How to Establish Audience Trust on Social Media

We’ve all heard horror stories about what can happen if you trust the wrong person or company online.

The digital sphere is saturated with illusion, self-promotion, and carefully curated content. So, it’s hardly surprising that only 27% of UK residents trust the information they receive from social media brands and personalities. 

For small businesses and individuals building a personal brand, this scepticism can present challenges while trying to grow a loyal, trusting audience.  But, with the right social media strategy, you can raise brand awareness, trust, and credibility.

Here’s the story:

Why Audiences Struggle to Trust Social Media Information

Social media is to modern civilisation what the agora was to the Ancient Greeks: a public space where communication, trade, and ideas are shared. 

Unlike the Ancient Greeks, who experienced trade and information through face-to-face relations, social media affords ill-intentioned businesses anonymity. 

A digitally-based, fraudulent business isn’t held accountable by a local community, nor does it rely on positive word-of-mouth reviews to sustain its reputation.

Social media is a vast space where the lack of face-to-face interaction and local oversight enable a seamless spread of misinformation and deceptive business practices, resulting in lower general trust. 

Meanwhile, social media users are no longer naïve. There’s plenty of easily accessible research on how users and businesses deploy artificial social media personas to portray an idealised version of their life, product, or intellect. People are also waking up to the concept of fake AI-generated influencers.

Understandably, the latest studies show nearly 90% of consumers no longer trust information and product endorsements they receive from influencers, but this doesn’t mean trust has been eradicated online. 

There’s Been a Shift in Where Audiences Trust Online

“Trust is shifting–away from mega-influencers, away from mega-corporations and instead, it comes closer to home.” were the words of Adam Rodricks during the ‘Trust me, I googled it” author’s 2023 Ted Talk in Toronto. 

It’s a belief representative of the contemporary “fake news” low-trust digital sphere audiences operate in. 

Audiences, who until recently sought information outside of their immediate network through influencer endorsements, mainstream media coverage, and corporation communication, trust their personal experiences and, in the absence of their own, experiences of people they know.

Take the case of Ariana Renee, an influencer with over 2.9 million followers on Instagram. In 2019 Renee was tasked with selling 36 t-shirts to her audience as an initial run to launch her own clothing line in partnership with a brand—but she couldn’t do it.

The influencer’s failure to convert just 36 of her 2.9 million followers into buyers embodies the modern view that audiences no longer value the endorsements of mega-influencers, but real testimonials from real people.

Small businesses and individuals looking to build trust online must focus on genuine engagement, connection, and transparency when communicating with their audiences. 

Focusing on Value, Not Promotion

Despite this, quantitative metrics; follower counts, likes, and views are among the most significant measures in social media marketing. Yet qualitative metrics are equally, if not more important.

Generating discussion, engagement, and clicks on social media, if you know what to say, isn’t that perplexing–anyone can do it. SEO experts and social media managers know how to articulate a headline, design a thumbnail, or present a post to attract easy engagement.

Yet, when users feel “clickbaited” there’s a lingering feeling of disappointment and resentment for the business or individual who wasted their time. Eventually, users learn to avoid social media traps.

Producing valuable, thought-provoking, and, ultimately, trust-building social media profiles, is more challenging. It requires evoking emotion in the receptor, authenticity, and substance.

Social media accounts that feel valuable to audiences don’t need hundreds of thousands of followers, likes, or clicks to honestly communicate an identity and increase connection.

The Importance of Authentic, High-Quality Content

There are a plethora of methods social media managers can deploy to enhance the connection a user feels to a brand or individual. Among the most prominent, is authentic high-quality content. 

Consider the most impactful, meaningful, and persuasive forms of content you consume on social media. Often, it isn’t the biggest budgets that convey trust and authenticity to us.

At times, scrolling through Instagram can feel, in the most draining way, like browsing the pages of a high-end fashion or lifestyle magazine. While undoubtedly luxurious perfection creates audience intrigue, it rarely reflects their reality.

