Thriving in a 21st century trust economy

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, our country found itself in a crisis of trust. The public’s growing penchant for confirmation bias, deepening partisan divides, and anxiety over demographic and societal changes have caused core institutions such as government agencies and the media to experience historic declines in public trust. Behavioral trends show that this gap in consumer trust is expected only to continue to deepen. 

So how can organizational leaders and marketers develop trust with their audiences?

It comes down to building authentic relationships. While shallow advertising campaigns and “batch and blast” news pitches were once staples of communicators and marketers decades ago, they are now generally seen as ineffective for the high-touch expectations of stakeholders. Marketing and communications are no longer simple outputs and products; it’s a process of involving your audiences, listening to them, and even letting them participate in your outward-bound communications. Today, trust is built through long-game communications strategies that illustrate an organization’s reliable competency, dependability, honesty, and values-driven decision-making. 

But it is not just thoughtful content that makes the difference. Shifts in the public’s consumption of information and reliance on trusted influencers now require a dovetailed approach across multiple types of communication channels. When organizations communicate across traditional, digital, employee, and influencer channels, they can expect to reach the same diversity of audiences and desired behavior changes they once reached with basic marketing tactics. Maintaining a strong brand position and loyal consumers now requires communications and marketing strategies that think outside of the box and meet people where they are.

There is no doubt that building authentic relationships with diverse audiences and developing complex layered strategies is more work. And seeing the complete ROI for this work may also take more time. It can be easy to fall into the trap of being satisfied by short-term wins and outputs like social media engagement numbers or website page clicks. But, unfortunately, sustaining this approach will leave many organizations far behind their competitors. The true winners of the 21st-century trust economy will be the organizations who steadily keep the long game in their sights and invest in communication processes that build sustained trust with their audiences. And, ultimately, when organizations invest in trust, we all win.

Try these three ideas below to help your organization grow and sustain trust with your audiences.  


    1. Be authentic in your own voice. Don’t steer away from your brand by being something you are not to excite your audience. Instead, attract your audience by ensuring your brand is reflective of your core values, truthful to the services you provide and highlights what makes you uniquely positioned to meet their needs.

    2. Listen. Conduct research such as focus groups or surveys to hear directly from the people you serve. Ask questions that will help you better understand their perspectives and what is uniquely important to them. Dig for the actionable insights that will meaningfully address their needs and wants.

    3. Find out who influences your audience and who/what they see as trusted channels for information. Then determine how your brand can leverage those channels to communicate with stakeholders while also engaging trusted influencers to help lift your story through their outlets. 

To learn about how KW2 can help you gain and sustain trust with your audiences through brand discovery, positioning, public relations, communications research, and influencer marketing, contact KW2 CEO, Jen Savino.