Authentic Marketing: Why Is It Crucial to Winning Customers?

In this highly competitive world where consumers are constantly bombarded with information, choices, and advertising, how can you cut through all the noise and make sure you win over your ideal customers?

Is it to increase your brand’s visibility online? Is having a unique product and service the secret to standing out?

As a Florida SEO company, we believe it has something to do with your brand’s authenticity.

When you market your brand in ways that feel real and relatable to your target audience, you not only win more sales, but you also gain loyal customers who are proud to associate themselves with your company.

Essentially, consumers treat a business like a human being. And, they want to do business with companies they share similar values with. They want to buy from brands they know are truthful, trustworthy, and genuine.  

Every good brand knows that customer loyalty can’t be bought and trust is something that has to be earned. Getting someone to truly believe in your brand and advocate for your products or services requires a deeper and more genuine connection.

During this post-pandemic era, 70% of consumers say that trusting a brand today is more important than ever before. 53% also say that trust is the second most important factor (next to the price) when buying from a new brand.

This is why companies are starting to focus more on authentic marketing.  

In this article, we will discuss what authentic marketing is about, how it helps you win customers, and tips on how you can convey brand authenticity in your marketing efforts.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

What Is Authentic Marketing?

Authentic marketing is the practice of finding out why you personally believe in your brand and then relaying that message to your target audience. It also involves open and honest communication with your customers and sharing stories through your content.

Authentic marketing is being honest and realistic about your products and services.

An example of this is knowing that you’re the second best Italian restaurant in Florida and communicating this to your audience. However, you also want to tell them what you’re doing to deserve that number one spot, like sourcing fresh ingredients from local farmers or using only grass-fed, organic meat in your recipes.

Why Is Authentic Marketing Crucial to Winning Customers?

90% of modern consumers judge a brand by its authenticity. They use it to decide which companies they like and support.

Here are three reasons why authentic marketing is vital to winning lifetime customers:

More and More People Prefer “Real and Authentic” Brands

An increasing number of Gen Z and millennials prefer to buy from businesses that support a social cause they care about. Consumers today want transparent businesses that care about social and environmental issues and take a stand. Those companies that refuse to take a position face public backlash.

Authentic Marketing Helps Build Stronger Connections with Your Audience

It’s relatively simple to make sales through promotions and other marketing gimmicks, but building a brand that people have a strong affinity with requires trust and creating deeper connections with your audience.

Authentic messaging and showing the relatable side of your business is the way to tap into the hearts of your target audience and connect with them on a deeper level.

Authentic Marketing Lets You Stand Out

People are no longer persuaded by overly promotional posts. In fact, most internet users block ads!

So, instead of pushing your products or services down the throats of your ideal customers, what you should do instead, is work on showing the heart of your brand through meaningful marketing.

You can share stories of how your source your products, the people behind your business, the different causes you support, giving them a glimpse of the work that goes behind your manufacturing, and many more.

How to Communicate Brand Authenticity Effectively and Earn the Trust of Consumers in the Process

Consumers want to know where every single cent goes if they buy from you. They want to have the assurance that they can trust you, and they want to be sure that you’re actually who you claim to be.

Let’s find out how to earn the trust of your target audience through brand authenticity:

1. Define Your Core Brand Values

Part of being authentic means promoting your brand values and identity. To do that effectively, you first need to go back to your company mission and vision and identify who you are as a company, as well as what you believe in as an organization.

What do you want to achieve? Who do you support, and why do you want to support them?

The goal here is to align your messaging and marketing activities with your brand identity and values. When people can sense that you’re being inconsistent with who you say you are and the message you’re sending them, it can automatically lead to mistrust and you may end up losing customers because of this.

So, how can you build brand consistency? Here are several tips:

• Review your brand’s guidelines to make sure that they’re consistent with your company's mission and vision.
• Train your employees to demonstrate the values of your brand.
• Create content that showcases your core brand values (both online and offline).
• Be consistent with your brand voice, tone, and personality across all channels.
• Participate in activities that align with your brand’s identity, such as clean-up drives or volunteering in your local community.

