Authentic Marketing: Keeping it Real
About the Author:
REBEKAH LOCK
Marketing and Communications at Staples Rodway, Taranaki
Rebekah is a Marketing and Communications Assistant at Staples Rodway Taranaki and is involved in various aspects of marketing for the firm and clients including digital marketing, strategy planning and events.
With the constant bombardment of advertising and promotions, consumer behaviour is changing. People are becoming wearier of insincere campaigns and manipulative hype. They are seeking and responding well to authenticity in marketing information that truly reflects the customer experience and performance of the products and services on offer. The following is adapted from an article by Rebekah Lock of Staples Rodway, Taranaki, on the trend towards authentic marketing. The message? Tell it like it is, be true to yourself and deliver on your promises.
Rather than constantly trying to spam consumers with the best deals on their products, organisations are now seeing the benefit in focusing on brand authenticity and building a strong reputation first through authentic storytelling.
This change is particularly evident in the recent updates Facebook implemented across both the Facebook and Instagram platforms in 2018; adapting the algorithm to reduce the amount of advertising and spam that was showing up in our newsfeeds to prioritise content that is more personal and valuable to peoples’ lives.
Even the language you use on these platforms is important. No profanity, no excessive use of symbols, capital letters or the exclamation mark!
The Facebook algorithm also knows when you’re using “you” or “your” too much, tapping into readers pain points. E.g. Do you need help with your accounts, is your business struggling to manage the books? It’s a hard sell and it won’t do well anymore. Change your language, make it meaningful. Drop the obvious sales pitch and focus rather on facts and benefits, the details that potential customers are after.
Similarly Google, the driver of most online search traffic, warns against sacrificing authenticity for gain: "Keyword stuffing refers to the practice of loading a webpage with keywords or numbers in an attempt to manipulate a site's ranking in Google search results. Often these keywords appear in a list or group, or out of context (not as natural prose). Filling pages with keywords or numbers results in a negative user experience, and can harm your site's ranking. Focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses keywords appropriately and in context." - https://support.google.com
With these platforms being a huge part of digital marketing for business, this has ultimately affected the way organisations now promote their services or products online. It forces everyone to take a step back, do some research and discover what content will engage their audience and lead to further enquiries. We all know that time is precious, and people are only going to spend their time taking in information that is interesting and relevant or going to add value to their lives.
A lot of people get stuck on learning or trying to be authentic (so again, falling into the trap of being something they’re not), when it is as simple as ensuring your marketing efforts are speaking to your company and brand values, and the ‘tone of voice’ of all your marketing efforts are uniquely yours. E.g. don’t use fancy language, or a clip art logo if it’s not the language or style you and your staff would use when someone called or walked in to your business. It’s about knowing what your core business and brand values are and always being true to those.
"It’s about knowing what your core business and brand values are and always being true to those."
Your ‘tone of voice’ should permeate across all aspects of the organisation. People will resonate with your brand and if they continue to like what they are seeing and hearing, they will become loyal followers/clients/customers. Adhering to brand authenticity will attract the exact kind of clients that you want. If you’re inconsistent or false, you’ll push people away.
Once you’ve got your values, your brand identity and your key marketing objectives fine-tuned, how are you going to reflect this in your marketing and advertising? Here are some ideas:
1. CONTENT CREATION
People value free advice and even more so when it’s coming from an expert. You want to be known as an authority in your field, so create some content – articles, case-studies, blogs, videos, white-papers, interviews etc. on the key areas of your business and share it through your platforms. Once it’s apparent that you or your team are experts in your industry, people are likely to trust you and get in touch for further information.
2. SHARING TOPICAL NEWS
Share content or updates regularly. Especially if it’s something that is going to resonate with your target market or is relevant to your industry, and if you’re competitors aren’t saying it, you should. Be timely and be relevant.
3. VISUAL CONTENT
According to a study conducted by Microsoft a few years ago, the Internet has reduced the average human attention span to about eight seconds. Talk about pressure! Understand your target market and make sure that your messages clearly appear where potential customers are looking and sure to find them. Video and still content with engaging visuals and concise, clever text are among the best ways to get your point across quickly, encouraging viewers to investigate further into your business or brand. Less is more!
4. STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
Channel your inner quirkiness and find a way to stand out from the crowd; a wariness for a false narrative, a short attention span and selective viewing means it’s crucial to catch your audience’s attention early and stand out from your competitors. There are lots of ways to grab attention. Find what works for you and make it your own.
It could be a colour, a catch-phrase or radio jingle, a person, a unique offer, a design concept, a uniform, the first email, your packaging or a greeting etc. Work with professionals. This is what they do best. Through your authentic tone, find something that’s uniquely you and is going to put you top of mind and help build valuable relationships with customers and other stakeholders.
The original article may be found at:
https://staplesrodway.co.nz/news/authentic-marketing/
Marketing and Communications
Staples Rodway Taranaki
06 757 3153
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