Building trust with your audience on social media. 

With Trump’s announcement of a TikTok ban across the US at the start of the year, there came a surge of influencers taking to the platform, before it disappeared, to confess examples of how they may have been previously dishonest about some of their content.

Building trust with your audience both online and offline is a key element for encouraging engagement and long-term success on platforms such as TikTok or Instagram. 

Sponsorship pressures 

Social media influencers sometimes face pressures when signing contracts about sponsorship deals and paid promotions. Demands from companies can impact creators’ authenticity online, as they may agree to working with brands that don’t quite align with their online persona.  

It is important to ensure that you and your brand or business maintain integrity when promoting products or services. Publicising products  that complement your image and values helps to build trust with your audience, whereas promoting anything that clearly doesn’t align with your values may run the risk of losing much needed trust and loyalty from your audience. 

The importance of transparency  

Not actively mentioning that a product review is for advertising purposes can hinder the trustworthiness between a social media page and their audience, as the audience may struggle to decipher if the page is a credible information source. By being transparent in your social media posts by clearly stating, and stating early on if using a video format, that it is a paid promotion or partnership can show authenticity. 

Navigating misinformation 

The spreading of incorrect information can tarnish a brand’s credibility overnight. When sharing information with your wider audience about facts or statistics, it is crucial to fact check every piece of information by locating a credible source before publishing anything attributed to your name. 

You may decide to find a link to a trusted website that you can signpost in your content; it may also be useful to include the date of the year the information was published to provide context. See an example of a website reference here: 

 Social media platforms can be a great tool for cultivating trust between a brand and its following further asserting your brand as a credible thought leader for people to refer to within your industry. It takes consistency to build a trustworthy reputation amongst an audience, and, due to the likes of cancel culture, attitudes towards a brand image can change rapidly. 

These tips demonstrate how you can build a trustworthy brand image and maintain it, creating a loyal following. If you are looking to build or rebuild trust with your audience and require any guidance, please contact Emma Lever, Senior Communications Manager at Hey Me via emma@hey.me.co.uk