It's no news that TRUST is a huge factor in all marketing and sales.

It's important to realize that trust is not just a matter of YOUR name and brand, since you may not have a reputation at all with most potential buyers. They've never heard of you.

So you start out with a level of trust based on association. What is the trust level of your industry? or of the medium in which you are advertising?

People assume a used car salesman, or a congressman, can't be trusted.

On the other hand, if you start a bank, you are going to start out with a considerable amount of trust. People assume their money is going to be safe there even if they've never heard of you.

But don't try and promote a bank by email.

Email marketing to people who never heard of you is probably going to be a failure, even if you can get a legitimate list. The trust level is terrible, people know it is almost certainly some kind of scam.

Worth thinking about.