You and another agent post the exact same content on the exact same day. Yours gets 12 likes and zero DMs. Theirs gets 200 likes and three new clients.

Because one of you has built trust, and one of you is still chasing virality as a strategy.
In this episode, Chelsea and Kayla are diving deep into the one thing that makes or breaks your marketing success: TRUST. From why video is still non-negotiable to how to turn one client story into 20 pieces of scroll-stopping content, this episode is packed with practical strategies that’ll help you build the kind of trust that turns followers into lifelong clients.
What Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad Can Teach You About Marketing
Okay, bear with us on this one because we promise there’s a point.
There’s an animal shelter that’s been going viral on Facebook, and not because they have the cutest animals (though some are adorable). It’s because they’ve mastered something most real estate agents completely miss: storytelling that builds trust.
Take Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad. Yes, that’s actually a cat’s name. She came in with a kitten named Dressing on the Side. Already, you’re invested, right? But they take it further than just hilarious names.

Instead of posting “Cat A – up for adoption,” they tell her story. She lived in a trailer park, was fed but having litter after litter. With a little love and care, she’s ready for her forever home. The description is compelling, funny, and makes you feel something.
Then there’s Nuts. (Yes, still accurate post-neuter, as they so brilliantly put it.) And don’t even get us started on Sewer Rat, the “allegedly kitten” who’s going to be “still really weird looking, but in a charming, I survived kind of way.”
If they had just posted photos with basic descriptions, these cats would probably still be waiting for homes. But instead, they’re giving each animal a personality, a backstory, and making people care.
And here’s the kicker — even though Kayla isn’t a cat person AT ALL, she found herself thinking, “Well, shoot, I could adopt this cat. I could help Chicken Bacon Ranch Salad.”
That’s the power of storytelling that builds trust.
When you put your own personal twist on things, when you give them a story and a backstory, two things happen:
- You make them more desirable. People connect with stories, not facts.
- You build trust. When someone takes the time to really know and care about the details, you automatically trust that they’re doing everything else right too.
If a shelter can make someone want to adopt a hairless kitten named Sewer Rat, what could you do with your real estate marketing if you actually told the stories behind your listings, your clients, and your expertise?
The Trust Factor And How It Affects Your Marketing Results
Here’s the definition of trust that every agent needs to know: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.
Trust isn’t just some warm fuzzy feeling — it’s literally the foundation of everything. Your friendships, your marriage, your kids, who you hire, who you work with, the doctor you see. It’s everything. And if you want someone to trust you with their largest asset, you better understand how to build it.
Here’s what we see happening: agents get frustrated with their lack of results, and we end up reverse engineering their strategy. Are they posting consistently? Check. Do they have nice graphics? Check. Are they using trending audio? Check, check, check.
But none of that matters if people don’t trust you.
No matter how good your content is, no matter how much time you spend on reels, no matter how clever your captions are, if people don’t trust you, they’re not going to choose you.
The Marketing Moves That Kill Trust
Right now, we’re living in what experts are calling a “trust recession.” Consumers trust businesses way less than they used to. And if we’re being honest, we’re probably less trusting of other brands too.
40% of consumers have completely stopped buying from companies they don’t trust.
Let that sink in. Nearly half of all consumers will literally stop doing business with you if they don’t trust you.
But here’s the flip side that should get you excited:
Customers who trust a company are much more likely to become repeat customers AND promote the business to friends and family.
This is why trust isn’t just nice to have — it’s everything. If you want to build a repeat client and referral business (and who doesn’t?), people have to trust you.
We talk about this all the time, but it bears repeating: trust comes after knowing and liking.

First, someone needs to know who you are. Then they need to actually like you or your style. THEN they’re going to trust you.
You can’t shortcut your way to trust.
How to Build Trust 101
Here’s where we get into the good stuff — the strategies that actually build trust.
1. Be a Thought Leader
One of our favorite ways to build trust is becoming a thought leader, which simply means having a signature thing you talk about and a way of showing up that people recognize.
For that, you need a brand. But when most people think about branding, their minds immediately go to colors and fonts. Instead, you should start here:
- What do you want to be known for?
- What do you want to take a stand for?
- If you could tell everyone you know one real estate truth that most people get wrong, what would it be?
