Authentic Marketing Makes More Sense

Today more than ever, it’s easy to look the part, play a role, and even fake your status.

Acting larger than you are or only exposing the perfect and polished aspects of your business has no value and isn’t sustainable. Authentic marketing makes more sense.

Why? 

People want to see the real you. 

Authentic marketing is a chance to share your unique personality, and brand values - to stand for something, to inspire, to entertain.

Behind the scenes footage is often the most popular content. Sneak peeks into other people’s lives is not only interesting, but it also creates impressive engagement.

Take your tribe on the journey.

Your clients, customers, fans, and followers all care about you and your business. If they didn’t they would have moved on, unsubscribed, or switched to your competitor by now. There is something special and unique about your personality and offerings that attract people into your orbit.

Make sure you honor that by sharing your personal journey. Give them a glimpse into your day-to-day schedule, your favorite lifestyle trends, snippets of how you got where you are, etc.

People love to see the iterations of your humble beginnings (in fact, learn more about my solopreneur journey here).

Remember, we are all going through similar experiences. It provides comfort to be able to relate to someone that you admire - giving hope that if they can do it, we can too. 

Right now, some of the most impactful content is around COVID-19. The shifts people are experiencing in their business, coping with isolation, new family dynamics at home, financial fear, and more.

It can be intimidating to expose intimate and personal details. Some shares may be too vulnerable and that’s OK. This isn’t about pushing our limits past the point of being comfortable. It’s about removing some of the filters, sliding down the wall a bit, and dampening down fear so we can act in courage and honesty. 

Not where you want to be yet?

It’s best not to pretend to be something that you’re not. People can see right through inauthentic behavior. And that’s not you anyway!

If you are a solopreneur that is the cook, chief, and bottlewasher, then embrace it. Celebrate the fact that you literally have your finger on the pulse of every moving part of your business. What a gift to get an email reply from the founder themself! Use the fact that you are growing, that you care about your audience feedback, and that you are willing to create products or services which suit your ideal target market.

Share your vision and put your intention out there. You’d be surprised how much people want to see you succeed and just might help get you where you want to go. 

FUN FACT: Backers pledged $4.4 billion toward Kickstarter projects over the last 10 years. (ProductHype)

Folks get excited about a worthy cause, and many times, feel honored to be a part of the winning endeavor.

Don’t be afraid to ask.

If you think that you’ll appear weak if you ask for help or suggestions, think again. It’s a human tendency to want to help one another. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from a mentor. Maybe it’s requesting a more established business to share your event on their Facebook page or a pic of your new product in their next newsletter or on their Insta feed. Most entrepreneurs are happy to support people within their industry.

Also, utilize free tools like SurveyMonkey, Typeform, and Facebook Polls to reach out to your audience for their feedback.  

If you’re vacillating between a couple of logo designs, bumping around a few book titles, or curious about the next course to create, then ask your followers. In most cases, they are thrilled to share their opinions and ideas.

I think one of the best-kept secrets is knowing that it’s OK to show your cards. If you let others in on your background, intentions, and goals; it establishes credibility, authenticity, and trust. 

Being real and honest with your audience allows you to be more in service, share value in a conversational way, and build trust without the use of tricks, gimmicks, clickbait, and inauthentic tactics.

Wouldn’t you agree that authentic marketing makes more sense? 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Until next time…breathe joy,
Kc