Building Trust Through Real People: A Lost Art

Start up founders are usually great at being present on social media but the more established a business is, the more senior leaders assume ‘marketing will take care of this’.

This is a mistake.

‘In the age of AI, the onus on social media is to build trust through real people’ said LinkedIn’s Chief Marketing Officer at the World Economic Forum.

Marketing, sales and business development are intrinsically linked.

Marketing can lead a horse to water (create strategic relationship opportunities and market them) but business owners MUST take the onus on continuing to build the relationship, whether on social media and in real life. No matter how big the business.

In 2026, prospective and current customers want authenticity. Connection. People buy from others they know, like and trust. Eyeball to eyeball.

The don’t want endless generated materials from the marketing department.

Can a marketing person really effectively manage your own personal LinkedIn account? I don’t think so. Not if you are trying to build relevant relationships.

What do you do if you run into a LinkedIn connection that has been managed by marketing in real life (networking event/conference/mutual contact introduction) and you do not have the first idea who they are?

All that time and energy wasted over one curled up cucumber sandwich.

If you’re a business owner who has been leaving your business relationship building to marketing (online or in real life), this is your sign to pick up the mantel and work WITH marketing, if you want to really grow this year.

Don’t RELY on AI. The strongest and most effective marketing tactic at the top of the funnel, especially in B2B, are strategic partnerships and collabs.

Marketing can support this down the funnel with relevant landing pages, automated nurture emails, retargeting ads and all that jazz. But you cannot beat a genuine business building partnership.

For the best results, business owners and leaders build in time and space for this. I’ve seen time and time again where they don’t, and the marketing falls over.

Do headshot videos. Have an opinion. Show up authentically online. Put the AI-down.

The best businesses understand that social media, and other marketing channels, are intrinsically linked to real-life humans. Business is relationship building after all. Know one buys from your business if they don’t like you.