People (or leads) aren’t buying from you yet, because they don’t know you enough and don’t trust you yet.
The best way we can build that trust?
Through your content.
But exactly what type of content?
I’m not an organic content expert as my expertise is in paid ads.
(For the longest time, I’ve been relying purely on paid ads to get customers for my businesses.)
However, when I started to experience the rising cost of acquiring a customer via ads, I started putting out more content to build trust.
The best thing about putting out content that builds trust is that instead of chasing customers, you’ll attract customers.
Combine your content with paid ads, do it long enough, and you should start seeing people enquiring about your product/service.
Like how in the last 2 months, I’ve gotten 6 new clients (I even had to reject a few) just by writing my newsletter and emails weekly.
So here are 3 types of content I’ve been putting out on my socials/emails that helps to build trust.
Quick note:
I won’t be going into detail on how to create the content, where to post them and whether it should be a IG story, reels or image/video.
But rather, I’ll be sharing the idea behind the type of content you should create.
You can post it anywhere, and of course, the higher the frequency of posting, the better it is.
#1 – “Proof” content
There are 2 main types of “proof” content. It’s client testimonials and WINS you have achieved through your work.
Client testimonials are your clients sharing about their experience working with you or sharing what you have helped them to achieve.
Wins are content where you share how you’ve helped your clients to achieve certain goals.
For client testimonials:
It can be in video form where your clients give their reviews about your work.
These days I see it done often in podcast style, where it’s more conversational, you talk and ask questions and get your client to share their thoughts.
How I used to do it was to film my customers talking about my service and sharing what they liked about it. These are usually short videos (1-2mins) and you can post them not just on social media, but also on your website.
If that’s too troublesome, you can simply get your client to give a written review via Whatsapp, and you can use a screenshot of that and post them.
Whenever you have a social proof type of content, it builds trust the fastest because potential customers can see and trust that other people have engaged with your service before.
For wins:
It could be a simple post of you writing HOW you help a client to solve certain problems or achieve certain goals.
For example, if you have friends who are realtors on Facebook (for me I have a lot and I see this often), you’ll see they usually post an image of them with their client, and the caption goes something like “happy buyer happy seller” whenever they make a successful transaction.
Or you’ll see them holding up a document whenever they close a deal.
That’s good, and that’s a “win” type of post.
But that’s not enough.
You should go one step further and WRITE MORE about how you achieve that goal.
If I were a realtor today…
Yes, I’ll write about “happy buyer happy seller”. I’ll write about closing a deal at a record price.
But I’ll dive deeper and explain HOW I did it.
I’ll explain the challenges I faced, how I came up with different solutions to combat these challenges, what can people learn from this experience, before summarising and celebrating that win.
This way, people on social media will know that you know your stuff, and you have the expertise to help them one day if they faced such a problem.
Do this often and soon you’ll be seen as the expert in the niche you’re in.
#2 – “Insights” content
This can be content where you share your thoughts on a relevant topic or experience in your niche.
Maybe it’s the latest change or trend.
Maybe it’s something to do with what you just experienced through your work.
For example, I noticed that running Messenger ads are giving my clients a lot of spam leads.
One client of mine decided to run ads to Whatsapp directly instead and that’s working pretty well for him.
This is a cool insight which I can share. It can be valuable to some people who are facing problems running Messenger ads.
But you don’t have to have all the answers to share insights.
It can just be you sharing your views on what you think may or may not happen.
How does this build trust?
Because when you share your thoughts on a topic…
You’re subconsciously building authority because of the simple fact that you can give a view about it.
Today, if someone asks me whether they should put their money in fixed deposits or insurance or index funds…
I wouldn’t know the answer because I’m not an expert when it comes to financial advice.
But if I’m asked to share which social media platform is the best platform to get buyers…
I definitely know what to say and I’ll share which platforms to focus on.
And once I give a clear view that shows that I know my stuff… people will subconsciously trust me and look to me for advice for marketing related issues.
#3 – “Documenting” content
This is the easiest type of content to create where you simply document what you’re doing at work.
Tuition teacher? Just snap a picture of a classroom, and write something like “preparing to teach the next class on algebra”.
Realtor? Take a video when you’re conducting a viewing. Show the home you’re helping to market and sell.
Coach? Take a screenshot of you conducting a Zoom call and share something cool you’re gonna teach.
When you document your process, you show people what you do (and that you’re real).
When they see enough of your content, they will know who to look for if they need help in that niche.
Key takeaway:
When you post a piece of content online and you want it to help you build trust…
Ask yourself these questions:
“Is this helpful/valuable?”
“Does it help to remind people what I do?”
“Does it show any outcome, results or process of my product/service?”
Do this (posting content) frequently enough…
And do it for a long time…
Without having expectations of seeing immediate results…
You’ll be surprised at where it can take you 1 year from now.
Ps:
If you have no idea how to start, let me help you – open up your FB/IG now, and just post a story related to your business. Just aim to post 1 story per day. And that’s a good enough start 🙂
