How do you earn the trust of your customers, readers, and fans when facts are out—and what “feels right” wins? Mass media and our most cynical memes say we live in a post-fact era. That idea undermines any marketing that promotes ideas, products, services, or politician… and it tracks with trends in social media: our customers turned away from experts and big brands to let “people like us” influence choices instead. But we’re popping those filter bubbles. Now consumers turn inward for the truth—and by embracing vulnerability and designing for empowerment, the smartest organizations meet them there.
Drawing on lessons from America’s Test Kitchen, Crutchfield, GOV.UK, and Volkswagen, discover tactics of content strategy and design to foster trust, build rapport, and increase loyalty by learning to “prototype in public" and lean into vulnerability, using voice to strengthen your base, and determine the right volume for your users' goals.
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Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload. Bloomsbury, New York, 2010, p. 45
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Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload. Bloomsbury, New York, 2010, p. 47
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Do we get comfortable in our faith,
or confidently test our beliefs through education?
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63% of the general population finds it difficult
to differentiate between real and fake news.
Source: 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer
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Only 48% of Americans say they believe
climate change is mostly due to human
activity.
Source: Pew Research Center “The Politics of Climate”
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Only 40% of Americans say they have
a “great deal of confidence” in science.
Source: AP-NORC Center study Confidence in Institutions: Trends in Americans’Attitudes toward Government, Media, and Business
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COOK’S ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLE
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COOK’S ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLE
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ADD OUTSIDE YOUR BUBBLE
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A consistent voice,
appropriate volume, and
humanizing vulnerability
empower users,
building their confidence—
and regaining their trust.
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Do we live in a post-fact era?
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Do we live in a post-fact era?
When was the fact era?