Audiences have always been wary of being sold to. But now, with so many choices and so much content to wade through, they actively block out content that may be trying to sell them something they don’t want.

And by actively block out, I mean:

• They don’t just delete emails, they mark emails as spam.
• They don’t just click the X on the popup, they install a popup blocker.
• They don’t just not read your articles, they use boolean logic in their search terms to filter out your website.
• They don’t just scroll past your LinkedIn posts, they unfollow your profile.

This content blocking obliterates any chance you have of reaching that individual again. Once you’re blocked, you’ve lost them forever.

“Zero selling should ever take place until you have trust.” – Matthew Hunt, founder of Demandii

And be honest, it’s not just your audience doing this. You’re doing it too. In the age of more conscious consumption — when we know that we can’t always trust what we read, social media use leads to depression, and everyone we once paid attention to is starting to sound the same — we are all getting much more aggressive about curating what’s on our screens and on our bookshelves.

If your writing sounds like you’re winding up for a pitch, you’re going to strike out before you’re even up to bat.

This is one of the hardest lessons I have to teach early-stage startups: Not every piece of content or copy should push the product. You need to build trust first.

The audience needs to trust that:

• The author knows what they’re talking about. (And that the author is a real person.)
• The company is legitimate.
• There is something different and worth paying attention to here.

Creating content that builds the three elements of trust

In my research into what creates trust in and through communication, I found that three elements must be present for trust to occur: integrity, competence and connection.

• Integrity means you’re honest and do what you say you’re going to do.
• Competence is the ability to meet goals and objectives.
• Connection happens when people believe your values are similar to theirs.

For technology companies especially, all of this needs to be in place with a lead before a sale is possible. When you skip the trust step, you’re begging to be actively blocked.

Creating content that builds doesn’t mean you have to remove the sales aspect entirely — it means you allow the audience to feel understood, supported and connected to you before introducing a solution to the problem they’re experiencing.

Considering that tech marketing needs to lead to a sale in order to be valuable to the business, how do you do this in a way that keeps your KPIs on track?

Here are some things that have worked for our clients:

1. Lead with authentic value. Share insights and unique perspectives that help your audience without an immediate pitch. This positions your brand as a trusted resource rather than just another undifferentiated option among many.
2. Showcase your human experience. Share personal experiences specific to industry challenges. Include bylines from knowledgeable team members or founders to humanize your company. (Getting ghostwriting help is fine! Just make sure you get input and sign-off from the person whose name will go in the byline. Otherwise, the inauthenticity will start to stink up the joint.)
3. Demonstrate transparency. Audiences can smell hidden sales attempts from a mile away. Be transparent about why you’re creating the content and what you genuinely believe the audience will gain from it. This not only improves audience trust, it will also give you (or your copywriter) a lot more clarity when you sit down to write.

Trust before the transaction

If you want to avoid triggering your audience’s “block and delete” instinct, build trust (establish integrity, competence and connection) before you ask for the sale. It’s better to be known as a company that respects its customers than one that’s eager to take their money.