People Advocacy: A Path to More Trustworthy Engagement

You’ve probably seen the Taco Bell commercials. Viewers are shown a tweet from a consumer about how Taco Bell is only good after midnight. The commercial continues with a celebrity – in this case Jason Sudeikis – surprising the tweeter during the day with Taco Bell, which he tries and enjoys, recanting his statement on camera for everyone to see. 

The premise is one used over and over by a number of brands, especially in the food and consumer goods space. There are countless examples over the last few decades, from the blind taste test to man-on-the-street situations trying to dispel preconceived notions – most of them taking a shot at competitors (at the apex of the Pepsi-Coke battle, this was probably the most famous) or showing that the healthier option isn’t that bad.

And there’s a reason why the strategy is so popular. It comes down to trust. Consumers get targeted in such a competitive market to the point where we’ve seemed to hit a saturation point on the value of these brands’ messages. The perception has turned into one faceless corporation after another trying to mine consumers’ data and using technology to push out what they think customers will like. 

But while the corporations wear the hat of the villains – or at least the distrust-worthy – we still trust people, at least more so. And this is important, not just in a perception capacity but in a business one as well. In our 2024 CX Trends Report, 97% of the consumers we talked to said they’re more likely to buy from a brand they trust. For those older than 40, that number jumped up to 99%. 

It makes business sense to build trust. Which is why if you want to build a more meaningful relationship with consumers, real people need to be involved.

Content marketers from around the world descended upon San Diego in late October for Content Marketing World. And what makes a conference like this both useful and fascinating is that while the industries and company sizes represented were diverse – and the products being sold and audiences targeted varying drastically – the vast majority were facing the same challenges and looking for the same types of solutions. 

By the end of the show, those challenges and solutions were becoming pretty apparent. Here’s what stood out from a packed two days of content discussions.