Kate Miller
Marketing is largely about building and maintaining trust. It’s one thing to be able to reach out to a huge audience but that doesn’t mean anything if said audience is simply going to ignore everything you post. This is why it’s so incredibly important that you ensure you are doing everything you can to build the trust of your followers and to establish yourself as an authority.
So how do you go about doing that?
How Building Trust Works
The first thing to understand when it comes to building trust and authority through social media or any other means, is that it takes time. This is not going to be something that happens overnight or with a single post but rather something that you need to develop and build on.
At first when people read your posts they are likely to pretty much ignore them. If you manage to get them to stop take it in though and if you manage to teach them something then it might sink in. Still though, they are unlikely to become paying customers at this point.
The second time they notice a quality post of yours though, you might find that it registers with them and sparks a memory, but only if your branding is good. In other words they might remember that they enjoyed the post you shared last time and therefore they might decide to pay attention to you in future.
Over time they will then go from ‘taking note’ of what you say, to ‘actively seeking you out’. It’s only once you reach this latter point that you will then have their trust and attention and it’s only then that you can start effectively making sales. The trick here then is consistency and quality. It’s tough going to continually be posting relevant, informative and accurate information, but that’s what it takes to really become an influencer and thought leader in your industry or niche.
Helping Things Along the Way
There are a few things you can do to speed up the process though. For one, if you can get a mention from someone that your audience already trusts this can go a long way by sharing some of that trust.
Likewise it’s also important to engage with your audience, to respond to their questions and to make sure you appear approachable and responsive.
Pay close attention to what the leading names in your industry are doing and you should be able to pick up more pointers that way. It’s not by accident that some accounts rise to the top but rather through careful planning and hard work.
Source: HireInfluence
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