- Trump
- Brexit
- Black Lives Matter – and hundreds of thousands of other issues from pro-life to euthanasia debates are the outcomes of social media channels chasing more attention and engagement – it was good for their business profits.
Businesses of all sizes, ages and locations found buyers questioned about whom they could trust. After price, trust is the biggest issue for your potential buyers – which businesses do they trust to buy from?
Testimony given to the US congress by Facebook and its former employees found that its algorithms chase wild, outrageous, and fake posts – nothing mattered as long as people’s attention was captured – building their grief, anger, disbelief and dismay.
Increasing the number of times a day, they would check in to see what else had happened – building a continuous loop of outrage, attention and engagement.
This polarisation accelerated
- hate messaging
- racial, political, and social divide.
In a world where there is not enough real news to keep all the 24-hour news channels afloat – some channels magnified conspiracy theories with more fake news – which set up polarised groups of people – and led to radicalisation.
Tribalism is the outcome – which side are you on? Tribalism exists in absolutes – we hate everyone who is X.
But people in the real world are far more nuanced, and now they are waking up to the game.
In this space is where businesses of all sizes exist. The pillars of faster growth require businesses to build more
- Trust with their ideal buyers – first,
- Values are in alignment with their ideal buyers,
- Their ethics, environmental practises, workplace culture and diversity are all on display,
Every business wants to tap into emotional affinity and values to build deeper relationships between future buyers and their business.
The flip side is, have you got your house in order?
During the Trump Presidency, Nike came out swinging against Trump, calling out his extreme racialism and polarisation. Nike ran an extensive USA-wide – Black Lives Matter campaign. It was their most successful income-generating campaign of all time.
People – potential future buyers – want to know that businesses they spend their dollars with have similar values and social views.
Do It Before the Backlash
The days of businesses being silent – on their values and purpose – no longer cuts it. Now businesses are targeted because they hold no apparent values.
Business leaders, to build more trust, need to consider more
- empathy,
- understanding – not virtue signalling, greenwashing won’t work,
- cultural values,
- that builds relationships,
- their business remains relevant and emotionally aware,
Business leaders and their boards should understand the human impact of their brands, ask the right questions, and move forward into a world beyond tribalism that builds more trust.
Your business’s most urgent and profitable focus is increasing trust with your ideal buyers today.
