What actually builds trust online? (Let’s spill the digital tea 🫖 )
We talk about trust constantly in marketing, but half the time it feels like we are trying to reverse engineer human emotion with spreadsheets. Spoiler: trust does not start in a dashboard. It starts with how people feel when they see you show up. Here are a few things that genuinely make people think, Alright… I’ll give this person a follow: 1. Consistency Not posting every single day as if you live inside Canva, but showing up regularly enough that people remember your name. Think of it as brushing your teeth. Do it often enough and things shine naturally. 2. Transparency Sharing the real process, even the slightly messy bits. People trust what feels human, not what feels filtered to perfection. 3. Being genuinely helpful A small tip, a shortcut, a perspective shift. If you make someone’s life easier, they are far more likely to stick around. Give value without making it feel like a TED Talk audition. 4. Stories that actually connect No one remembers a wall of text (except this one) but everyone remembers a story that made them nod, laugh, or feel seen. Bonus points if you make fun of your past self a little. 5. Proof that does not scream “look at me” Wins, examples, screenshots, behind the scenes. Think of it as social proof sprinkled on top, not poured like gravy on your Sunday lunch. At the end of the day, trust is less about tactics and more about making people feel like they know you well enough to stay for the next post. What builds trust fastest for you when you follow someone new?