Have you got a plan to build trust with your audience or just a communication plan? Good Public Relations (PR) is about creating trust in your brand. It’s a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their public or audiences. Ethical public relations practices seek the truth and provide accurate and balanced information.

However, this is increasingly difficult in our current age. The internet has allowed for a free flow of information that has led to a new level of transparency between people, businesses and consumers.

This podcast today is inspired by a particularly challenging week communicating with my teenager and the perils of social media they are exposed to daily.

Let’s dive in!

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Links mentioned in this episode:

Lynn PR Misinformation Cell / definitions:​​https://lynn.global/welcome-to-the-misinformation-cell/ 

BBC Education Survey: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/61856053 

Full transcript (unedited)

Have you got a plan to build trust with your audience or just a communication plan? Good Public Relations (PR) is about creating trust in your brand. It’s a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their public or audiences. Ethical public relations practices seek the truth and provide accurate and balanced information.

However, this is increasingly difficult in our current age. The internet has allowed for a free flow of information that has led to a new level of transparency between people, businesses and consumers.

This podcast today is inspired by a particularly challenging week communicating with my teenager and the perils of social media they are exposed to daily.

Let’s dive in!

Public Relations is often misunderstood. It’s about more than just getting your brand name out there. In fact, public relations is all about building trust. Trust between you and your customers, and between you and your employees.

This has been a double-edged sword for many companies, as the increased transparency has also led to increased scrutiny. To succeed in this new landscape, it is more important than ever for companies to focus on developing trust with their consumers.

But Public Relations is one of the most important tools that companies have at their disposal when it comes to developing trust.

And Social Media has become a great tool for Public Relations. But there are two very distinct sides to this as a tool. Yes, it can be used for good, but it can also be used to spread hate, and fake news. Bad people build trust too, and can draw people into their world. The harsh truth is social media has made this easier for them to do that.

Everything from vaccine theories, climate conspiracy, political shaming, and more can be spread on social media, so it can be hard to know what to believe. Especially if you are vulnerable.

There are bad people targeting young folk online and trying to manipulate their behavior and this isn’t a few people on the outer edges of the dark web, these are influencers with more followers and video views than the Kardashians. Largely unregulated, it is a blessing and a curse.

A new study conducted earlier this year by BBC Education found that nearly half of young people aged between 11 and 16 tend to believe the news they see on social media – often regardless of the source.

So how do you build trust in your company products and services when people are potentially less trusting of what they read on social media? Especially if you are not on social media, or more importantly, your audience is not either?

Firstly: Do you have a strategy for how your business moves people along from hearing about you to liking and trusting you enough to become a customer?

One of the many things PR can help with is creating that journey to support your sales process. All the interactions a customer has with you are mapped out so your leads are more informed about you and become warmer. They will be closer to working with you than they were when they first heard of you. This is the ‘know, like, trust’ pathway.

Using PR this way can influence your lead generation and become an essential cog in that sales wheel. It takes some strategic thinking, not just putting content out there. Having a sustained effort over a period of time means you will reap the benefits in the long run.

Here are a few tips on how to build trust without using social media:

First, whatever channel you are using, have a clear and consistent message. This means that your employees, marketing, and sales teams are all saying the same thing about your product or service.

Second, be transparent. Be open about your business practices and let your customers see what goes on behind the scenes.

Third, make sure your website is up to date and provides accurate information. Nothing turns off a potential customer more than outdated information or a website that is difficult to navigate.

Fourth, provide excellent customer service. This means being responsive to customer inquiries and complaints.

No matter what route you choose, make sure that your message is clear and consistent. You want your audience to know what your company stands for, and why they should trust you.

One of the many things PR can help with is creating that journey to support your sales process. All the interactions a customer has with you are mapped out so your leads are more informed about you and become warmer. They will be closer to working with you than they were when they first heard of you. Again, this is the ‘know, like, trust’ pathway.

Using PR this way can influence your lead generation and become an essential cog in that sales wheel. It takes some strategic thinking, not just putting content out there. Having a sustained effort over a period of time means you will reap the benefits in the long run.
How do you go about helping leads get to know, like and trust your business?

FInally, using your email list to build trust with people in B2B is essential these days and – if you haven’t got an email list – this is something you should be working on devleoping. These are people who have chosen to be in your world already. So they will already have taken a step with you by being on your list. Nurture them with tips, advice and providing value so that when you come to talk about their needs, they will already understand how you can help.

I will be doing a Deep Dive on this topic in the coming weeks with a guest expert, so look out for that.

Have you got a plan on how to build and maintain trust with your potential customer and other audiences?