So you’ve been on social media for a while now. You have a great group of friends that you often engage with and you enjoy those conversations. But do you have social trust? So many of us forget that being on social media is different from being successful on social media. To gain real ROI from your time on social media, you have to build social trust. What is it and why is it so important? We invited content conversion strategist, Deb Coman, to help us understand. Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Deb Coman
Topic: Building social trust on Twitter
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
When you engage with other people’s content on social media, you earn social trust. Think of it like currency that you can leverage to grow your brand further. The more you focus on building relationships with others and genuinely engaging with their content, the more social trust you’ll gain.
A1 Social trust is a currency we earn by building relationships through engaging with content.
We cultivate it faster and more effectively when we shift our focus from posting our own content to engaging with other people’s content in a meaningful way.#TwitterSmarter
— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) September 1, 2022
As Christine pointed out, know, like, and trust are the three pillars of building a brand on social media. When people who know and like you start talking about you because you bring value to them, that’s when you gain social trust.
A1.
Connects to my favorite three words:
Know, Like, Trust
Social trust is when you get to the last of those three: people who know you and like you also trust that you know what you’re talking about and they can rely on that information.
❤️#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/T664LiTDJA— Christine Gritmon ❤️ (@cgritmon) September 1, 2022
It’s important because people buy from and refer people they trust. That’s why every time you open Twitter, you have a chance to earn people’s trust.
A2 With over 237 million active daily users, our ideal clients, referral sources, and collaborative partners are on Twitter.
They need to trust us before they'll buy, refer, or collaborate.
Each time we open the platform, we have an opportunity to earn trust.#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/4la6KYR7E0
— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) September 1, 2022
As Richard added, without social trust, you’ll only be adding to the white noise that’s prevalent on Twitter already.
A2: Without trust and respect, you are just throwing noise into the either that helps neither you or those who are following you. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/d0RLwBIhT8
— Richard Dedor ☕️ (@RichardDedor) September 1, 2022
Most people naturally think that someone with a high follower count has a lot of trust. Not true. Neither is the idea that trust is relative to the time you spend on social media or the number of new articles you share every week. It’s about the quality of your engagements—not the quantity.
A3 Some common misconceptions about trusting people on Twitter are that trust is relative to:
✅ Follower count
✅ Time on the platform
✅ Amount of original content sharedThe best strategy on Twitter is to engage! #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/Jp6ol15yQz
— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) September 1, 2022
Our friends from GiveWP shared a few more common misconceptions about trusting people on Twitter. The biggest one is also the most prevalent among those new to social media: they think they can build trust overnight. Won’t happen. It’s also a bad idea to ignore negative comments or engagement thinking that they’ll go away automatically. Yet another common misconception is that trust is a one-way street. It’s not. If you want your audience to trust you, you have to be trusting, too.
A3) From a brand perspective, I think there's a misconception that:
💚 You can build trust overnight
💚 Ignoring negative sentiment is okay
💚 Trust goes one way (brand to consumer) #TwitterSmarter— GiveWP 🌻 (@GiveWP) September 1, 2022
Our guest shared a few great ways to prepare yourself before posting. Use the TRUST model: Take account of your current Twitter feed to find relevant ideas and people,
Reflect on what you’ve read and gather your thoughts, Unleash your creative element, Set up a plan to build connections, and Take action and start engaging with people.
A4 Build trust on Twitter before you even post with T-R-U-S-T:
T – Take account of the feed to find relevance
R – Reflect to gather thoughts
U – Unleash creativity and be yourself
S – Set intention for connection
T – Take action and engage#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/9rMdZbMWwD— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) September 1, 2022
Madalyn shared her best ways to build trust: engage often and engage genuinely.
