People Don’t Trust Marketing Like They Used To
At a recent marketing conference, one message came through louder than almost anything else:
People don’t trust marketing the way they used to.
Not because marketing has stopped working.
And not because people have suddenly lost interest in brands.
But because audiences have become overwhelmed by constant selling, polished messaging, and content that feels more focused on algorithms than actual people.
Consumers are more aware than ever that they are being marketed to.
And because of that, they have become far more selective about what they pay attention to.
This shift is changing the way businesses need to communicate online.
Audiences Are Tired
Every day, people are exposed to thousands of pieces of marketing content:
- Ads
- Emails
- Social media posts
- Videos
- Sponsored content
Over time, this creates what researchers refer to as “advertising fatigue” — a reduced response to repetitive or overly promotional messaging (Forbes, 2024).
People have become exceptionally good at recognising when they are being sold to.
And in many cases, they switch off immediately.
This is especially noticeable on social media, where audiences are now scrolling faster, consuming more content than ever, and spending less time engaging with anything that feels forced or overly polished.
At the conference, one of the strongest recurring themes was that audiences are no longer responding to perfection.
They are responding to:
- Authenticity
- Clarity
- Storytelling
- Personality
- And value
That is a major shift from where digital marketing was even a few years ago.
Polished Marketing Isn’t Always Winning
For a long time, businesses believed the key to strong marketing was making everything look as polished and professional as possible.
Perfect graphics.
Perfect captions.
Perfect branding.
But the problem is that overly polished content can now create distance between businesses and their audiences.
Consumers increasingly associate heavily produced content with advertising, which often triggers scepticism instead of trust.
Research from Edelman’s Trust Barometer (2024) found that consumers place significantly more trust in relatable, human communication than in highly corporate brand messaging.
This helps explain why:
- Behind-the-scenes videos perform well
- Founder-led content is growing rapidly
- Conversational emails outperform formal campaigns
- And raw, less-produced videos often gain stronger engagement than polished advertisements
People want to feel like they are hearing from real people, not being constantly marketed at.
Businesses Are Over-Selling
Another issue discussed heavily at the conference was the sheer amount of selling happening online.
Many businesses have fallen into the habit of making every post, email, or piece of content transactional.
Everything becomes:
- “Buy now”
- “Limited spots”
- “Don’t miss out”
- “Sign up today”
And while sales-focused content absolutely has a place, audiences eventually become fatigued if every interaction feels like a pitch.
Modern consumers expect businesses to provide value before asking for a sale.
According to HubSpot (2024), educational and insight-driven content consistently builds stronger long-term engagement and customer trust than purely promotional content.
This does not mean businesses should stop selling.
It means they need to balance selling with trust-building.
Trust Is Built Before Someone Buys
One of the biggest misconceptions in marketing is that people buy because they saw a single post or advertisement.
In reality, trust is usually built over time through repeated positive interactions.
People are asking themselves:
- Do I understand this business?
- Do I trust them?
- Do they seem credible?
- Do they understand my problems?
This is why content that focuses on:
- Education
- Industry insights
- Transparency
- Storytelling
- And real experiences
is becoming increasingly important.
It creates familiarity.
And familiarity creates trust.
Emotional Connection Matters More Than Ever
Another major takeaway from the conference was how heavily emotion influences attention and decision-making.
Research in behavioural psychology consistently shows that emotional responses play a significant role in consumer decisions before logic is used to justify those choices later (Kahneman, 2011).
This means businesses need to stop thinking purely about information and start thinking more about connection.
The content performing strongly right now often makes people feel:
- Understood
- Reassured
- Curious
- Inspired
- Entertained
Not simply informed.
That emotional connection is what cuts through today’s crowded digital environment.
So What Should Businesses Do Differently?
Based on the conference insights and broader industry trends, businesses need to rethink how they approach marketing moving forward.
Marketing Is Becoming More Human Again
Perhaps the most interesting takeaway from the conference was this:
Marketing is not becoming less important.
It is becoming more human.
The businesses seeing the strongest engagement are often not the ones with the biggest budgets or the most polished campaigns.
They are the businesses creating content that feels genuine, helpful, and relatable.
Because in today’s digital landscape, attention is difficult to earn—but trust is even harder.
And the businesses that understand that shift early will be the ones that continue building strong, lasting relationships with their audiences.
References
Edelman (2024) Edelman Trust Barometer 2024. Available at: https://www.edelman.com/trust/2024/trust-barometer (Accessed: 26 May 2026).
Forbes (2024) Why Consumers Are Tuning Out Traditional Marketing. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/ (Accessed: 26 May 2026).
HubSpot (2024) State of Marketing Report 2024. Available at: https://www.hubspot.com/ (Accessed: 26 May 2026).
Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
