50. Why Trust and Transparency Are Key to Instagram Growth in 2025 (part 4)
This is the final episode of our four-part mini-series on Instagram marketing trends for 2025 — and we’re ending with a big one: Trust and Transparency. Today, we’re talking about why these are essential for growth and how you can use them to build a loyal, engaged audience on Instagram. Plus, I’ll walk you through a simple exercise to help you implement these principles in your business.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
[00:00] Why Trust & Transparency Matter in 2025 – The shift towards authenticity on Instagram
[03:01] The Power of Trust in Marketing – Why customers crave brands they can rely on
[05:26] Behind-the-Scenes Content Wins! – How ENDY Mattresses built credibility with transparency
[06:48] Social Listening 101 – How responding to your audience boosts engagement
[07:18] How to Build a Loyal Instagram Community – The power of showing up as YOU
[11:06] Turning Testimonials into Sales Magnets – The power of social proof
[12:56] The Consistency Formula – How authenticity + showing up regularly = trust
[14:20] My Personal Story on Building Trust – How sharing struggles deepens connections
[16:12] Your Homework – Actionable next steps to build trust with your audience
Key Takeaways
Trust is everything—your audience is savvy and can spot inauthenticity from a mile away.
Transparency builds credibility—whether it's behind-the-scenes content, real-life struggles, or sharing your process, people connect with what’s real.
Engagement matters—actively responding to comments, answering questions, and incorporating feedback makes your audience feel valued.
Consistency + Authenticity = Trust—showing up regularly and staying true to your voice is the ultimate formula for building loyal followers.
"When you combine consistency and authenticity, you're not just building an audience—you’re creating a real relationship with your people."
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
Part 1: Instagram Marketing Trends 2025: How Creative Bravery is Helping Brands Stand Out (Part 1)
Part 2: The Instagram Growth Hack No One’s Talking About for 2025 (Part 2)
Part 3: AI for Instagram: The Future of Content Creation in 2025 (Part 3)
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S3 Ep50 Transcript: Why Trust and Transparency Are Key to Instagram Growth in 2025 (part 4)
00:00
Welcome back to this final installment of our four part mini series on Instagram marketing trends for 2025. Today we're talking about something that's absolutely essential if you want to grow your business on Instagram. And that is trust and transparency. We'll explore how we do this as business owners and creative entrepreneurs. And I'll walk you through a simple exercise so you'll know exactly how to implement this in your business strategy moving forward. I can't wait, let's go.
00:29
Welcome to Strut It, a podcast about creating bold visibility on social media with zero apologies. I'm Elizabeth Marberry, your host and Instagram marketing coach. I help small business owners get seen on Instagram and monetize their offers so they can make more money doing their sole led work. If you're tired of spinning your wheels on Instagram and you're seeking simple, proven
00:59
You're in the right place. Let's dive in.
01:10
Welcome back to the show. I'm so thrilled you've joined me for another episode of Strutted. You've landed on part four of a four part mini series that we've been doing on Instagram marketing trends for 2025. It's been so fun and I've been getting a lot of great feedback from all of you. So I'm so thrilled to hear this content is serving you and growing your business on Instagram this year. To do a quick little recap, in part one, we talked about breaking through with really bold content.
01:39
and practicing that creative bravery so you can get out of the box and just be more raw and real as a human and as a brand. In the second part, we talked about the Instagram growth hack that no one's talking about, which is outbound engagement. And that means when we are proactively commenting, interacting and engaging with others on Instagram to build trust and really boost our brand visibility. And then finally, last week,
02:06
We talked all about AI for Instagram, the future of content creation in 2025, and why you definitely want to start leveraging ChatGBT and other AI tools to help you save time and work smarter, not harder. This week, we're talking about something that's absolutely essential if you want to grow your brand on social media and specifically on Instagram, and that is trust and transparency. In 2025,
02:34
audiences are savvier than ever. They can spot a fake from a mile away and they're really looking for brands and creators they can trust. So today I'm gonna share why trust is really the foundation of any successful Instagram strategy. We're gonna share some real world examples of brands doing it the right way and simple ways that you can build that connection with your audience. So...
03:01
If you've been wondering how to make your content feel more authentic and relatable, this episode is totally for you. Let's start with the big question. Why is trust so important? So according to our Hootsuite Social Trends 2025 report, 45% of users feel that a brand is more relevant when it demonstrates understanding of their needs and values. And that makes total sense to me.
03:31
in your marketing messaging. And that means your audience isn't just looking at what you're selling. It's not just that you have to have the best product ever or the most incredible service that no one in the planet has ever thought of. That's not it at all. They're paying attention to how you're showing up. When you're transparent about your process, your values, and even your mistakes,
04:00
you're showing your audience that you're human. Let's face it, people wanna connect with other people, not perfectly polished brands. And Instagram has been going this way for a long time. In the last year, I've been speaking about this until I'm blue in the face where I say, gone are the days of Instagram where you had to have a perfectly aesthetically pleasing grid where everything was color coded and all your images matched up.
