TRUST IN DIGITAL PLATFORMS

HOW MARKETERS CAN NAVIGATE
TODAY’S POST-TRUST LANDSCAPE
As customers move away from official channels,
how can brands make lasting connections?
CONTENTS
1: Introduction
2: Why trust matters
3: The 5 Pillars of Digital Trust
4: Pillar 1. Content
5: Pillar 2. Communicate
6: Pillar 3. Community
7: Pillar 4. Constancy
8: Pillar 5. Context
9: Why context counts:
trust in digital platforms
10: Trust checklist: how effective
is your brand in building trust?
11: LinkedIn Sponsored Content
12: LinkedIn Sponsored InMail
13: LinkedIn Display Ads
14: LinkedIn Dynamic Ads
15: How LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
can help you
Marketing Solutions
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS
TRUST TO YOUR BRAND?

INTRODUCTION
Jennifer Grazel
Global Director, Vertical Marketing
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: Services
1. Institutional trust
The 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer1
shows a crisis
in trust across all institutions including: media,
governments, businesses and NGOs.
2. Media trust
Bombarded by ‘fake news’, consumers are increasingly
unsure of who to turn to. Trust in traditional media
has also fallen to a new low1
. For the first time ‘a person
like yourself’ is now considered as trustworthy than
an expert.
3. Advertising trust
Viewability, ad fraud and brand safety are top of mind
for United States advertising professionals2
.
Sources: 1
2017 Edelman Trust Barometer
2
Integral Ad Science, “Top Of Mind for 2017”, February 2017
How Marketers Can Navigate Today’s Post-Trust Landscape | September 2017 | 2
This eBook is designed to help marketers with both a strategic
and tactical response to these challenges.
This is one part of our wider ‘Currency of Trust’ campaign.
Visit Currency of Trust to find a range of assets and actionable
insights including:
• Webinars
• Videos of ‘Pathfinder’ CMOs navigating the trust landscape
• Research highlights and infographics
• Practical guides and eBooks
Don’t forget to check back for updates through the year.
Overthelast12months,threeforceshave
combinedtoputtheissueoftrustatthe
topofthemarketingagenda.
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

“Trust arrives by foot, but leaves in a Ferrari.”
Mark Carney, Governor of the
Bank of England
Source: 3
The Role of Reputation in Professional Services Firms, University of Oxford, 2011
Running for 17 years, the most reliable
benchmark of consumer trust is the
Edelman Trust Barometer. In 2017, they
sampled more than 33,000 individuals
across 28 countries and reached
the conclusion that there is ‘a global
implosion of trust’.
For the first time in the
Barometer’s history,
they have seen
a decline in trust in all
four institutions (NGOs,
business, media and
government).
For sectors like financial services, reputational trust is a
survival issue. Speaking in our “The Currency of Trust: How
marketers should bridge the trust divide in financial services,
media and marketing” webinar, Deidre Campbell, Global
Chair, Financial Services Sector, Edelman said, “we do see a
positive uptick in financial services trust, but we’re still at the
bottom of the barrel.”
Other industries like energy, telecom and healthcare are also
bumping along the bottom of the indices.
And even in sectors like professional services, the reputation
of the firm is one of the biggest competitive USPs and can be
a decisive factor in picking a firm3
.
Trust in All Four Institutions Declines
Percent trust in the four institutions of government,
business, media and NGOs, 2016 vs. 2017
NGOs
Trusted
Distrusted
Neutral
50%
GovermentMediaBusiness
Two of four institutions
distrusted
2016 2017
-2 -1 -5 -1
55 53 53 52
48
43 42 41
Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer
WHYTRUST
MATTERS
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS
“We do see a positive uptick in
financial services trust, but we’re
still at the bottom of the barrel.”
Deidre Campbell
Global Chair, Financial Services Sector, Edelman

