Your audience members on your marketing channels can think you’re funny and cute and even someone they’d love to be friends with. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will pay you to do what you do for clients. 

They have to believe that you have the skills to make a positive impact in your specific area of expertise. They’re putting time, money, effort and in some cases their reputation in your hands. It’s a specific and in-depth level of trust to make the decision to work with you. 

For example, while I trust my boyfriend in many ways and on many levels, I wouldn’t hand over the delivery of my client’s content to him if I suddenly got sick. He would have the best intentions but he would have no idea what to do. 

Fortunately, there is content you can put out on a regular basis to build the strength and specificity of trust your potential clients need to have in you to become paying clients and therefore make sales from your content marketing efforts. 

Here are some content prompts to get you started… 

Learn from mistakes 

I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t trust anyone who thinks that they are perfect. It’s suspicious and indicates to a lack of self-awareness that would concern me when considering paying them to do work for me. 

So to build trust that you can do it right, reveal when you’ve got it wrong. Outline a mistake you have made and the lessons you learnt from it as well as how you have embedded your learnings into how you work with clients now. 

For example: Take it from me, don’t _ if you want to…

Reflect on case studies 

Testimonials from previous clients are great but we can do better to build even more trust when we share them. What’s always in the back of my mind when I read testimonials shared by people I’m considering working with is ‘But is that possible for me?’

I’m worried there’s something about the client that would make it easier for them to get results and so I wouldn’t be able to replicate their success. Eliminate that fear and build trust by reflecting on how you were able to get the results stated in the testimonial. What strategies did you use, what action did you take and what change were you able to foster for the client?

For example: Exactly how I took [client name] from [before] to [after]

Refine your approach

With all the good that social media has brought to our lives, it sure does give people a space to share a lot of BS. Let’s be honest. That means your potential clients have probably already been told all sorts about your area of expertise, how to overcome their problem and what it takes to get results. 

Show that you stand for something - your proven strategies and techniques - and don’t just follow what’s popular by sharing your thoughts on common debates within your niche. Historically have people got something wrong about your niche? Is there something about your approach which is fairly unique and everyone else is underestimating? Is there a trend going around that you just don’t believe in? Share your two cents on what works and what doesn’t for transparency. 

For example: As a [your profession] I would never ask you to…

There you have it - 3 content ideas for the marketing material you can put out this week to build trust with your audience members. 

If you found this helpful, copy the URL and share it with a fellow business owner. They can sign up to be the first to hear about next week’s content prompts by scrolling to the sign up form at the bottom of the page. 

Feeling stuck because you like these content ideas but know you just don’t have the time or headspace to turn them into pieces of content for your business? I can write your content for you. 

Go make content magic!