A4. If you want to build trust, regularly share high-quality, valuable content your community will enjoy. Also, take the time to engage in genuine conversations with others on the platform. Allow them to get to know you better. #TwitterSmarter
— Madalyn Sklar Digital Marketing since 1996 (@MadalynSklar) September 1, 2022
The usual suspects all feature on the list of things you shouldn’t do when you’re trying to build trust. Don’t only post your own content, don’t over-schedule or disappear often, and don’t try and be someone else.
A5 So many pitfalls to avoid when trying to build trust on Twitter. Here are a few:
🚫 Only posting your own content
🚫 Posting and ghosting
🚫 Inconsistent presence
🚫 Overautomating
🚫 Not sharing what makes you YOU!#TwitterSmarter— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) September 1, 2022
Another thing to avoid, as Laura pointed out, is to interfere in conversations when you don’t have anything valuable to add. That and being overly self-promotional.
A5: Avoid butting into conversations when you have nothing of value to add.
Avoid being overly focused on yourself or your products/services.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/r7TSrKTwTo
— Laura Denny (@ldcreativemedia) September 1, 2022
They sure are! As our guest explained, when you collaborate with others, you share the trust you’ve both built. However, to get the most benefit from collaboration, make sure that you both share the same values and find something that’s mutually beneficial.
A6 Collaborations and partnerships are trust-builders!
When you team up with a trusted person or brand, some of their earned trust organically transfers to you, as does your earned trust to them.
Ensure:
✅ Alignment
✅ Shared values
✅ Mutual benefit#TwitterSmarter— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) September 1, 2022
As Nathalie pointed out, collaboration is also a great way for you to rally your community into supporting you and the brand you’re partnering with. It actively involves your audience and that helps them like and trust you more.
A6: #collaborations & #strategic #partnership allow you to “rally your #allies!” They provide credibility as well as leverage! #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/uM2IxKW14Z
— Nathalie Gregg #LeadLoudly (@NathalieGregg) September 1, 2022
If there’s been some form of conflict, always be willing to listen to what the other person has to say. Ask questions and try and understand their point of view. Don’t react instinctively.
A7 When someone disagrees with my idea or opinion, my hope is to pause and listen, ask more questions, truly understand their perspective first, so that I can respond instead of react.#TwitterSmarter
— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) August 25, 2022
To start rebuilding trust, firstly, acknowledge your mistake and take responsibility for any damages caused. Then, actively try and make amends while communicating with your audience—ask for the opportunity to make things right.
A7 Rebuild trust after a negative incident by:
✅ Owning responsibility
✅ Acknowledging consequences and the impact
✅ Making amends
✅ ASKING for the opportunity to earn back trust#TwitterSmarter— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) September 1, 2022
Our guest gave a shout-out to many names familiar to the #TwitterSmarter community: Julia Bramble, Winnie Sun, Nathalie Gregg, Kate Bour, Madalyn Sklar, and Christina Garnett. Every one of them is a great example of a brand engaging with their audience genuinely and building lasting relationships—check them out.
A8 These people are the face of their brands and do a great job of building social trust because they engage in a meaningful way and champion others:@JuliaBramble@WinnieSun@NathalieGregg @KateBour@MadalynSklar @ThatChristinaG
Let's all make the list!#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/v8lBvR6cT2
— Deb Coman #SocialTrust (@DebComanWriting) September 1, 2022
Masooma named a few corporate brands. Grammarly, ClickUp, and Loom all do a great job of building social trust.
A8. @Grammarly, @clickup, and @loom all do great jobs at earning their audience’s trust by taking a value-first approach. #TwitterSmarter
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) September 1, 2022
Well folks, that’s all from me this week. Thanks for reading through and for more great insights from our chat with Deb have a look at this Twitter Moment that Joana put together for us. If you like this summary, you’ll love the real-time chat. Join us next Thursday at 1 pm ET for #TwitterSmarter. We also have an after-chat on Twitter Spaces at 5 pm ET. See you there!
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write all the things—marketing stuff to pay the bills; haiku and short stories so I feel wholesome. A social media enthusiast, I hang out with the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and am always happy to take on writing gigs.
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