2. Be Open and Transparent About Your Products and Services

Being transparent and showing your audience what goes on behind the four walls of your office and the amount of work dedicated to producing each of your products is the ultimate display of transparency and authenticity.

Below are some ways on how you can add more transparency to your marketing efforts:

• ‍Focus on sharing real stories. Tell stories about your employees, your most loyal customers, and their ultimate experience with your brand. Feature them on your social media posts, interview them in your podcasts, and just get them involved. Real stories from real people are something you can’t just make up.‍
• Develop a two-way dialogue with your target audience. Make them feel heard and valued. Social media is one of the best platforms for fostering two-way conversations. There, you can share news, seek feedback, answer questions, find out about pain points, and many more. ‍
• Educate your customers through valuable content. Provide tips, tricks, tutorials, and hacks about your products or services. Let them know about the latest news in your industry and share your insights. ‍
• Give people a look at how you run your business - from manufacturing, packaging, shipping, to maintaining relationships with your customers. You can do this through video and then posting it on social media. ‍
• Utilize user-generated content to showcase real stories of real normal people using your products or services!

3. Answer Questions Publicly and Give People an Insight about Your Products or Services

Show people how your products are made and the work that goes into the services you provide your customers.

Answer questions, such as what the ingredients or materials that go into each item are, what the breakdown of the costs to produce your merchandise, where you source them from, the story behind your product, and how it came to be.

When you answer the questions your audience throws at you with all honesty and then posting them in public, you’re showing them that you’ve got nothing to hide and you are indeed being transparent and genuine towards your customers.  

If you don’t have a FAQ page yet, create one and post all of the possible questions a potential buyer might have about your products or services. You can also host a live Q&A through Facebook Live, or post a question on Instagram stories and then share your answers publicly.

As an SEO company in Florida, we strive hard to be accessible to our audience on social media and make them comfortable to ask us questions about anything related to digital marketing.

4. Employ People Who Naturally Represent Your Brand

Choose those who possess the right attitudes and share the same values with your company because it’s so much easier to teach people how to sell than it is to shift someone’s disposition and values.

For example, if your company sells outdoor gear whose mission is to help protect Mother Earth, then aim to employ people who share the same passion for outdoor activities and for taking care of the environment.

As an SEO company in Florida, we employ people who have a passion for helping others succeed.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Take a Stand

Once you’ve told the world who you are and what you stand for through your marketing messages and activities, it’s time you walk your talk.

One way of backing up your claims is by taking a stand in what you believe in, especially with regards to pressing issues in society like environmental concerns, gender inequality, racial discrimination, and so much more. If you don’t speak up about issues, you’ll likely lose the trust of your customers.

6. Support Causes That Align with your Mission

Give back to your community and support a cause that aligns with your company’s mission and vision. This is something you have to be passionate about and don’t just do it for the sake of likes on social media, to feel good about yourself, or win over people.

Do it because you genuinely care about the causes you support and want them to succeed in their fight in making a difference.

7. Embrace the Fact That Nobody's Perfect

There’s no such thing as perfect. Every business, brand, company, or organization goes through its own share of struggles and hardships before they even become what others would call “goals”.

So, stop sugarcoating everything on your end and be genuine about the struggles you’re facing as a business.

Share this with your audience and give them tips on how you were able to overcome them. Success stories inspire people and they can move mountains for others.

Not only do people love consuming this type of content, but they also help you win the sympathy of your target audience and make your brand more relatable.  

Looking for a Florida SEO Company That Can Help You Get Started with Authentic Marketing?

As more and more consumers become belief-driven buyers, authentic marketing has become an essential part of every business’ marketing strategy.

Now that people are getting better at filtering out overly promotional posts and pinpointing which company is being genuine or not, it’s safe to say that authenticity marketing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

92% of marketers and businesses believe that the content they create resonates as authentic to their target audience. However, 51% of consumers think that less than half of the brands create authentic content.

It’s time to level up your marketing strategy and integrate authenticity into your activities.  Digital Resource is your go-to SEO company in Florida that specializes in all things SEO, including content marketing, reputation management, and social media marketing.

If you’re struggling to show the authentic side of your business, we can help. Check out our client testimonials to know how we were able to help others succeed online through effective SEO!