You know that feeling when you recommend a brand to a friend without even thinking twice? Just a straight-up "trust me, go with them." That's when brand trust is put into action.
Building that kind of relationship with your audience is one of the most valuable things you can do for your brand. Not only is it good for business (though it really, really is), but it also means people are choosing you, over and over, and even bringing their friends.
In this article, we will look at what brand trust actually means, why it matters, and which practical steps entrepreneurs and founders can take to cultivate it.
What is brand trust
For me, trust is the most valuable asset out there for brands.
It’s a relationship with your clients that’s built over time, and it happens when people notice you are legit, when you deliver on your promises, and when you always act and communicate the same way.
Basically, when they know what to expect from you.
Why we need to cultivate brand trust
TL;DR: trust takes time to be built, and then, but then, it turns into loyalty.
No relationship is built without trust. The same goes for brands. No loyalty can exist without earned trust and, when that finally happens, you become their go-to person.
People know where to find solutions to their problems, just as they know which friend to call when they need to move out of their apartment and win those precious euros from the Kaution back.
Your brand becomes people’s trusted ally, so you don’t compete for prices or compare to a brand new name in the market. They still choose you; then they start recommending your brand, becoming what marketing people call an “advocate”.
Sweet.
However, as we say in Brazil, life ain’t a strawberry, or the German version, which I love: life is not a pony farm (Das Leben ist kein Ponyhof). Which means it takes time and work. Which also brings us to the next topic.
Trust then loyalty
Loyalty is built in the long term.
In an investment plan, it’s not just one deposit that builds wealth. Similarly, it’s not one campaign that makes you seem trustworthy.
A client becomes loyal when every interaction with your brand was great, consistently. A confirmation email, a product or service description, an honest apology, clear definitions of availability, real limitations instead of fake scarcity triggers…They need the slow accumulation of every message and interaction to follow what I call the trail of trust.
And that trail is built with communication. Through communication, a brand can:
- be clear and consistent, keep promises, and be honest when things go wrong;
- demonstrate shared values and act on them;
explain they understand your context and remember you, so your relationship becomes more personal;
- make their clients feel they made a smart choice.
Brands that communicate for long-term credibility rather than short-term persuasion tend to build relationships that last. Which also ends up being cheaper for you in the long run.
How to build brand trust
Ok, now for the good part. How do we even build this so-called trust?
To start, I like to remind my clients that, online, people don’t even know your brand is real at first, or if it even does the job it promises.
Online scams are at their highest, so people are naturally suspicious. That’s how we also behave as consumers, right?
That’s why I like thinking of leaving behind a trail of trust, a sequence of breadcrumbs you leave online to show that your brand exists and cares for clients, that there are interested people behind it, and that it successfully delivered its promise to other clients before.
This trail can be laid out in two levels: granular and high-level.
Granular level
To build trust on a granular level, ensure that:
- You show up often. Exposure goes a long way.
- Your photos and images are relevant to the audience or segment.
- No links are broken or outdated on your social media profiles, websites, or extra materials (like ebooks).
- No content is outdated, like your service names, personal info, or photos.
- You are predictable. If you say you’ll answer within 24 hours, then you do. If you say your newsletter goes out on Thursdays, it goes out on Thursdays. Try to keep the small promises.
High-level
On a higher level, though, it’s important to:
- Keep consistency. Every piece of communication should feel like it came from the same person, sharing the same values, the same voice, and the same level of care. Can people see you in all your social media posts, emails, podcast, or newsletter?
- Be honest about limitations. Brands that admit what they can't do are more trusted than those who oversell. Because you won’t be able to (nor should you) do everything. An honest framing goes a long way for building trust.
- Be transparent about your process. Showing how decisions are made, how services are prepared, or how problems are handled pulls customers behind the curtain, which shows how much effort you’ve put into this work.
- Act on your values. You probably saw a brand that claims to empower diversity and has the same old white dudes in leadership. Don’t be like them. If you value community, how are you creating services or projects that bring your community together? What does it mean in your day-to-day life?
This is a great list to get you going. By following these steps, you will start building or fine-tuning your brand trust so that people can find you, choose you and recommend you.
In a nutshell
Trust isn't built in a campaign or a single social media video. It's the slow accumulation of every interaction people had with your brand.
The proposal that was clear and transparent. The update you sent before your client had to ask. The feeling someone gets when working with you just... feels easy. It all helps create your trail of trust.
So take a moment to notice where things feel a little inconsistent (maybe it's your onboarding, maybe it's how you communicate changes) and see if you can close the gap, bit by bit.
Trust grows in the small things. Which means you can start building it today. So…How will you start?
Want to talk it through?
Hi there! I’m Marcela Paglione. I work with brand communication, and I help brands build trust online.
If this article got you thinking about your own brand, how you're showing up, where trust might be slipping, or just where to even start, I'd love to chat.
Send me a message on my socials or via email, and we can discuss it more! No pitch, no pressure. Just a conversation about where you are and where you want to go.
FAQs on brand trust
What is the difference between brand trust and brand loyalty?
Even though they are linked, brand trust is different than than brand loyalty.
Brand trust is a sentiment towards your brand. A judgement people make before they know you are safe to invest in.
Brand loyalty is a behavior. It's the act of recommending you and coming back after purchasing from you because the experience was positive.
Without trust, there's no loyalty.
How can you measure brand trust?
If you want to make sure people see your brand as trustworthy, there are metrics you can use that will help you put your hints into concrete numbers.
My favorite, mainly because it's the easiest one for entrepreneurs, is the Net Promoter Score® (NPS).
A high NPS, which measures how likely a customer is to recommend your brand to a friend. You probably receive many emails with this question. It's a simple scale from 1 to 10, one being the minimum, and 10 the maximum score.
Neatheless to say, if people are giving you a bad grade, something is blocking them from coming back.
Another great and easy metric is the churn rate. If people go to your website or email and leave or unsubscribe right away, there's clearly something wrong with it.
It shows there's a gap in your trail of trust, so go back to your system and the checklist shared earlier on this article to confirm what could be blocking people's way.
There are still many others, like retention rate, LTV and, of course, conversion rate. But, to keep it simple, stick to NPS and Churn rate for now. They will already give you a great start to fine-tune your communication and experience.
NPS, Net Promoter & Net Promoter Score are registered trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company and Fred Reichheld.
How can I make my brand seem more trustworthy?
To make sure your brand is perceived as legit and as a good choice for your clients and their friends, you have to consider what I call a trail of trust in both high and granular levels:
- Showing up often and ensure that people see you often enough.
- Making sure no content or link is outdated and your images are still relevant for your client.
- Keeping the small promises, like posting everytime you say you will.
- Keeping your communication consistent and sounding like you everywhere.
- Being honest about your limitations and not overpromising.
- Being transparent about your process and showing all the effort you put into your work.
- Acting on your values on your day-to-day life.
This is a great list to get you going. By following these steps, you will start building or fine-tuning your brand trust so that people can find you, choose you and recommend you.
However, if you want a personal approach for your brand, let’s have a chat. We can decide together how I can help you and only then we can decide on a consultancy call. No strings attached.