This illusion of reality, while it does possess aesthetic appeal, is disconnecting. In the real world, it’s human nature to trust authenticity over idealised projections – and it’s no different online.

When consumers, viewers, or readers are looking to build a relationship and feel connected with a social media personality or business, they want to see real life; vulnerabilities, personal stories, and imperfections.

So, how can brands and individuals use social media content to enhance audience trust?

Emphasising Business Values and Mission above Profit and Clicks

Audiences are increasingly wary of brands that oversell their products on social media. As earlier alluded, audiences are now aware of social media’s illusion. 

Research shows that when customers feel connection with a brand’s authenticity and truth, 57% are likely to increase their spending, and 76% prefer buying from them over a competitor.

Abstaining from overselling may feel counterproductive, but the payoff is significant.

Consumers are drawn to brands that stand for something beyond profits.

According to Forbes, a brand’s mission, corporate social responsibility, or interest in community engages its social media audiences and creates a deeper sense of trustworthiness.

So, if a brand has a particular value beyond monetary gain, it’s essential to make its pursuit central to social media content marketing.

This can be created through:

• Sharing stories about how the brand actively supports its mission, such as partnering with charitable organisations or implementing sustainable practices.
• Highlighting community involvement, like participating in local events or supporting small businesses.
• Posting updates on corporate social responsibility initiatives, such as reducing carbon emissions or creating inclusive workplace policies.
• Showcasing employee or customer testimonials that align with the brand’s core values, emphasising the human side of the business.
• Using visual content—photos, videos, or infographics—to demonstrate the tangible impact of the brand’s efforts beyond profit.

One brand that does this successfully is Patagonia – a climbing apparel manufacturer – that uses its social media platforms to advocate for environmental protection, highlight sustainable practices, and promote initiatives such as repairing old gear or selling unwanted clothes.

These messages dominate the brand’s social media feeds, while their products and monetary pursuits appear secondary. 

Producing Behind-the-Scenes Content Works for Small Businesses

Social media and branding experts recommend showing behind-the-scenes content to increase trust and transparency – it’s a continuation of the overriding trust-building philosophy “sell your brand, not your product.”

By offering a sneak peek into its process, businesses can bridge the gap between the brand and the audience, building a more personal and impactful relationship. 

Behind-the-scenes content, particularly for smaller businesses, humanises the brand. It reassures consumers that there’s an approachable face, personality, or group behind the product or service they’re buying.

There’s less concern about encountering an online horror story if there are real people showcasing a real process, holding themselves accountable and approachable to audiences.

Often, behind-the-scenes content details the less romanticised, time-consuming, and costly elements of building a brand, creating favorability and understanding of pricing strategies among audiences. 

The Forum Store – a small Swindon, UK-based streetwear retailer – has amassed an engaged, trusting 67,000 following on Instagram by creating daily videos of the store’s staff engaging with the local community in coffee shops before shifts and working on the shop floor while wearing their latest clothing drops. 

These day-in-the-life videos create a perception among digital audiences that the Forum Store is community-oriented, personable, and hard-working, deepening their sense of trust and connection to the brand.

Creating Content That Adds Value – Providing Tips, Tutorials, or Unique Insight

Generally, audiences’ routine scrolls through social media are habitual and a result of addiction, rather than a deep desire to make impulsive purchases online. Because of this, trust-building social media content must attempt to add value rather than directly sell. 

A study by Content Marketing Institution found brands that offer educational content—like tutorials or informative videos—help to add trustworthiness and respectability to an online business. 

By delivering value-added content–such as tutorials, video walkthroughs, or industry secrets that are original and not available elsewhere, businesses give audiences a reason to remain engaged in their brand activities. 

Consider your social media activity: are you more likely to stay engaged with a business that attempts to sell relentlessly as a priority or one that delivers you with unique insight? 