What is the price of trust?
Speaking at “The Currency of Trust: How marketers should bridge the
trust divide in financial services, media and marketing” webinar, Clayton
Ruebensaal, Vice President, Global Brand Management, American
Express, said, “when you distill the metrics into what really matters,
trust is the factor most closely associated with purchase intent. As trust
goes up, purchase intent goes up and so does our business.” This drives
the focus of his marketing team: “In our team, there isn’t anything else
on our mission except for ‘how do we build trust?’ ”
In addition to intent and consideration, trust is a key factor in building
word of mouth. As Elyssa Gray, Vice President, Brand, Betterment, says,
“we owe 25% of our customer base to word of mouth. You’re not going
to recommend a service you don’t trust.”
Trust Levels in Core Industry Sectors
Percent trust in each industry sector, General Population
Technology76
Transportation68
FoodandBeverage66
66
ProfessionalServices66
Fashion63
Automotive
Consumer
PackagedGoods
63
Healthcare65
65
Telecommunications63
Energy61
FinancialServices54
Entertainment
Education69
Retail68
Manufacturing69
Source: 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer
“Trust is the factor most closely
associated with purchase intent.”
Clayton Ruebenssal, Vice President,
Brand Management, American Express
“You’re not going to trust a
service you don’t recommend.”
Elyssa Gray, Vice President, Brand,
Betterment
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

Add value
at the moments
that matter
Communicate with
a human voice
Be a part of
the community
Be present,
be constant
Think context
as well as content
CONTENT COMMUNICATE COMMUNITY CONSTANT CONTEXT
of business
decision-makers say
thought leadership
builds trust in an
organization
of consumers say
their peers are the
most trusted voices
say a company’s
social media is
more believable
than its adverts
of consumers say
they prefer to get to
know a brand through
constant content than
campaigns
LinkedIn is the most
trusted platform to
post and engage with
83% 60% 61% 70% 3x
Ensure your
content has utility
Target at their
decision points
Highlight your
executives’ voices
Share through
employee
networks
Engage on social
platforms
Emphasize your
social purpose
Supplement
campaigns
with ‘always
on’ content
Surface your
content
on trusted
platforms
At LinkedIn, we have worked with thousands
of brands as they seek to build trusted
relationships with their audiences. We’ve
distilled our learnings into The 5 Pillars of
Digital Trust.
THE5PILLARSOF
DIGITALTRUST
Source: 4
2017 Edelman Trust Barometer
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

PILLAR 1. CONTENT
Add value at the moments that matter
A strong content marketing operation is critical for
building trust.
According to research by Edelman and LinkedIn
into the impact of thought leadership5
for 83% of
business decision makers, thought leadership helps
build trust in an organization.
Trust tips:
• Focus on the ‘moments that
matter’ in the lives or business
journeys of your customers.
Look to add value at these
critical inflexion points. These
can also be moments of crisis.
“That’s when somebody
needs you most,” says Clayton
Ruebensaal, Vice President of
Global Marketing, American
Express. “These dark moments
happen to individuals and it’s in
those one-to-one settings where
we think we’re at our best. For
us, that’s a driver for taking
what’s great about us in our
most heroic moments, however
small, and saying, ‘how can we
do more of that?’ ”
• Offer ‘added utility’. Think
beyond blogs and videos and
differentiate your offering with
tools, APIs and templates. A
great example is Prudential’s
‘Bring Your Challenges’
campaign which includes
apps, tools and crowd-sourced
experiments.
How LinkedIn can help:
LinkedIn is predominantly a
content engagement platform
with 15x more content impressions
than job positions and +100,000 long
form posts created every week by
our members.
To leverage this, our Sponsored
Content solution is viewed by
consumers as the least intrusive
ad format6
.
Sources: 5
‘How Thought Leadership Supports B2B
Demand Generation’; Edelman/LinkedIn, June 2017
6
Business Insider Intelligence
‘Digital Trust Report’, June 2017
“Unlike Twitter and Facebook,
LinkedIn is not besotted with
fake profiles, fake news and
angry invective. As a result,
it’s become a kind of refuge
for real people who want to
discuss ideas, not hurl insults
or swap memes.”
Dan Tynan
“Once a Running Joke, LinkedIn Is Suddenly a Hot Social Network. Here’s
What Changed”, September 2017
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