That last question? That’s your signature hot take.
That’s the lens through which you create content. That’s the message you consistently repeat. And when you can consistently repeat it, it becomes your brand and people know you for it.
Kayla has the perfect analogy for this. She took her kids to the zoo recently, and their favorite exhibit is the sea lions. But this time, the zoo had introduced one seal into the group of sea lions.
Guess which animal immediately became her kids’ favorite?
The seal. The different one. They didn’t know its name, its story, or anything about it — but they loved it because it stood out from all the rest.
If you’re just regurgitating every trend out there, even if you have great B-roll and a compelling message, you’re still just another sea lion.
You’re not the seal that’s spotted and standing out. We have to be willing to put ourselves out there and be different.

And not to say there’s never a place for trends, but trends are not a marketing strategy.
We could give 100 different agents the exact same trendy post to share, and they would all get wildly different results.
Why? Because some have a brand and some don’t. Some have a community around their brand. Some have conversations with their people every day. Some stand for something, and some don’t.
When someone sees your content, they should think, “That’s so Chelsea” or “That sounds exactly like something Kayla would say.” That’s when you know you’ve built a brand that people trust.
2. Show Your Face and Voice
Here’s something we’ve been preaching since 2018, and we’re going to keep saying it until everyone gets it: there is so much power in video.
Back in 2018, we were like “video is going to be non-negotiable in the next two years.” Here we are, seven years later, and it is 1000% non-negotiable.
Every single Thursday when we do Marketing Therapy Thursday and audit people’s Instagram accounts, we say the exact same thing every single time:
“I need your face and your voice.”
Even when people think they’ve been doing video content, it’s usually still not enough. The problem is we’re all too close to our own brands. We know our content too well. It’s like trying to read the label from the inside of the bottle — we can’t see what other people are actually experiencing.
When we audit someone’s Instagram, we’re looking at it thinking, “What does she even sound like?” If you’re from the South, we want to hear that accent! We’re curious about this. We want to know your face and your voice because it gives people the opportunity to actually get to know you.
Video breaks down barriers and makes you more trustworthy.
And we’re not just talking about reels and stories here. Video content goes way beyond that.
One of the strategies we’ve been implementing behind the scenes is putting more videos in our email funnels. When someone downloads a free guide from us, that’s still a big step — they’re giving us their email address and trusting that we’re going to provide value.
So how can we reward people right away and build trust from that very first interaction?
We pop in a quick video that says, “Hey, oh my gosh, I’m so glad you’re here. You’re probably thinking this… I’d love to show you more of that.” It can be 30 seconds to a minute long, but the impact is huge.
Here’s another simple strategy: when someone DMs you or you’re responding to someone’s stories, send them a voice message instead of just typing a response.
When people hear “this is actually her — it’s not AI, it’s not ManyChat, it’s not an assistant, it’s actually her giving me feedback,” that is so much more powerful than even a paragraph of perfectly crafted text.
3. Use Social Proof with Storytelling
The biggest mistake that agents make is posting a picture of a review as your content for the day.
Think about user behavior for a second. People are getting online to pass time, be entertained, or escape for a little while. When they see that review graphic that says “She was so great to work with! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐,” all they’re thinking in their primal brain is: “How is this going to benefit me?”
And the truth is, it isn’t. So they don’t care. They scroll right past.
They probably only see the word “testimonial” before they’re gone, missing the opportunity to actually learn how you helped that person.
But there is a way to share social proof effectively. Here’s a powerful example from a copywriter on Threads. She posted:
“She built a membership she was proud of, steady revenue, solid retention, real results.
But every time she thought about offering 1:1 coaching, her stomach dropped.
“What if I can’t deliver? What if I raise my prices and no one buys? What if I sound like those coaches?”
We changed all of that without breaking what was already working.”
Now let’s adapt this for real estate:
“She bought a house she was proud of. She made it her own and her pride of ownership showed through. But every time she thought about selling, her stomach dropped. What if she couldn’t find something better? What if the payment got too high? What if interest rates made her unable to afford what she really wanted? But her family was growing and she needed more room… I helped her navigate a plan from point A to point B, and now she’s in the house she loves.”
This works because you’re using the story to make someone envision themselves in it. When you say “her stomach dropped,” that makes people feel something because millions of other people are thinking and feeling the exact same thing.