Pure Gym – among the most established fitness institutions in the UK – does not persistently advertise membership deals through their social media channels, instead, the brand provides beginners with tutorials helping viewers improve their form and gain workout inspiration. 

This approach helps viewers considering signing up for the gym build a connection to the brand before they’ve lifted a weight. By offering valuable content that helps viewers build confidence and knowledge, Pure Gym creates a sense of familiarity and trust among audiences.

As a result, when viewers are ready to commit to a membership, they already have an established relationship with the brand, making the decision to join feel like a natural next step.

Understanding the Evolving Micro-Influencer Model

The principle of building audience trust extends beyond the content marketing strategies of the world’s biggest corporations–individuals of varying follower counts can incorporate the same techniques to build trust in their personal brands.

Mega-influencers, who advocate for all kinds of mixed messages, are losing audience trust. Today, for an individual to be deemed trustworthy by their followers, they must have insight, passion, and values that align with their content and the brands they endorse.

This shift in trust has paved the way for a new wave of online personalities – “micro-influencers”.

According to CMS Wire, a micro-influencer is a social media user with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers that operates within a specific niche. These individuals are considered more trustworthy than broader macro and mega-influencers, leading to higher conversion rates.

So, how do these micro-influencers create content that resonates with their audiences so deeply?

Creating Content That Aligns With Their Values Above Global Trends

To build trust and authority among social media audiences, micro-influencers must belong to a niche, or even sub-niche. Those whose interests and endorsements appear too broad risk being perceived as financially driven.

Likewise, those who consistently follow viral trends, suppressing their creativity, insight, and passion on a subject area, are deemed less trustworthy by social media consumers.

For content creators to develop a long-lasting rapport with their follower base, they must first establish exactly who they are and what their digital persona is – similar to businesses, who have to position themselves within the market.

When defining their digital identity or niche, content creators should ask themselves the following questions:

• What topics am I genuinely passionate about?
• What knowledge, personality, or unique experience do I bring to the table?
• Who is my ideal audience?
• What problems can I solve for my audience?

Rory Bradshaw–a social media personality who previously taught yoga in prisons–used his experience, interests, and personality to build an Instagram page documenting the practical ways his followers use physical activity to feel greater wellness.

Because Bradshaw’s pursuit, which he has related professional experience within, appears well-intentioned, the micro-influencer has an audience that trusts and is receptive to his messages. 

This trustworthiness makes him an attractive internet personality for fitness and wellness-related brands to work with.

Sharing Personal Stories About Their Journey, Challenges, and Milestones

92% of online Gen Z members reported experiencing negative consequences as a result of comparing themselves to others on social media, while 28% suggested these feelings were severe enough to prompt feelings of depression.

For audiences, social media personalities’ facade of perfection, success, and joy can feel alienating. The facade also creates a level of scepticism: “Can anybody look or feel that brilliant all the time?” users may question.

To cultivate honest relationships and deepen emotional resonance with their audiences, social media personalities should discuss the realities of their life, share the struggles and hard work of their journey, and celebrate their milestones online.

Studies suggest that social media users have an increased loyalty and admiration for personalities that are transparent about their mental health, as it creates relatability between the consumer and producer.

It’s easy to see how true this is—search for stories about anxiety, depression, or self-doubt on YouTube or Instagram, and you’ll find countless videos with millions of views and supportive comments.

Personal stories don’t need to be central to the video’s narrative but can work equally effectively as an underlying theme across content. 

Regal Gentlemen—a social media and YouTube-based professional barber specialising in hair loss—deepened his relationship with his audience as he gradually appeared to lose weight during his videos over the course of a year. This further humanised a personality that was already discussing sensitive themes.

Showcasing Their Unique Personality

There’s a distinct algorithmic personality that dominates social media—trend-chasing, polished, and optimised for maximum engagement.

