Trust is an essential component of any successful business. If you want to nurture prospects, you need to build a relationship with them that is empowered by trust. When it comes to email marketing, the method for achieving this is leveraging the content that you share.Not all content will be enough to break down barriers and connect with your target audience. In order to communicate trust, your content needs to possess a few characteristics that are equated with that quality.Transparency – Content that shares insight into your company’s inner-workings, processes, and methods for overcoming challenges demonstrate that you are not hiding anything.“You’re not misleading or bait-and-switching anyone,” says Kelsey Meyer, contributor to Entrepreneur. “Instead, you’re laying the groundwork for building trust.”Accessibility – Every person involved in your brand is a component of the trust you share with your audience.“When you put a face to a name, and therefore a face to a company, it’s much easier for your audience to trust you because that action humanizes your brand,” says Meyer. “By publishing content under your name and engaging with readers once it’s published, you’re signaling that you’re real and accessible.”Education – Providing content with value is important because relationships require exchange.“Becoming a valuable resource your audience can rely on for information is one of the best ways to build lasting trust,” recommends Meyer. “Plus, the gift of education for current and potential customers is actually pretty easy to give.”
How To Create Trustworthy Content
Keep Self-Promotion To A Minimum – No one likes anybody that only talks about themself.“Writing a press release and trying to sell it as educational content does not build trust. It annoys your audience and makes trust harder to earn,” says Meyer. “Steer clear of blatant self-promotion in your content — neither readers nor publication editors will appreciate it.”Deliver Value-Driven Content – Don’t make content that is centered on the concept that a prospect should hire your company.“A good rule of thumb when it comes to delivering value is, never create content you wouldn’t personally enjoy reading. When you start an article, think about what you want your reader to glean,” says Meyer. “Try harder to share new ideas and advice, not sell your services.”Confront Real Problems – People have real life problems, and they are usually not the types of problems that advertisers like to invent.“Think through real problems your audience is experiencing, and don’t be scared to take a stance in your content. Nobody ever built lasting trust by being the “yes” man,” says Meyer. “A little controversy can actually go a long way in establishing your expertise and building trust with your readership.”Be Consistent – If you are always there, people will know that they can rely on you.“Consistency is key to building trust and seeing success with your content. If your audience expects a new article from you once a week and you slack off for three weeks in a row, you’ve just damaged your relationship,” says Meyer. “Do what you say you’ll do when you say you’ll do it; that includes publishing when your audience expects it.”
