What the trust recession actually is, and how to build trust at every step of your customer journey
Trust is so hard to earn online right now; between AI-everything and shiny sales tactics, our audience are TIRED! In this episode I’m digging into what the trust recession actually means for us as business owners, and what we can do to connect more and build more trust at each stage of the buyer’s journey.
Why trust is the thing your business needs most right now (and how to build it at every step)
"The trust recession" is one of those phrases that seems to get thrown around a lot at the moment, so I wanted to dig into what it actually means, and what it means for us as business owners.
Trust is so hard to gain from audiences nowadays, yet I truly believe trust is the thing we need most in our businesses. Wwe need to be building trust with our audiences for them to actually buy from us, hire us and book our services.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE:
The Trust Gap Audit (free 5-minute trust score + full report for your business): https://www.byrosanna.co.uk/trust
Episode 129: 7 questions your website should answer to convert clients: https://www.byrosanna.co.uk/podcast/questions-website-should-answer
Sign up to my weekly ‘Re:Fresh’ emails: https://www.byrosanna.co.uk/newsletter
Say hi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/by.rosanna/
More about byRosanna (website design & business resources): https://www.byrosanna.co.uk/
What is the trust recession?
The trust recession is the idea that there just isn't enough trust in businesses and brands to go around anymore. People have been over-hyped, oversold and disappointed so many times that they're far more suspicious, and far choosier about who they buy from and work with.
AI has made us all suspicious of what's real
The creation and widespread use of AI has made it so hard to tell what's been made by a human versus what's been made by a robot, essentially. Whether that's creative services, writing, imagery, graphics, art, music, video content, or even just the way people interact online.
We've had bot comments on social media for a long time (you could pay a tool to write loads of fake engagement on people's posts). But now we've got AI versions, where it looks almost like a real human is commenting, because an AI tool has actually analysed the post and written something that makes sense in relation to it. It's not just "this is great 😊" anymore. But it's still not a human.
We're tired of the same shiny sales tactics
We're also just tired of companies, big brands and even small brands using the same shiny sales tactics. Even within the online business industry, we're bored of hearing the same pain point marketing again and again, and seeing the same fake countdown timers.
And then there are the Facebook and Instagram ads promising amazing things, where you buy the thing, it doesn't live up to the experience, and you're disappointed because your expectations were set so high. We've been bombarded and saturated with marketing and sales talk to the point where everyone's a bit more suspicious. A lot of people have been burnt before, and they don't want to get burnt again.
What buyers want now (myself included)
So we're way more choosy about who we work with. When I think about what I want now when I'm buying things or hiring service providers, my priorities are different to what they were maybe 6 years ago, and I expect it's the same for a lot of other people, including the people who buy my services:
I want to connect with a real human. I want to see a human's face, real humans using a product, or the real service provider I'm talking to.
I don't want overly formal, polished communication or content. I want authenticity that shows me this is someone I can connect with, not a bot or a big faceless company, or someone who isn't being fully transparent.
I want easy ways to learn about someone and their values, and to connect with them more, maybe through a podcast or an email list, before I decide to work with them or buy their thing.
I want to be treated like a human, not a number. That covers launch sales tactics, the way someone speaks in their content and emails, their onboarding experience, and the communication you get before actually working with them.
What people need to see before they'll trust your business
So what can we take from this? To trust us as businesses, people need to see 3 things:
Connection. Ways to connect with you, understand your vibe, and get a feel for what you're like and what your approach is.
Credibility. Actual proof that you can do what you say you can.
Consistency. Actually showing up: being consistent with communication, and as consistent as you can be with content, so people can see you're in this for the long term and not a pop-up, overhyped, viral brand.
How to build trust at every step: my TIDAL framework
Over nearly 12 years in business, working with hundreds of clients through website design, marketing and my courses, I've developed what I call my TIDAL framework. It maps out the 5 steps of the customer journey, and what you need at each step for people to trust you, go deeper into your world, and become loyal clients who come back again and again (and refer you, again and again).
T is for Traffic
How are people actually discovering you and getting to your website? Maybe that's through socials, maybe search (AI search or Google).
When someone discovers you for the first time, are they understanding straight away who you are, who you're for, what makes you stand out and why they should trust you? Are your content and the way you've set up your social profiles getting that across immediately to those cold audience people?
I is for Interest
This is where people have heard of you and are now interested in what you do, so they go and have a poke around your website.
Your website is your core trust-building asset. It has to feel like you and give off the right vibe. It should answer all your visitors' questions before they even have to ask them (I covered this in last week's episode on the 7 questions your website should answer). It should clearly show what you offer and how you can help them specifically, and it should have a clear way for people to go deeper with you.
D is for Dipping their toes in
They've been poking around your website and they're interested. Now what can they do to take it a step further and get a taster of what it's like to be in your world? You want them to be able to binge your content, get a taste of what you offer, or connect with you more deeply.
That can look like a few things:
A podcast, because people can binge it and get to know you on a much deeper level
A blog or resources page
An email list (one of my main ways to do this, and another incredible trust-building asset). That means having a freebie, lead magnet or what I call a free taster offer: something valuable they sign up for that gives them a quick win, so they can get a feel for who you are and what it's like to work with you.
A is for Affinity
How do people start becoming a real fan of yours? I believe this is best done through email marketing.
Once someone has signed up for your free thing and they're on your list, are you sending them regular emails? Keeping in touch, sharing what's going on behind the scenes, your unique takes on things, how you can help them, and how you overcome any objections they have about working with you or buying your product?
And not only weekly newsletters, but automations that send specific emails to specific people based on what they're interested in. There's so much you can do with email to build trust, because:
You're not fighting an algorithm. You're right there in someone's inbox, which they've already trusted you to pop into.
You can personalise email to an extent you can't with social content.
L is for Loyalty
Once someone has bought from you or hired you, how are you keeping them coming back as a loyal client or customer, or referring other people to you? That's where the real money is, honestly, because your existing clients and customers are your hottest leads. I'll say that again and again and again.
Find out where you're leaking trust
Trust is hard to earn right now, but that's exactly why it's worth building into every step of your customer journey. The businesses that show up as real, credible, consistent humans are the ones people will choose.
If you want to see how your business is doing, I've built a free Trust Gap Audit.
Pop in a few details about your business and within 5 minutes you'll get a trust score for your overall customer journey, plus a full report walking through each TIDAL stage (your traffic, social and search, your website, and your dipping-their-toes-in and affinity stages), with tips on how to improve.
It's built on everything I've learned over the last 12 years helping hundreds of clients and students create trust-building content, websites and email strategies. Get your FREE audit here now →