While aligning content with algorithms and engagement metrics is advisable, shaping a digital persona solely around them is counterproductive—and audiences see through it.

Research indicates that while people curate their online personas, their audience often perceives them differently than intended.

A study by Cornell University found that the way individuals present themselves online sometimes deviates from their true selves, and these inconsistencies were visible to attentive, digitally native audiences. 

On the other hand, a more successful approach to building long-lasting trust among social media audiences is for users to showcase their unique personalities and then align their content with algorithmic criteria. 

Being Transparent About Collaborations and Adverts

It is a legal and ethical practice for social media personalities to be transparent about paid advertisements in their content, yet it is frequently ignored.

Being transparent about collaborations and adverts isn’t just for legal adherence–94% of social media users are likely to be loyal and trusting of a brand or personality that displays complete transparency.

When audiences are unsure whether they’re consuming a paid advert or endorsement, the validity of the content and the trust they place in the creator can diminish.

Jack Joseph–a 24-year-old among the most recognisable figures on TikTok–effectively and transparently incorporates funny paid advertisements into his viral skit videos.

Typically, in cases like these, brands ask social media influencers to create a skit around or featuring their product, rather than making it central to the video’s structure. This means that the audience, aware of what’s being advertised, maintains enjoyment and the brand simultaneously raises its awareness. 

Audiences are unlikely to be resentful or untrusting of content creators who naturally and seamlessly endorse brands that align with their personalities, but they will question ambiguous, random adverts.

Providing Quick and Responsive Communication 

While transparency in content is key to building trust, audiences expect timely and responsive communication, especially from smaller brands and personalities. 

If a consumer was browsing their local independent store and they had a question about a product or service, they’d be able to simply relay their thoughts to a customer service-trained member of staff nearby.

With the absence of face-to-face interactions, brand owners and personalities in the digital world can feel less accessible to consumers when they’re considering making a purchase, ultimately resulting in feelings of scepticism and distrust.

When small business owners and personalities are striving to build trust with their online audiences, it’s pivotal that they nail personal communication.

In fact, according to a 2021 study by HubSpot, 42% of consumers expect a response within an hour when they reach out to a brand on social media, and over 80% expect a response within 24 hours. When businesses or influencers fail to meet these expectations, it can harm their credibility and deter potential buyers.

Building Trust Through Design

Nike’s former marketing director and author of ‘Emotion by Design’, Greg Hoffman, spoke about the synonymous relationship between creative design and audience trust: 

“But it’s creativity that leads to a strong emotional response in that audience,” the 55-year-old said when discussing brand trust-building activities.

Creative design is something all brands, social media personalities, and service providers should incorporate into their profiles and content. 

Design on social media can mean many things, from the aesthetic presentation of ideas through engaging graphics on X, to underlying themes in Instagram photos that create a cultural resonance with the audience, or editing videos on YouTube in a way that produces a sense of awe among viewers.

Humans process images much faster than text, making visual storytelling a powerful tool on social media. By using consistent design elements—like brand colours, fonts, and imagery—you can create a cohesive brand identity that’s instantly recognisable, which helps build trust. 

Establishing Trust on Social Media: Conclusion

Building trust on social media requires playing the long game—it can’t be achieved through quick clicks, ambiguity, or chasing viral trends. As audiences have become more sceptical of social media illusions, and marketers recognise that high follower counts don’t always translate to influence, brands face pressure to use social media more thoughtfully.

By focusing on value rather than promotion, and ensuring that content is high-quality and meaningful, businesses can tell authentic stories that build trust without resorting to misleading tactics. For individuals, becoming an expert in their niche, sharing vulnerability, and avoiding overly polished personas can deepen emotional connections and resonate with audiences.

As we move forward, the brands that succeed will be those that humanise their digital presence, consistently engaging with their audiences in a transparent and authentic way. 

Trust is the foundation of customer loyalty, and in an era of oversaturated content, it remains the most valuable asset a brand can build.