04:27
I just remember people spending hours and hours trying to curate the actual look of their grids. That is actually a turn off to many consumers. I don't want to say all. There's some accounts that I follow that still have a very certain aesthetic in terms of how they're presenting their content and that's completely fine. But it doesn't have to be perfectly polished. It doesn't have to look like an ad out of a magazine. And I still see that in 2025. I see so many business owners.
04:56
making that mistake on Instagram. So let's look at how brands are building trust on Instagram. In Hootsuite's study, they talked about the company ND Mattresses, so E-N-D-Y Mattresses. And ND had this strategy where they shared behind the scenes content about their manufacturing process. And this gave their audience a peek into what goes into their products. One of the most compelling parts
05:26
behind the scenes content and really showing your process as a business is it's practicing transparency. And when you are transparent, that boosts your credibility and resonance with your followers. The other cool part about this story is like, when I think about creating content for a mattress company, I'm just like, oh my goodness, that just doesn't sound fun. That doesn't sound like my dream job.
05:54
But how brilliant of them to bring people in and show the manufacturing process, show their attention to detail. So that way when you get a mattress delivered, you feel like you're invested, like you're a part of the process. They took you on the journey. And when they did that, they had a huge increase in sales. Another way that brands are building trust on Instagram is they are actively practicing social listening. So social listening is really
06:21
reading the comments of their followers. It is responding to comments. It is creating reels in response to consumer feedback and consumer criticism. And that builds trust. When you see a brand that is actively in dialogue with people commenting on their stuff, you're more likely to spend your money there.
06:48
People want to feel seen, heard, and understood. And that is really what I want you to focus on with your content strategy in 2025, is this sense of how can you build a bridge with that potential follower? How can you get them into dialogue with you? And one of the best ways of doing that is you are the leader, you go first, right? You share something vulnerable
07:18
a process. When I did my keynote speech at the Las Vegas Convention Center at the wedding MBA, I was speaking to a room of professional wedding florists. And in researching for that talk, I was kind of seeing what videos were doing really well in their industry. And I saw that the videos of them building the bouquets and building all these really extensive floral displays.
07:48
It's incredibly messy, right? Like there's stems everywhere, there's trash. You can imagine if there's like thousands of flowers and they're cutting stems and removing leaves, there would be a lot of stuff. But the creators who are willing to show their mess, that they were willing to show the struggle even, like, oh my gosh, I got this in and I didn't know what to do with it. And I had a wedding the next day and I didn't wanna let this bride down. So here's exactly what I did to fix the problem.
08:16
That is how you build trust. That is practicing transparency. And that will absolutely drive conversions in 2025. So let me walk you through a simple exercise right now on how you can implement this in your business, how you can build a trust on Instagram. So number one, we just talked about it. I want you to show your process. So whether it's how you create your products,
08:44
what goes into your service, like if you're building a new course or a master class, let your audience know, hop on your stories and say, hey, I'm working on this master class, here's what it's gonna be about, I'm super excited, right? Like bring people in on your process, or even the day-to-day challenges of running a business. I mean, let your audience in. These behind the scenes moments are gold for connection. Number two, be honest about mistakes. Did something go wrong? Share it.
09:14
Transparency builds credibility and your audience will respect you more for owning your mistakes and showing how you're fixing them. I recently shared one of my mistakes with you, which was I had prepared for a keynote speech for this incredible wedding association. I had my slide up where they were gonna grab my freebie, get my lead magnet, move into my funnel. That is part of...
09:40
Being a speaker is you're very strategic as to growing your email list and of course growing your business through your speaking. And me and my team completely messed up the funnel. I made the mistake. I didn't double check my assistant's work, which was totally on me. I didn't double check that the emails were updated. And I share my mistakes openly because I want you to know that I'm not this perfect person. I don't have all the answers by any means. I'm just like you.
10:10
I'm learning as I go and I'm relentless at figuring it out. I have that belief that everything is figure outable. I just have to get the right support. And so I want you to think about yourself and your business. Are there some mistakes you've made? Is there a story that you can share that ended up being a disaster? I know sometimes as business owners, we're like, well, I don't want people to see my ugliness. I don't want people to see my mistakes. Like, won't that, you know, hurt my credibility? No.
10:40
It's not a therapy session. You don't need to share everything that's going wrong in your life by any means. But people want that behind the scenes. They want you to be honest. They want you to be real. And you will be amazed at how that will forge deeper connections with your audience. Number three and how to build trust on Instagram is definitely weaving in testimonials and social proof. One of my favorite ways of doing this is sharing screenshots.
11:06
of people who love my products or love my services, or they got really great results, or they're sharing a win with me, I'll take a screenshot of that. I recommend you do that too, and just keep an album of all that. Of course, you can screenshot reviews. You can turn transformation stories of clients into success stories that you share through Instagram Reels. But seeing real people rave about your business builds instant trust.