PILLAR 2. COMMUNICATE
Communicate with a human voice
“Individuals are more trusted than institutions by a 10-point margin,” highlighted Deidre
Campbell of Edelman in our “The Currency of Trust: How marketers should bridge the
trust divide in financial services, media and marketing” webinar. For the first time in
their Barometer, for 60% of individuals, ‘a person like yourself’ is as credible a source of
information as an expert.
Speaking from American Express’s perspective, Ruebensaal made the point: “We need to take
an inside-out approach to how we build trust in the brand. How do we ‘pull the curtain back’
for people who don’t know the company from the outside.”
Trust tips:
• Get your senior executives to highlight and share their interests and passions. Indeed,
this should spread to all levels of the organization and impact hiring. Betterment’s hiring
process includes considering cultural fit. Gray says, “one of the main criteria is around
having passion for the mission that we’re on.”
• Leverage your employees’ social networks for sharing content and spreading your
brand’s culture and ethos.
Employee advocacy solutions such as LinkedIn Elevate can be particularly effective in
unlocking brand voices.
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

PILLAR 3. COMMUNITY
Be a part of the community
Edelman’s 2017 Trust Barometer shows that 62%
of consumers say that a company’s social media is
more believable than its advertising. Brands need to
understand that the key to successful social media
participation is based on two-way dialogue.
Trust in mainstream media has also declined to
record lows, and this is potentially because consumers
lack the ability to triangulate the news they receive
amongst their more trusted peers.
Trust tips:
• Look beyond ‘traditional’ media solutions
and prepare to be open for dialogue. In our
“The Currency of Trust: How marketers should
bridge the trust divide in financial services, media
and marketing” webinar, Deidre Campbell tells of
a financial client which sought help because it was
being “beaten up online”.
“They lacked two-way communication,” she says.
“By helping them open conversations, taking them
offline – and by making the conversation human
– they were able to build trust, get off the back
foot and begin proactive – rather than reactive –
communications.”
• Link up your marketing with corporate
communications and CSR teams to emphasize
your broader social purpose. This open approach
is endorsed by Campbell, who suggests companies
need to enforce radical transparency. “It’s difficult in
a highly regulated environment, but it’s essential,”
she says. “You can quickly ascertain if a company
is trying to hide something or isn’t acting in the
interests of the consumer.”
• Take the front foot on specific issues. Edelman’s
research highlights that brands seen as reformers
enjoy a 42-point trust lead over those perceived to
be keen to preserve the status quo.
LinkedIn is the largest online community of engaged
professionals. Use our variety of targeted publishing
solutions to reach more of your right audiences with
the right content.
“Instead of only displaying
posts by people within one’s
network, LinkedIn tweaked it’s
recommendation algorithms
to share content based on
members’ interests.”
Ryan Roslansky, Global Head of Product,
LinkedIn
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

PILLAR 4. CONSTANCY
Be present, be constant
Trust has to be earned over time – the clients that enjoy a trust
premium are judged by their sustained actions.
For marketers, this often means looking beyond a strict focus
on product and brand campaigns to adopting an ‘always on’
approach where presence needs to be constant and consistent.
Indeed, 70% of consumers say they prefer to get to know a brand
through constant content than campaigns7
.
Source: 7
http://kapost.com/content-marketing-facts/, Discover & Share Valuable Industry Knowledge
Trust tips:
• Don’t just switch on and off for campaigns. Maintain
a constant presence.
• Be prepared to respond to a crisis. “If you start switching
gears radically, rather than being very purposeful, it’s very
jarring. Erratic behavior is not going to build trust,” says Gray
from Betterment. “Trust comes from consistency.”
LinkedIn’s suite of audience insight, creative, distribution and
measurement tools allow you to effectively orchestrate an
‘always on’ campaign.
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

