Credibility is the bedrock of our profession, and we are squarely in the midst of a trust crisis.
Trust can make or break a career, a campaign, or even an entire brand. Recent studies confirm communication’s credibility problem, and as marketing professionals, I believe it’s our challenge (and responsibility) to restore what’s been lost.
If it feels harder than ever to earn your audience’s trust, it isn’t your imagination. According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, media is now distrusted in half of surveyed countries, with just 52% of people globally trusting institutions like media and business to “do what is right”. In the U.S., trust in media is even lower, with only 31% of Americans expressing a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the news, a trend that’s barely budged in years.
This crisis isn’t just about mainstream news. It permeates brand messaging, B2B, social media posts, and leadership comms. When everyone is a publisher and every channel is a megaphone, credibility gets diluted and even the most seasoned marketers feel the effects.
Brands depend on credibility for everything from customer retention to recruiting top talent. The 2025 OxfordGlobeScan Corporate Affairs Survey Report highlights the growing significance of quality and credibility in external and internal communication. Consumers and team members alike are far more likely to support brands and employers they trust.
Why does that matter for marketers? Because trust is the ultimate currency for us. We hope to earn a lot of it, because it can’t be bought and isn’t easily rebuilt when lost. This post-AI world, where deepfakes and misinformation spread so quickly, authentic, careful communication is both an expectation and a differentiator that we live with every day.
How do today’s audiences judge whether a message (or a messenger) is credible?
Marketing teams that don’t deliver on these fronts risk losing not just sales, but loyalty.
Reputation crises, viral customer complaints, influencer scandals have become part of the norm. Most marketing leaders (myself included) have seen at least one situation spiral due to low credibility or lingering doubt. Harvard Business Review found that only 34% of survey respondents believed brand communications “often” or “always” reflect reality, and the disconnect is growing each year.
When stakeholders don’t believe you, every campaign has to work that much harder.
The business cost is enormous: Loss of credibility can tank launches, flatten outside investment, and drive employee turnover as teams lose faith in leadership.
Some might argue this is a “media problem,” but it’s absolutely a marketing problem too:
Now that we know we need to do something about the misinformation problem, these are a few small ways that we can all effect change.
If something sounds too good, question it. Always verify claims with at least two credible sources before sharing, especially with internal teams or on branded channels. Misinformation isn’t just a political issue; it’s a professional hazard.
A single hasty tweet or unguided LinkedIn post can undo months of work. Don’t react before you think. Before publishing, take a pause, reflect, and double-check every claim and stat with links or citations. Even seemingly minor missteps can snowball online, damaging brand perception for months.
Make it simple for team members and customers to report possible errors or misinformation. A correction culture, one where updating or retracting claims isn’t just a PR move but standard operating procedure, rebuilds credibility.
Audiences (and clients) increasingly value robust, linked sources over “hot takes.” In both B2B and B2C marketing, weave direct links to source material, industry research, reviews, and data reports into every campaign. Let transparency be your differentiator.
Trust within teams is just as critical as external trust. A transparent communication culture, where leadership owns mistakes and rewards feedback, has been linked to higher employee retention and stronger employer brands.
We know that every single touchpoint matters, and newsletters are an excellent way to practice credibility in action. Be conversational, honest, and always cite your sources. This clarity helps build a loyal readership even as audiences grow more skeptical. If “corporate speak” erodes trust, choose clear, warm language aimed at your true audience.
Here are a few of my personal favorites on Substack because they demonstrate credibility and authenticity, and they provide value without being pushy. Nobody likes pushy.
AI content generators and bots are fundamentally changing how messages get made and delivered. But automation can’t fix human trust gaps. According to the 2025 Edelman Barometer, only 37% of respondents trust content generated by AI tools unless it’s transparently labeled and clearly sourced.
AI gives marketers speed and scale, but credibility still requires human oversight: fact-checking, transparency about sponsorship or paid promotions, and human interpretation. Tools can help, but choosing credibility starts with each of us.
As we know, this is not a problem that can get solved overnight, or even in the next few months. Enabling change is something that takes persistence, consistency, and bravery over a period of time.
This is why I jumped at the chance to help launch AmICredible. This application addresses the credibility challenge at an individual statement level, with both transparency and attribution sources. This puts the human at the center of solving the challenge, and gives them the latest technology to quickly make informed choices about the credibility of what they want to say, before they say it, preventing misinformation from finding its way online in the first place.
As marketers, we are responsible for speaking on behalf of ourselves and brands, and it is critical that we get it right. We’ve seen what happens to brands when they aren’t credible and they get it wrong; stock prices tumble, fans revolt, sales decline, and employees are fired. After all, trust is the foundation of brand loyalty, so we need to do everything we can to retain it.
(Want to learn more? Meet AmICredible.)
So, where do we go from here? The solution is a mind shift: see credibility not as a checklist item, but as a daily practice. Small, thoughtful actions done consistently will help restore what’s missing from today’s conversation.
The bottom line is this. The credibility of communications is a brand’s most valuable asset, and that happens by building trust. For emerging and established marketers alike, now is the time to lead the restoration of trust, one transparent, well-sourced message at a time.