Who do you trust online? If you say your friends, the people and brands who produce authentic content you can trust, you’re not alone. Research shows that 91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews for what they’re searching for, and 84 percent trust those reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
Why reviews? Because we trust what others have to say. Brands can’t create this kind of authentic content on their own. Instead, they rely on their customers and fans. Transparency at its finest.
But it’s not just reviews. Did you know your social media profiles are one of the best ways to get close and personal with your audience? It’s one of the easiest ways to drive stronger connections with your audience and boost engagement. That’s where transparency enters your marketing efforts.
What Is Authentic Content?
Look at your website, blog, and social media platforms for a minute. What do they say about what you do? Are they filled with content produced by marketers, possibly written by AI? Do the words pull you in and make you want to read more?
We’ve fallen into the trap of producing content for the sake of creating it, without thinking about what it takes to make it stand out. Yet this is where brands can move away from their competition simply by rethinking it. Authentic content has several unique qualities:
- Transparent: Talk directly to your readers as if you’re sitting next to them, having a conversation. Readers appreciate it when a message speaks their language and uses a straightforward voice they can relate to.
- Relatable: It’s all about stories. It’s what’s made the world go around since the beginning. When we read stories and experiences, we dig in and learn what others are thinking. Brands that get this right show their human side. It’s not just about business growth and profits.
- Relevance: Authentic content adds value and meaning to a reader’s life. You’re providing something they care about and are searching for, and it makes all the difference.
Authentic Content Is More Than Your Brand
Marketing in the past has pushed brands into the limelight, spreading the word about what the brand has to offer. Branded content did this well.
Every piece was designed to tell the reader more about their products or services. Articles were crafted to raise brand awareness. Content often highlighted brand features, making readers aware of what a brand offered.
Authentic content trusts the reader to draw their own conclusions. Every piece of content is crafted to be personal, relatable, and candid. Companies that use authentic content choose to share stories and personal viewpoints, being open and honest with their beliefs.
It’s more of a journey, leading the reader along a path. It’s filled with story building and advice, showcasing problems or issues and how they were solved. That’s where the personal experiences help build the story.
How Do You Create Authentic Content?
Are you getting a better idea of what authentic content looks like? It’s a step above how you write traditional marketing or what you’ll produce for SEO purposes. It takes the concept of creating content and twists it for more transparency.
Step 1: What’s Your Purpose?
This is where you’ll need to go deep and consider your ultimate purpose. What is your mission statement? What do you do?
Get to the heart of why you created your business in the first place. It helps you determine why you matter. And when you get really good at that, sharing that message with your audience is easier.
Step 2: Build Customer Avatars
We can’t stress enough how important it is to thoroughly define your customer. You may have more than one ideal customer who loves what you do. Define each of them. The better you know your audience, the more you can refine your customer avatar. You should do this periodically to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for who your customers are.
Step 3: Create Relevant Content
Your customer avatars drive every piece of content you create. They help you create relevant content and give you the voice to say what they want to hear.
This can be a difficult step if you don’t have marketing or copywriting experience. A well-seasoned writer understands all the different types of writing and carefully crafts each piece to speak to its audience. For social media platforms, it also means selecting carefully curated graphics to build an even stronger voice.
Step 4: Experiment With Your Voice
Being transparent means finding your voice. Authentic content clearly defines the purpose and the audience and provides the message that makes the most sense.
Sounds easy here in this article, but it does take work. You have to pull all the pieces together—stories, written content, photography, graphic design, video—and use them to communicate your message clearly. Then, craft it in a way that makes sense where you post it. YouTube, Tweets, and blogs all have different end goals.
Step 5: Build Leadership
Businesses never build in a box. The internet has brought the world together in partnership, and it’s essential to find collaborators instead of thinking about others as competition.
We’re in a constant ebb and flow—within your industry, geographical location, the economy, and more. What sets leaders apart is that they select the issues that matter most within their niche and stay consistent in their message. They look for partners with the same message and choose to work together to move forward.
You can’t hide; consumers are smarter than ever. Innovative businesses understand this, showcase how they do what they do, and make the world a better place because of it.
What Does Your Authentic Content Say About You?
Authentic content is more than short-term gains. Instead, it’s crafted in such a way as to have a lasting impact.
It’s about connecting with your audience and giving them what they want most. Happy audiences are likelier to become loyal customers who stick around and become your raving fans. They share their experiences online and build up your positive reviews.
Yes, people are prone to reading reviews—it’s the best advice from friends, whether we know them or not. It is a process to keep this marketing circle going. Authentic content is at the center. Is it in your marketing plan?
