<![CDATA[Competition among early childhood education (PAUD) institutions in Indonesia is intensifying as the number of PAUD units has grown to more than 220,000, while most managers still lack a planned digital branding strategy. Parents' decisions in choosing a PAUD institution are now strongly influenced by digital presence, yet many institutions merely upload content without a relational approach that builds trust. This study aims to examine the operationalization of storytelling and trust building as a digital branding strategy for PAUD institutions on social media and to produce an applicable integrative framework. The study employs library research with a qualitative-conceptual approach; the data were drawn from 35 sources that met the inclusion criteria (reputable scholarly journal articles published in 2020–2024 and relevant textbooks) and were analyzed through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, with validity ensured through source triangulation. The results show that: (1) storytelling is operationalized through three narrative formats: child journey narratives, community narratives, and institutional value narratives; (2) trust building proceeds through four sequential stages: initial exposure, consistency evaluation, active engagement, and loyalty-advocacy; and (3) integrating the two yields a three-layer STAB Framework (Storytelling-Trust-Authentic Branding) that is applicable to PAUD institutions in Indonesia. This study fills a gap in the literature on digital branding for PAUD and provides practical guidance for institution managers.]]>
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