PILLAR 5. CONTEXT
Think context as well as content
When it comes to trust, the medium is the message.
Fake news and brand safety are pressing issues for
today’s marketers and in selecting where they engage
customers, brands must consider the content that will
be appearing alongside.
This is best evidenced through the Business Insider
Intelligence ‘Digital Trust Report’8
.
Trust tips:
• Where your content is framed can have a
significant impact. Leverage the trust equity of
publishing platforms.
• Think about which digital platforms your target
audience spends their professional time and
share your relevant content on those platforms.
These people will act as your influencers so
it’s important to publish your content where
they operate.
According to Business Insider
Intelligence, LinkedIn is ‘the most
trusted social platform’. See the
next page to find out why people
rate LinkedIn higher than any other
digital platform when it comes to
trusted content.
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS
Source: 8
Business Insider Intelligence ‘Digital Trust Report’, May 2017

WHYCONTEXT
COUNTS:TRUST
IN DIGITAL
PLATFORMS
In their research, Business Insider
Intelligence surveyed 1,700 consumers
for their perceptions of the major digital
platforms around ‘legitimacy’, ‘security’
and ‘community’ in their digital media
decisions.
LinkedIn was found to be “undisputedly the most
trusted platform”.
In the research, Business Insider Intelligence attributes
this to the mindsets in which consumers approach the
different social platforms. Members approach LinkedIn
with a professional mindset to inform and progress their
careers. “This dynamic causes people to treat content
and interactions on LinkedIn as more authentic,”
says Business Insider Intelligence, and, in turn, “this
engenders a higher degree of digital trust.”
Digital Trust Rankings
TrustScore
80
70
32 30
28
26
13
40
Platform
Source: Business Insider Intelligence ‘Digital Trust Report’, June 2017
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

Linkedin Ranks the Highest in Digital Trust
55%
55%
Which platform
do you have the
most confidence
in to protect
your privacy and
data?
Which of these
platforms is least
likely to show
you deceptive
content like fake
news, scams or
click bait?
Which of these
platforms do you
feel the safest
participating in
or posting on?
On which
platform are you
most likely to
share content
you come
across?
Which platform
has the most
annoying ads?
15%
17%
4%
7%
3%
3%
45%
1%
2%
12%
7%
21%
48%
23%
43%
7%
9%
8%
9%
13%
6%
17%
7%
8%
4%
43%
4%
6%
Linkedin Instagram TwitterFacebook Snapchat YouTube
Trust built across five metrics
Digging deeper, Business Insider Intelligence then looked at the
different metrics that build a perception of trust.
The research highlighted that:
• Respondents overwhelmingly agreed LinkedIn has the lowest
incidence of deceptive content
• Consumers feel the safest posting content on LinkedIn by
a wide margin
• LinkedIn blows its rivals out of the water when it comes to
consumer privacy and data protection
• LinkedIn is judged to have the least annoying ads
For marketers, trust in content leads to trust in brand campaigns.
“Not only are campaigns on LinkedIn more likely to be viewed as
forthright and honest, making them more persuasive, but they
will also run in a trusted environment, alongside other reputable
content, further benefiting brand perception.”
Source: Business Insider Intelligence ‘Digital Trust Report’, June 2017
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

Use our trust checklist to ensure your brand
is taking the right steps to building trust with
your customers.
Add value at the
moments that matter
Are you targeting
at customer
decision points?
Does your
content add
utility?
CONTENT
Communicate with
a human voice
Do your
leadership team
publish on the
platform?
Are your front-
line teams
systematically
sharing?
COMMUNICATE
Be a part of
the community
Can you target
influencers in
your sector?
Could your
communications
team align better
with content?
COMMUNITY
Be present,
be constant
Is your content
‘always on’?
Do you have hubs
for your different
audiences?
CONSTANT
Think context
Do you consider
trust in your
choice of media
partners?
CONTEXT
TRUSTCHECKLIST:
HOWEFFECTIVE
ISYOURBRANDIN
BUILDINGTRUST?
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