11:32
And the fourth way to build trust on Instagram is to engage with your community. It's amazing how easy this is and how many of us skip this step. Make sure that you respond to all comments. Ask for feedback from your audience. What do you want me to create for you this week? Or would you prefer, you know, I do a podcast about this or this, right? Give them two choices. Ask for feedback. Show that you are listening. I want you to really practice
12:02
that social listening skill. And this two-way interaction will make your audience feel so valued and understood, and PS, it's awesome target market research, then you can continue to refine your messaging and sell more of your products or services because you're gonna be speaking in the language of your ideal client avatar. The more you're in conversation with them, you're gonna get to know them, their pain points, their struggles, their desires, their needs, and you're gonna be able to speak to that.
12:31
in your content, everybody wins, right? Your people feel listened to, they feel seen, heard and helped, and then your business gets to grow and thrive. So here's the secret sauce for building trust. Consistency plus authenticity equals trust. So consistency means showing up regularly, whether that's through stories, reels or posts, and authenticity.
12:56
Authenticity means staying true to your voice and your values. I'm not asking you to be anyone that you're not. I want you to be you and I want you to let your voice be heard. When you combine these two, consistency and authenticity, you're not just building trust, but you're creating a relationship with your audience that feels real and lasting because it is, right? This has really been happening for me in my personal brand lately.
13:24
where I was sharing in my stories the behind the scenes of a health issue I've been having, which is I've been struggling with vertigo and chronic sinus infections and lethargy and all these things. And I'm feeling so much better in this moment, thank goodness. But I was being really vulnerable and I was sharing. And what's really neat is it built this bridge with my followers and so many people.
13:51
sent me messages and they sent me suggestions. You know, they're like, I have vertigo and here's some things that have helped me. And I had so much support of people just saying, my mom had that and it was so hard and debilitating for her. I'm so sad that you're going through this, but I'm just sending you support. And these are strangers. These are people that I don't know, but it's because I've built this community. The way that I show up invites in a conversation.
14:20
And so I'm gonna invite you into a conversation right now. I would love to hear from you. So if you haven't already, I want you to hop on over to Instagram. You can pause this and make sure you're following me, Elizabeth Marberry, M-A-R-B-E-R-R-Y. Follow me first so I get your message. And then I want you to send me a message and it could either be a voice message or a text in the DMs.
14:46
And I want you to share with me one thing that you have learned from this four-part mini-series or what was your biggest takeaway or what you're excited about in 2025 because that's what we've been really talking about. I would love to hear from you and I hope that you feel that I've created a safe space in which I can be authentic, I can be transparent, and you know I'm consistent because I'm showing up for you every Monday with a new episode.
15:13
And I would love to hear that reflection from you. Do you trust me, right? If you're gonna go over and send me a message on Instagram, you probably do, that's a lot of effort. You are a busy person for me to ask you to do that, but you're gonna do that if you feel like we've built a relationship. And that's my goal. I want this podcast to feel like you're sitting down at the table with me and I'm teaching you and we're working together. That is very intentional. And that's just who I am as a person. It's not like...
15:42
Oh, I put this hat on when I'm working. That's just who I am. Definitely go send me a message. I can't wait to hear from you. I can't wait to see who does this. This is gonna be so fun. But your homework is I just want you to lean into more of you and really allow yourself to show up consistently and be your most authentic self, because 2025, we are ready for it. Share your wins, share your struggles, respond to your DMs.
16:12
Create content that helps your people. Building trust isn't complicated. It's just about showing up, being real, and serving your audience from a place of connection. If you're ready to build a more authentic connection with your audience, but you don't know where to start, I would love to invite you into a complimentary Instagram breakthrough call. In this call, I will help you to identify your next three action steps to achieve your big bold
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dreams in 2025 for your Instagram marketing strategy. And if I'm the right person to support you, I may invite you into one of my coaching containers. And if not, I will point you in the right direction. Now, in order to get a free 30 minute breakthrough session with me, you do have to apply. So head on over to elizabethmarberry.com slash application or send me a direct message on Instagram, apply, apply.
17:08
and my little sexy robot assistant will send you an application, fill that out, and we'll reach out with my schedule link. I cannot wait to connect with you, learn more about your big audacious dreams for this year. If you can see it, if you can envision it, it's absolutely possible for you, and I'm here to cheer you on and support you every step of the way. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I cannot wait to start it with you next week.
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Thank you for listening to Strut It. If you're ready to start leveraging Instagram to grow your business, then you're gonna wanna grab my free Monetize Your IG Guide, where you'll learn seven simple and proven ways to finally make money on Instagram. You can grab your guide at elizabethmarberry.com slash freebies to get my monetize your IG guide. If you got some incredible value from today's episode, be sure to leave a review and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. And I cannot wait to start it with you again next week.