3 Ways to Build Trust Through Content
Digital marketers try to accomplish many goals through content: educating prospective clients, engaging leads, nurturing sales, attracting top talent, overcoming objections, and increasing awareness. But there’s one commonly overlooked goal that takes precedence — building trust.
If your content doesn’t establish a trusting relationship with readers, then it won’t compel them to act, either. And if your content doesn’t promote a desired action, you’ll never reach the objectives you’ve set.
Building trust through content might sound like a nebulous and challenging ambition, but there are a few things you can do to pacify skepticism and secure readers’ confidence in you and your brand.
1. Pay Close Attention To Grammar
When you read a spammy comment at the bottom of an article that’s obviously written by a robot, your BS radar instantly goes off. You don’t trust this bot, and you definitely don’t believe the comment. The same goes for your content. If it doesn’t read well, the message might not get through to readers.
Attention to perfectly polished content shows readers that you’ve taken the time and effort to write a thoughtful article they can understand and relate to. If you’re not a great writer, then it might be time to hire an editor or take this quiz on what type of writer you are so you can learn how to compensate for your weaknesses.
2. Humanize Your Content With Personal Experiences
People trust other people, not brands. When writing content to build trust, keep this in mind. Convey that you’re human. Be transparent about the struggles you’ve experienced, and invite the reader into your vulnerability. Open up and reveal a story that readers likely wouldn’t know unless they met you in person. Mimicking the personal one-on-one interaction through truly authentic content is incredibly valuable.
A great example of this is Inc.’s column “The Best Advice I Ever Got.” All of the authors open up about personal advice they’ve received in their careers and how it’s helped them succeed.
3. Include Timely And Credible Statistics
If you catch yourself writing statements such as “Most people think that…” then you’re on the brink of losing readers’ trust. Subjective, definitive statements like these instantly turn readers away. Instead, cite studies and statistics to back up your claims. A well-placed stat can be just what your content needs to go from fluffy to insightful. Our Influence & Co. team surveyed more than 150 editors we work with, and 39 percent said research-heavy, data-centric articles performed best on their sites.
Harvard Business Review is a publication that publishes wonderful content backed up by studies and statistics. My co-founder, John Hall, wrote an article for HBR, and our team spent just as much time researching studies to back up John’s claims as we did polishing the article itself because we knew how important these stats were to build trust with HBR’s audience.
When I started writing, this was something I often overlooked. I would write articles solely from personal experience because I thought they engaged readers best. I quickly learned (from the comments) that if you want to win over an audience larger than your family and close friends, you need stats to back up your opinions.
Look back at the most recent articles you’ve written. Is the grammar flawless? Do you open up and let the reader in through personal experiences? Are those opinions backed up by statistics? If not, you’re missing out on opportunities to build trust and incite valuable reader action.
Kelsey Meyer is the President of Influence & Co., a content marketing firm specializing in helping companies showcase their expertise through thought leadership. Influence & Co.’s clients range from venture-backed startups to Fortune 500 brands. Connect with Kelsey on Google+.
