The marketing that builds trust is the marketing everyone keeps skipping
Every year Edelman publishes its Trust Barometer, and every year it tells us something a bit uncomfortable about how people actually feel. The 2026 edition is no exception. The headline is that we have all become more insular, more wary of anyone who isn’t quite like us, and that this changes how brands grow.
It’s a big global report with a lot of numbers in it. But underneath the charts there’s a simple message, and it happens to be the one I’ve been banging on about for years.
Let me walk you through it.
the world got more suspicious
Two in three people now say they’re hesitant or unwilling to trust someone who’s different from them. Different values, different background, different sources of information, take your pick. Edelman calls this an insular mindset, and it’s the new normal rather than the exception.
In the UK we’re worse than average on this, sitting at 76%.
You don’t need a survey to feel it. The pandemic, the cost of living, the endless misinformation, the sense that the system is rigged. People have pulled the drawbridge up. And when people are suspicious of each other, they get suspicious of brands too.
trust is now a dealbreaker, not a nice-to-have
Here’s the bit that should make every business owner sit up.
Trust now sits level with quality and price as one of the top three things people weigh up before they buy. Roughly 88% treat it as important or an outright dealbreaker.
So trust isn’t soft. It isn’t the fluffy stuff you get round to once the “real” marketing is done. It’s commercial. It’s the thing standing between you and the sale.
And it’s getting harder to earn. Nearly four in ten people admit they use brands they don’t actually trust, rising to half of Gen Z. People are holding their noses and buying anyway, which tells you the trust is thin and easily lost.
the thing that builds trust is the thing nobody wants to do
This is my favourite finding, because it’s the one that quietly demolishes a lot of marketing advice.
When Edelman asked what builds trust in a brand, the runaway winner was what other people say about it. Not the brand. Other people. Reviews, friends, people who’ve actually used the thing.
What the brand says about itself comes a distant second. Roughly half as powerful.
In the report’s own words: earned is the most powerful way to build trust.
Earned. As in, what people say when you’re not in the room. Not the clever campaign. Not the boosted post. Not the carefully worded “about” page. The reputation you build through doing good work and showing up consistently until other people start vouching for you.
It’s slower. It’s less glamorous. It doesn’t spike in a dashboard. And it’s the single most effective thing you can do.
This is also why I keep saying reach and results are not the same thing. You can have a post seen by a hundred thousand strangers and earn nothing from it, because none of them know you, trust you, or have any reason to. The trust isn’t in the impressions. It’s in the relationship.
and yes, this is where AI comes in
Since everyone’s asking what AI means for marketing, here’s a genuinely useful data point.
When people were asked which sources build their trust in a brand, “what AI tools or assistants say” came dead last. Three percent. Below the brand’s own advertising. Below everything.
I’m not telling you that to do the doom thing or the hype thing. AI is a brilliant tool and I use it every day. But it doesn’t build trust, and the data is clear about that. Trust is a human transaction. It’s earned between people, through experience and through the people we already believe.
So by all means use AI to work faster and think clearer. Just don’t expect it to do the part that only a real relationship can do.
what this means for you
If you’re building a business and feeling like you should be doing more, louder, faster marketing, this report is quietly giving you permission to do the opposite.
The growth happens when people both trust you and find you relevant. Only about half of people feel that way about the brands they use, and that half are the loyal ones. They forgive you when you slip. They recommend you. They stick around.
You don’t get there with a viral moment. You get there the boring way. Showing up consistently. Doing good work. Letting people experience you before you ask them for anything. Being the kind of business other people are happy to vouch for.
Which, if you’ve been here a while, is everything I’ve ever told you. It’s nice to have Edelman in my corner for once.
Real talk: the marketing that works isn’t the flashy stuff. It’s the trustworthy stuff, done again and again until people believe you.
If that’s the kind of marketing you want to build and you’d like a hand with it, drop me a message. I’m always happy to talk.
Source: 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report, Brand Growth in an Insular World.