Instead of posting static testimonial graphics, try:
- Carousel posts with photos of different clients and a sentence or two about their journey
- Story highlights breaking down different parts of one client’s experience
- “On meeting me for the first time” series showing what clients say about their initial interactions
- Before and after posts showing the transformation clients experienced
To make this sustainable, set up “content stations” on your phone:
- Notes folder for client stories, questions they ask, and great explanations you give
- Go-to Canva template that you use repeatedly for brand consistency
- Go-to filming location (your car, kitchen, by a window with good light)
- Scheduled posting days (like Monday, Wednesday, Friday — and stick to it)
- On-brand photo albums (B-roll, behind-the-scenes, showings, closing gifts)
- Stock photo collection that matches your brand aesthetic
When you have these systems set up, you’re not spending hours creating content or scrolling through your camera roll trying to find that one photo from three weeks ago.
Pro Tip: Turn One Closing Into 20+ Pieces of Content
Here’s where modern marketing gets really powerful. Instead of posting one “just sold” graphic, you can create multiple pieces of content from a single transaction:
The Old Way: One “just sold” post. Congratulations to my sellers. The end.
The Modern Way:
- MLS search vs. the home they bought (carousel post)
- I got a closing gift from this local spot — I have to tell you about it
- One DM can change your life (how this client originally reached out online)
- They spent $500 on an inspection and saved $20,000 in repairs
- What should I wear to closing today? (Instagram story)
- The weirdest thing I ever saw in a basement
- Behind-the-scenes of the showing process
- How we navigated multiple offers
- Why timing was everything for this family
You can have only sold one house in a year and still have plenty of content to talk about that experience in a thousand different ways — all positioning you as the expert.
Even if you’ve only ever met with one buyer or didn’t even complete a sale, you can talk about how nervous she was, how her stomach dropped when you explained certain things, how you guided her through the process.
4. Work on Your Messaging
One of the easiest ways to build trust is clear messaging. When you know who you’re talking to and when you know what you talk about, everything gets so much easier.
Don’t be afraid to be repetitive. Choose when you’re going to post, choose when you’re going to share, and then stick with it. Especially for agents, when you consider that a significant chunk of agents quit after year three, sometimes people just want to see: “Is she even going to stick around? Is she really in this for the long haul?”
It’s not that they don’t trust you personally, but they may have been burned before. Consistency shows reliability, and reliability builds trust.
Put Your Own Twist on Everything
If you want clear messaging, put your own twist on it every time. This will make your content look like it’s only from you. Even if you use resources from Modern Agent Social Club, if you always add your own little twist, no one’s going to guess you got inspiration from somewhere else. They’re just going to think you’re a creative genius.
Under-Promise and Over-Deliver
You want to paint a picture of what it’s like to work with you, but you don’t want to set expectations so high that people expect a closing gift every time or think you’re going to bring them coffee at every showing.
Instead, show them little delightful surprise moments along the way. Make each client experience feel like an experience.
Here’s an example: One time Chelsea had clients whose movers were delayed until 5 p.m., but they closed at 9 a.m. So she dropped off a gift card to their favorite burger place and said, “Go get lunch while you’re waiting.”
That’s tailoring it per client, depending on who they are and what the situation calls for. Your goal could be to have one “pop-in” surprise moment throughout the journey of working together. It’ll become obvious when that moment is needed — maybe they lose out on an offer and you deliver Crumbl cookies with a note that says, “It’s okay, we’re going to keep looking. It always works out for the best.”
Your Confidence Level Equals Trust
Here’s something crucial: your confidence level equals trust. Not that you should be overly confident (that can push people away), but you need to feel confident in yourself and your abilities.

If you want someone to trust you, you better trust yourself first. You better be sure of yourself, even if it’s just on the outside, because it’s not a good feeling to hire someone for something as important as buying or selling a house when they don’t even seem confident.
Whatever you need to do to build confidence — listening to audiobooks, having affirmations, practicing conversations ahead of time — do it. Confidence is non-negotiable when building trust.
Talk Like a Human, Not a Real Estate Robot
Avoid using industry jargon and big words that the general public doesn’t understand. That doesn’t build trust — it creates confusion.
