true correct answer for your own business," which is not a general theory from AI.

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Something that can be said for any business

This time, I used "restaurants and cooking" as an example for clarity, but couldn'tthe exact same thing be said for every business, every product, and every service?

No matter how wonderful the system, groundbreaking the service, or careful the consulting, it will not reach anyone if it is not known.

Pour as much energy into "approaches to get known" and "efforts to verify that it is reaching people" as you do into "the effort to make good things." While maintaining your commitment as a creator, simultaneously verify the "mechanism for delivery" calmly. I would like to continue to cherish that perspective.

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Thank you for reading until the end. I hope this note provides you with hints for conveying the thoughts you want to share. If you'd like, I would be happy if you could 'like, comment, or follow'! I will reach out to connect with you as well.