Today, gaining – and retaining – trust is one of the most challenging tasks facing brands. One highly effective strategy is to provide valuable and reliable insights that earn respect and loyalty of your audience. But how exactly do you start building trustworthy content?
It shouldn’t be surprising that people are much more likely to believe a statement if they find the source trustworthy. But in an era of fake news and online misinformation, it is harder for companies to gain their audiences’ trust.
This blog post outlines three tactics you should consider implementing to strengthen and build trustworthy content for your articles, blog posts, and whitepapers.
What is trustworthy content anyway?
According to the largest and most trusted online dictionary, Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, the term ‘trustworthy’ is defined as something you can rely on to be good, honest, or sincere (1).
Why is this relevant for companies?
In a recent study, the award-winning global public relations consultancy firm Edelman discovered that 61% of people are willing to advocate for a brand they trust. Similarly, 57% are prepared to purchase a product or service from a brand they trust (2).
Building trust is a powerful way to boost sales and marketing. And providing reliable, meaningful content is the number one way to build trust with an audience.
So, here are a few tips to get started.
1: Produce original, scientifically backed content
The best way to level up your content is to produce original content. Not only does it benefit your brand, but it reduces the risk of restating mistakes, inconsistencies, or misinterpretations when referencing others’ work or appearing to endorse their views. You are simply reducing the potential for error by removing the middleman when you produce content based on your knowledge.
Sound intimidating? Don’t worry, you don’t have to be Einstein to create great content. Maybe you have scientists or researchers working in your company – perhaps they are doing great science. Pick their brains over coffee, let them talk about their work and then get writing.
You could aim for a whitepaper, or a shorter piece, such as a blog post. Writing from your company’s grassroots can help position your company as a trusted source in its niche industry (more on that later).
Think about your options beyond academia and how you can include expert-level knowledge in more accessible mainstream content.
2: Use scientific and authoritative references
Backing up quotes, facts, and statistics with sources may be a no-brainer for most copywriters. If not, it should be. Referencing scientific and authoritative sources is like building the bricks of your house; you need the content to endure. So if your source is solid, your information is more likely to stand scrutiny.
Referencing is a great way to be transparent in how you are building your viewpoints and claims. And we offer some great tips to get started here. Your readers will value a chance to visit the source and learn more.
Moreover, using outbound links is a good signal to search engines that can help increase your organic rankings and visibility to your audience.
Using authoritative sources like the internationally recognized University of Copenhagen also adds expertise, industry knowledge, and authority to your content. Harvard Business School is not the only credible institution; you can find good scientific content on various platforms like ScienceDirect, PubMed, and MedLine.
Even though using references doesn’t sound sexy in content marketing, ensure you always use original sources (Wikipedia is a no-go). Nowadays, it is so easy to find information online, but this also increases the chances of misquoting information that is not always accurate. The New York Times wrote about why checking references isn’t a waste of time (3).
3: Share cutting-edge knowledge within your industry
If you’re not already providing cutting-edge domain knowledge, you should start doing it right away. Whether you are an early-stage startup or a big corporate company, this is an excellent opportunity to share trustworthy content while positioning yourself as an expert in your industry.
Setting your goals for writing premium content is about aiming high. Better to aim high than too low and undersell your value.
For startups working on new solutions or platform technologies, we get that you are probably not interested in sharing too much inside knowledge, as it increases the chances for competitors to snap up your ideas. Don’t worry – you don’t have to reveal your entire business strategy.
For example, suppose you are a health tech company that uses AI and deep learning to support clinical decisions. In that case, you could create a piece referencing the common barriers to implementing these technologies, as outlined in deep learning and neurology research(4).
Or perhaps you are a company that addresses audiences interested in Fintech solutions? Then you may want to educate them on how your marketing services are ethical and align with, for example, the notion of decentralization and global inclusion benefits that blockchain or e-money solutions can have. Here it could be relevant to refer to the status of ethical marketing in the blockchain-based sharing economy, a well-researched compilation of insights published in the highly-ranked Journal of Business Ethics (5).
Sharing relevant knowledge about state-of-the-art technologies and exciting stories about your industry can also help attract relevant partners – or better still, potential VCs. In the end, taking active steps to share your expertise benefits everyone.
Trustworthy content is a win-win
At the end of the day, striving to write better content that is valuable for readers is how brands can build trust. To earn that trust through content, you must provide meaningful and relevant contributions your audience would want to advocate.
To successfully establish a trustworthy brand voice, it is essential that you consistently produce valuable, researched content, using authoritative references and sharing your domain knowledge, even though it takes time. The results will be worth it.
Not sure where to start?
Not to worry, we’re here to provide access to plenty of original content, vetted and backed by trustworthy sources for your content marketing efforts.
At ContentAvenue, we believe in the power of originality, quality, and integrity to help you engage your audiences and exceed your goals.
References
- Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. trustworthy adjective, 2022, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/trustworthy.
- Edelman. Trust, The New Brand Equity, 23 June 2021, https://www.edelman.com/trust/2021-brand-trust/brand-equity.
- The New York Times. Why Checking References Isn’t a Waste of Time, 2011, https://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/why-checking-references-isnt-a-waste-of-time/?searchResultPosition=1.
- Valliani, A.AA., Ranti, D. & Oermann, E.K. Deep Learning and Neurology: A Systematic Review. Neurology and Therapy 8, 351–365 (2019). doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40120-019-00153-8
- Tan, T.M., Salo, J. Ethical Marketing in the Blockchain-Based Sharing Economy: Theoretical Integration and Guiding Insights. Journal Business Ethics (2021). doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-05015-8