Have you ever talked to a doctor who went completely over your head? On the flip side, when you have a doctor who makes you feel comfortable and explains things in terms you understand, you immediately trust them.
Instead of using words that would only be in the real estate handbook or that only your broker would say, use words that make sense to the person you’re talking to. If you need help with this, you could even ask ChatGPT: “How would you explain this to a 10-year-old?” That can help you soften the way you talk about things.
5. Talk About Relevant Things
Building off of clear messaging, one of the most powerful ways to build trust is talking about things that are relevant for the current time.
When people see you mention things like Netflix, current buzzwords (like “regulating your nervous system”), or shows you just watched, it signals that you didn’t create this post eight months ago and are just regurgitating old content. It shows you’re actually thinking about what you’re sharing right now.
When you mention a show you just watched, people think, “I just watched that last night too! What does she think about it?” That immediate connection builds trust because it feels real and current.
Take Taylor Swift, for example. (And yes, this is episode 27 and the first time we’ve mentioned her on the podcast — we’re honestly as shocked as you are!)

Right now, she’s been able to acquire all of her music and owns it all. There’s so much you could say about that from a business perspective.
When people write about current events like this, we want to know their take because it’s happening now and it’s relevant to our lives.
Also, mention specific places like Target, Costco, or your local grocery store. What coffee shop is everyone talking about in your town? What local restaurant just opened? What’s the grocery store everyone goes to?
Relevance makes people feel like you’re speaking directly to them in this moment. It cuts through the noise of all the recycled content and generic real estate posts because it feels fresh, current, and personal.
6. Pay Attention to Your Own User Behavior
We always say this, but pay attention to your own user behavior because it tells you so much about what works and what doesn’t.
Here’s a perfect example: you know who we don’t trust? The people who share 18 million things from Amazon every day. First of all, we’re highly concerned about their garage situation and all those boxes. But more importantly, how can you really like that many things? It’s not even real.
If we dig into what makes us not trust them, it’s because they’re just trying to make money. They’re not being authentic.
Don’t Be Tone-Deaf
This translates directly to real estate marketing. When you’re tone-deaf — like posting “Now is a great time to buy!” when most people really can’t afford to buy right now — you lose trust immediately.
That doesn’t mean some people shouldn’t buy right now, or that it’s not the best move for their specific situation. But saying things like “Yes, interest rates are 7%, but renting is 100% more expensive” is not empathetic. It’s not being aligned with your community.
Instead of posting tone-deaf content like “Interest rates are 7% but renting is 100% more expensive,” try this approach:
“Hey, it’s okay if you have to rent right now. If you want to buy eventually, here’s my best advice” or “Here’s what another client of mine did — it took two years, but here they are.”
That’s inspiring. That’s something people want to hear. Now they trust you because you’re not making them feel ashamed — you’re making them feel empowered.
Lead with Emotion
The piece that’s often missing is that we lead with logic over emotion. We think, “I’ll show my expertise through this ‘how to buy a house’ post” or “This 30-page guide about selling will prove I’m an expert.”
But you’re missing the emotion, and people buy with emotion and justify with logic.
Here’s a perfect example from a copywriter who recently bought a house:
“At the end of last summer, I bought myself a house. A beautiful house over 100 years old in a gorgeous suburban town with a stunning front porch, a white picket fence, a lush green backyard big enough to play in, and walking distance to all the necessities: farmer’s market, playground, ice cream, the gym, coffee shops.
Before moving in, I didn’t realize how much I was craving stability. Before moving in, I didn’t realize how untethered I felt, how physically and mentally exhausted I was. Before moving in, I didn’t know how much having a definite, secure, ‘mine because I earned it’ home base would impact my nervous system.”
Most home buyers aren’t expressing these inner thoughts about buying, but they have them. They all have them. You need to tap into the emotion behind buying and selling more than the logic.
Building Trust is a Long Game
Building trust, just like building a personal brand, is the long game. It’s not going to happen in a single post, a single story, or even a single week of following a plan.
It’s going to take time, repetitiveness, and consistency on your part. But that’s what builds REAL trust. That’s what creates long-term success.
This is how you build a foundation that ensures the next client who reaches out will come to you with every real estate question for the rest of their life.
This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz.