Here's how to create trust in a virtual world

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been deep in research for my 2023 Marketing Insights Report.

So many fascinating insights coming through – as I’ve analysed volumes of research, and industry reports, had countless conversations with business leaders around the globe to get frontline insights behind the data too.

You’ll hear more about this over the coming weeks and months. For today I want to zero in on the one non-negotiable coming through loud and clear – for marketing, sales and customer retention – all of which are equally important to business growth.

TRUST.

How to build it, maintain it, protect it in a hybrid world is possibly the biggest challenge of our time.   

Building Trust is Everything.

Easy to say, harder to do.

Especially in a world where people, especially decision-makers, are too busy, to tired, or too overwhelmed to consume traditional sales and marketing messages.

Coupled with the trend away from in-person business interactions – less on-site visits, physical meetings, and more remote teams.

There is plenty of opportunity - we just need to approach things differently, Not doing the same things that we were doing five years ago expecting the same result. And looking for the leverage points.

For example - this is a great trend that's emerging worth paying attention to. The latest research shows there is a really strong positive indicator too – that people are ready to hear business leaders who are able to “be a unifying force in the world” (2023 Edelman Trust Report).

Business Leaders, NGO Leaders and Teachers scored most highly on this scale – whereas at the other end, journalists, governments are seen as more divisive. (and for context, in previous years businesses scored lower than governments and big institutions, so this is a big shift!)

So if you play it right, it’s an opportunity to gain customer's attention and build customer's trust in this economic season, that will set you up with not just awareness, but also aspiration and even activation.

Trust is the most valuable and precious commodity right now – and despite what lots of "marketing gurus" purport, it won’t come through spending money using AI, putting in more effort, producing mass amounts of content or even through sheer talent.

And it definitely won't come through blasting them with product updates and promotions. 

If you want to leverage this, your one goal with your content it should be to build trust.

If you can do that, everything else will follow in an organic fashion.

People will take your calls, respond to your emails notice what you are saying and reach out to you.

The drag of non-responsive phone calls and emails becomes massively outweighed by the delight people have of being able to connect with you personally, when they regard you as aspirational, authentic and magnetic.

So, to practicalities…..

Here are a few simple things I have been telling my Marketing Me®️ clients to do lately, that I believe every business leader should be looking to implement.


 🟣 SELF-EXPRESSION

Infuse your authentic identity into everything you do.

Magnetic client relationships happen when clients are excited to hear from you. And when products and services often have so much “same-ness” about it, the differentiator is YOU. (or if you have a team, your PEOPLE).

Empowering yourself, (or your team) to allow your personalities, interests, passions and professional perspectives to shine through will give you ROI in spades, when done smartly with a strategic lens that sits over your current commercial focus.

🔵 STRATEGY 

Unleash the power of simplicity with clear, streamlined messaging.

Don’t go for complex or convoluted topics. They’ll get lost in the ether. People don't have the cognitive power to process complex at the moment. So be uber simple, uber clear. Now is the time to be known for ONE thing. Pick that thing and don’t deviate from it for 90 days.

In the current season we’re in, do less promotion in your content. Previously a good rule of thumb was one promotional post for ever 4-5 pure-value pieces of content. I would curb that further and if you can, try even holding off on promotional messaging for 90 days. You’ll be surprised at the impact that can have on trust.

When people see a promotional pitch alongiside content, the impact value of the content is immediately watered down. That’s still ok, don’t get me wrong, but pure-value, perspective-shifting thought leadership content on it’s own is a superhighway for building trust.

🟢 SYSTEMS 

Trust isn’t just built through the message, it comes through observing behaviour.

Choose a cadence that suits you to publish content and follow through consistently. Even if people don’t actually read/watch/engage with it, the very act of them seeing you publish it builds trust.

Over the last week, I spoke to a variety of senior marketers, sales professionals and business leaders – many of whom I haven’t had any contact with for years. They don’t like or comment on my social posts or blogs or YouTube videos, and they’re not on my email list. I don't spend a lot of time on content each week - maybe an hour max, but I have an efficient system to get my thoughts in front of people regularly. 

And many of them were quick to comment that they had been following my book journey and are excited to read it. And as a result they’re more than happy to take a meeting with me if I send a message asking to book one.


So, over to you!

If you start doing these three things and continue over the next 90 days, you will go a long way to building trust over the coming months.

******

P.S. A big thank you to all of those who are choosing to work with me in 2023 in my Marketing Me Experience and those of years past and who are continuing the journey. I am so grateful I get to work with extraordinary people like you and am truly excited for what's in store this year!

******

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nina Christian is a Marketing Futurist & Global Marketing Mentor who helps people do their marketing in a more human way. 

She is a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM), Life Member and Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute & AMI State Chair (Vic) and for 20 years was director of Braveda (Winner, Best Marketing Agency, Australian Marketing Excellence Awards).

Several years ago Nina saw the world of marketing shifting – this time as people became their own brands.  With this, she created a new business as a thought leader, combining her expertise in brand building with personal positioning, resulting in a breakthrough praxis known as Marketing Me™.

She has a knack for simplifying the complex which comes from being a hands-on mum to five children, and uses this to turn time-sucking activities into easy-to-follow systems and processes that make a lot of sense and get outcomes fast.

There are different ways to work with Nina based on your situation and organisation size - with all of them you'll see rapid transformation and tangible outcomes fast. Book a chat with Nina here.