Target your most
valuable audiences
Reach the people that matter
most using accurate, profile-based,
first-party data
Reach your
prospects anywhere
Publish your content in the LinkedIn
feed and in high-quality placements
beyond on mobile and desktop
Grow your business
at every stage
Drive quality leads, generate
engagement and raise brand
awareness with a powerful
B2B advertising platform
LINKEDIN
SPONSORED
CONTENT
Engage your prospects with
relevant content in the world’s only
professional feed and beyond.
Build customer relationships at every stage of
the buyer’s journey by targeting content to your
most valuable audiences wherever they spend
their time.
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

Mobile-optimized
design for easy clicks
Persistent call-to-action button
remains on top of content
while user scrolls
Real-time delivery
ensures timely reach
Sponsored InMail messages
are only delivered when
members are on LinkedIn
Uncluttered
professional context
Strict delivery frequency
caps ensure your message
gets maximum mindshare
Flexibility to tailor
your content
Send a personalized message
that will resonate most with
your target audience
LINKEDIN
SPONSORED
INMAIL
Send timely, convenient and
relevant private messages to
the people that matter most to
your business.
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

LINKEDIN
DISPLAYADS
Build your brand with the right
audiences in a premium context.
• Get on the radar early to build your brand
and increase awareness
• Target LinkedIn members with accuracy to
drive brand objectives
• Engage your audience in a high-quality
professional context
• Deploy IAB standard display ad unit formats
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

Target with precision
Reach the people that matter
most using accurate, profile-based,
first-party data
Drive quality engagement
Distinguish your brand with
relevant creative that drives quality
interactions, traffic and leads
Build relationships
Nurture relationships and increase your
company’s LinkedIn follower count
using unique ad formats
LINKEDIN
DYNAMIC ADS
Drive engagement with premium
audiences using dynamically
generated ads, powered by profile
data, customizable to meet your
campaign objectives.
Personalize your creative to resonate with buyers
Connect with your audience and make your
message matter. Improve the relevancy of your
ads so they resonate with the right buyers
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

HOWLINKEDIN
MARKETING
SOLUTIONS
CANHELPYOU
Use our marketing products to
build trust with your consumers.
For more information, visit our
Marketing Solutions page.
At LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: Services
we aim to partner with brands to help them
rethink their customer journeys.
We can do this through:
• Our Platform: Offering scale as well as granularity to provide
deep insight into your clients and their life journeys.
• Marketing Solutions: Driving deeper engagement with
personalized, compelling and ‘always on’ content matched to
each stage of your customers’ journey.
Visit https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/linkedin-
currency-of-trust to find out more about how LinkedIn Marketing
Solutions: Services can help you rethink your own organization’s
customer journey and connect you to the audiences and issues
that matter most.
Currency
OF TRUST:
HOW VALUABLE IS

ABOUT LINKEDIN | LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and
successful and transforms the ways companies hire, market and sell. Our vision is to create economic
opportunity for every member of the global workforce through the ongoing development of the world’s first
Economic Graph. LinkedIn has more than 500 million members and has offices in 30 cities around the world.
Copyright © 2017 LinkedIn
All rights reserved. LinkedIn and its logo are trademarks of LinkedIn
CONTACT US
Jennifer Grazel
Global Director, Vertical Marketing
LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: Services
jgrazel@linkedin.com
VISIT US AT
https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/financial-services-marketing
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
@LinkedInMktg
Find out how LinkedIn can help you build sustainable brand advantage.
VISIT CURRENCY OF TRUST AT
https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/linkedin-currency-of-trust
#DigitalTrust

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