Are paid ADs irrelevant now?

Been running paid ads, email newsletter to our existing audience (60k), and have gotten skewed feedback but haven't found the solution. I have spoken with people from our ICP who viewed my ads and website; they come back with great feedback, the messaging hits their pain point, its simple enough and not too many distractions from the CTA (goes deeper than this but for simplicity sake).

The main thing I have been told we're lacking is brand trust and a social presence as a B2B SaaS company. Starting up our organic social media campaign soon and UGC creator campaign, but have to wait on a couple of things before I can do so. How have you guys gotten the first few in? Is it a fake it till you make it thing with the social proof?