TRUST Is the New Currency: Why Modern Marketing Needs a Rethink - #65

Trust Is the New Attention

What’s more likely to get you to buy something—a glossy ad or your best friend’s recommendation?

Trust me, it’s the latter.

In an era where skepticism reigns and algorithms dictate visibility, how can brands truly earn the trust of their audience, and why is this trust more valuable than any digital currency?

Trust has emerged as the cornerstone of successful business interactions in the evolving digital marketing landscape, fundamentally reshaping how companies approach their marketing strategies.

Today, we will explore why trust is now considered the new currency in modern marketing.

But first, the problem…

The Struggle Is Real

“Eyeballs at all costs” is still a dominant approach and is reflected in our headlines.

Gary Vaynerchuk still emphasizes “Attention.”

In his latest book, "Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World," he shares the art and science of storytelling in modern underpriced attention channels. It highlights the importance of capturing consumer attention in today's digital landscape.

While nothing is wrong with this, I encourage marketers to broker…Trust. Not Attention.

Clickbait still dominates our news feeds.

Honey and Capital One Shopping are attacked by ill-informed stakeholders, who accuse them of stealing commissions. This pits marketers against marketers and channels against channels, and trust is who loses.

Brands still rely on outdated attribution models to dictate their precious media spend!

Mike McElhaney, RBL’s COO, discussed this on the podcast…

Mike (RBL COO and Meta Ad expert) talks about how Meta Ads Manager will inflate value, offering a default attribution (7-day click 1-day view ) that rewards existing behavior that you would have received with or without the ad in many cases).

Meta Platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram, are projected to generate approximately $155.6 billion in ad revenue globally in 2024.

The global affiliate marketing industry is projected to reach approximately $15.7 billion in ad spend by the end of 2024.

Let’s assume that 10% of Meta ad spend is a result of over-attribution.

That is the entire affiliate marketing spend yearly.

Wow.

We often recommend moving to a 7-day click attribution as a minimum viable improvement in your Meta Ad attribution. As brands improve, they utilize lift tests and MMM to improve confidence and incrementality.

The problem is that too many brands don’t, further lowering trust in marketing and its value.

Andrew Covato, CEO of Growth By Science, talks about it as well:

Andrew’s main point is that advertisers rely on algorithms too often.

As a result, they target users who are likely to buy from them already, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy that is NOT incremental. This means that if the advertisement were NOT shown to the user, they would not have purchased the brand product, meaning that the ad was NOT effective.

Talk about a lack of trust: marketers and brands analyzing data from Google and Meta and pumping more money into ads that are not working.

There are too many examples of brands failing to deliver for consumers, but some come to mind…sad face

The Shift Towards Authenticity

• Authenticity as a Core Value: Consumers today are more discerning and value authenticity over traditional marketing tactics. They seek genuine connections and transparent communication from brands, leading to a demand for authentic brand experiences.

• What winning looks like: Here are some examples of authentic voices, influencers, and communities at scale. Next week, we will do a deep dive into some of these examples! Stay tuned!

  • Bring A Trailer

  • Barstool Sports

  • Alexandra Cooper (Call Her Daddy)

  • Oprah 

  • Wire Cutter

  • Martha Stewart

  • Pat McAfee

  • Joe Rogan

  • Huberman Labs

  • Mel Robbins

  • Mr Beast

  • Marques Brownlee

  • Brene Brown

  • Gweneth Paltrow

  • Bill Simmons

• What do they have in common?

  • Authentic

  • Deliver High Value

  • Not afraid to break mold rules or establishment norms

  • Earn credibility over time

  • Candid

  • Know their audience

  • Data and science-backed (in many cases)

  • Not trying to be overly polished, produced, or perfect

  • Speak directly to the audience in a human, 1:1, personal way

  • They are unabashedly themselves and are ok if you don’t like or unfollow them.

  • Scaled audience to multi-millions and built lucrative businesses around their audience.

• While not all affiliates, content sites, and influencers are this scaled and successful, they are thriving, riding, and driving this trend as brands recognize this.

• For example, Ridge partnered with Marques Brownlee, and Hexlad partnered with Gordon Ramsay. Two of DTC's most sophisticated performance marketers have done ALL IN on trusted, authentic voices.

• This shift is driven by the recognition that trust is at the core of customer relationships, with authenticity being an ongoing commitment to building and maintaining that trust.

• Consumer Expectations: Millennials and Generation Z, in particular, prioritize brands that align with their values and contribute positively to society. They can easily detect inauthenticity, leading to negative publicity and loss of trust.

The Role of Trust in Marketing

• Building Trust Through Content: Trust is no longer a byproduct of authority but must be earned through consistent, valuable, and shareable content. Compelling content that demonstrates expertise, adds value, and fosters trust is crucial for modern marketers. Consumers don’t want ads. Ad fatigue is real, and they want authentic recommendations from trusted third parties.

• Trust as a Competitive Advantage: Companies that effectively cultivate trust can gain a significant competitive edge. Trust influences customer loyalty, employee retention, and overall business success. It's not just about selling products but creating a relationship where customers feel they are dealing with fundamentally sound organizations.

• Increased adoption of honest reviews and User Generated Content in ads

  • Google's Search Quality Rating Guidelines:

    • Google has emphasized the importance of E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) search quality guidelines.

    • While not directly related to UGC, this focus indirectly encourages using genuine, user-generated content to enhance websites' credibility. Google's algorithms favor content that provides value to users, often including UGC-like reviews and ratings.

  • Amazon's Review System:

    • Amazon has made significant strides in promoting honest reviews. In 2015, Amazon adjusted its review strategy to combat fake reviews, increasing consumer trust.

    • The platform now encourages verified purchases, which are reviews from customers who have bought the product. This shift has resulted in a more reliable review system, with 90% of consumers saying reviews impact their purchasing decisions.

  • Authenticity in Influencer Marketing:

    • Amazon Ads noted a trend for 2025: the importance of trustworthiness in influencer marketing.

    • Consumers rank influencers' trustworthiness higher than any discount or exclusive deal, emphasizing the need for genuine content in marketing strategies—a great source from Amazon Ads here.

• If well managed, Affiliate and Influencer Marketing can generate trust at scale.

Review our RBL Capabilities Deck to learn here:

The Impact of Economic and Social Changes

• Economic Uncertainty: With economic concerns and a wavering faith in traditional institutions, consumers are turning to trustworthy brands for stability. The Edelman Trust Barometer and Harvard Business Review studies highlight the importance of trust in an uncertain economic climate. The Edelman Trust Barometer’s findings support our thesis that we live in a trust gap.

  • 25th Anniversary: The 2025 report marks the 25th anniversary of the Edelman Trust Barometer, providing a comprehensive look at trust trends over the past quarter-century.

  • Global Survey: The survey, which involved over 33,000 respondents across 28 countries, was conducted between October 25 and November 16, 2024.

  • 70% of respondents worry about being misled by business or government leaders, and 67% believe news organizations prioritize ideology over public interest, amplifying mistrust in media.

  • Trust Inequality: There's a significant trust gap between low-income and high-income groups, with low-income respondents showing significantly lower trust levels.

• Consumer Behavior: As consumer spending becomes more cautious, value-driven purchasing decisions are at the forefront. Brands that can demonstrate trustworthiness are more likely to retain and attract customers.

• While the wealthy keep “wealthing,“ many are struggling - this makes earning their trust even more important:

  • High Credit Card Balances and Defaults: As of the third quarter of 2024, Americans' total credit card balance reached a record $1.166 trillion, with credit card defaults surging to $46 billion in the first nine months of 2024, marking the highest level since 2010.

  • Rising Auto Loan Delinquencies: Auto loan delinquencies have risen substantially, with rates exceeding pre-pandemic levels by around 60 basis points by the end of 2023. This trend is particularly pronounced among subprime and near-prime borrowers, with delinquency rates now at or above levels observed during the Great Recession.

  • Economic Uncertainty and Job Market: Despite economic growth, there's a notable concern about job security and long-term employment opportunities. The unemployment rate was at 4.1% in December 2024, slightly up from earlier in the year.

Nike’s Recent Shift Proves Our Point

We have highlighted this shift before, but it bears repeating.

Nike overcorrected toward direct response programmatic performance marketing pre-pandemic and during the pandemic E-Commerce lift under the guidance of John Donahoe.

It was not the right approach.

They neglected their raison d'être—their “why”—the big, important story that inspires potential customers to BELIEVE. They chased platform attribution models over inspiring.

With Donahoe's ouster and hiring a long-time Nike insider, they have admitted their mistake and corrected their course.

In the summer of 2024, the company’s share price plummeted by 20%, destroying $25.61 billion in shareholder value.

They failed to invest in trust.

Strategies for Embedding Trust in Marketing

• Transparency and Consistency: Businesses must be transparent about their actions to build trust even when they fall short. Consistency in behavior and moral leadership is crucial.

• Personalization and Client-Centricity: Modern marketing, particularly Account-Based Marketing (ABM), focuses on personalized experiences and deep vendor knowledge to foster trust. This approach ensures marketing efforts are tailored to clients' needs and values.

• Actionable Strategies: Marketers are encouraged to plan strategies that embed trust into their messaging and initiatives. This includes creating content that resonates with the audience, ensuring data security, and acting with integrity.

• Trust Score: RBL has one of the most experienced and updated real-time data partner databases in affiliate and influencer marketing. We have used it to secure high ROI partner marketing programs for Meta Quest Atlassian and Grammarly. We have created a proprietary Trust Score that ensures a trusted match between the partner and the brand.

Conclusion

The rethinking of trust in marketing is not just a trend but a fundamental shift in how businesses operate in the digital age.

Trust is now the currency that drives customer loyalty, brand reputation, and, ultimately, business success. It cannot be manufactured by brand-to-consumer communication like it once was. Brands must build and earn trust via authentic voices from customers, WOM, reviews, and, yes, affiliates and influencers.

Companies prioritizing authenticity, transparency, and genuine connections with their audience are poised to thrive in this new marketing paradigm.

By focusing on trust, businesses can navigate the complexities of modern consumer behavior, economic uncertainty, and the demand for ethical business practices, ensuring they remain relevant and respected in the marketplace.