What does ‘authentic’ marketing actually look like?
The word ‘authenticity’ is having a serious renaissance, likely in answer to the growing AI universe and the thousands of digital ads we’re exposed to every single day. In a modern world where more and more is produced by robots, we, as consumers, are all pining for something that feels ‘real’, something that feels like a real human being has put thought and energy into it.
But like many things, ‘authenticity’ means different things to different people, so how do you apply it to your brand’s marketing, and how do you guide your team to do the same?
Here’s what we think ‘authentic’ marketing and copywriting looks like within your brand.
Values that are true to behaviour
Hold your horses there, cowboy. Before you do anything with your marketing and copywriting, let’s talk values. They’re the basis of all your marketing output, or at least, they should be.
Let’s get something clear, company values should be based on real life behaviours you want your teams to live by. It’s those behaviours that will attract the right people - whether they’re future team members or clients.
We’re going to hold your hand when we say this, but ‘transparency’, ‘integrity’ and ‘honesty’ don’t cut the mustard. Those things should be the minimum gold standard. If you have to go out of your way to tell people you’re an honest organisation, for whatever psychological reason, it’s probably going to bring your honesty into question.
Some top tips
Stop thinking about your values through the lens of what you think customers and clients want to see from you. This is when you can easily fall into the trap of being inauthentic. If you feel you have to dramatically change your behaviour to win clients, maybe they’re not your clients? 🤷
Think about the genuine behaviours that you want to model, or are already modelling on a daily basis.
If that’s a struggle, have a think about what types of behaviour really grind your gears and work backwards from there.
‘Authentic’ doesn’t have to mean ‘stand-up comedian’
We’re seeing people actually get bogged down by this word, ‘authenticity’. For some, authenticity has become synonymous with being funny or super ‘out there’, which nine times out of ten just isn’t the right approach for your brand.
Not every brand is destined to be a Monzo or a Ryanair, and that’s okay. Being authentic just means showing up as your true selves, whatever that may look like. It’s taking down the walls and letting your audience get a real sense of the people behind your organisation.
It might suit the brand to be off the cuff. It might be that your clients expect you to show up in a polished way. The thing here is that you don’t have to succumb to TikTok trends or try to be provocative if it’s not reflective of your brand. Remember, not every trend is a friend.
An authentic brand voice
One of our favourite parts of the brand voice process is our discovery meetings, when we get to sit down and listen to you lovely people talk about what you do. A lot of the time, the way you talk about it in the meeting isn’t reflected in the marketing that’s going out. And trust us, you have some golden nuggets to share.
It’s our job to take what’s said in the room and create a voice that genuinely reflects the people working in your organisation. This will mean wherever you show up, you’ll show up authentically, and, importantly, consistently. Everyone in the organisation will be singing from the same hymn sheet, because the voice is built on real people.
Things made by humans
Despite such huge advancements in AI technology, less than 50% of people globally trust these systems. Anecdotally, people are certainly fatigued by the sheer amount of AI technology and content pushed on them.
As part of the authenticity renaissance, we want things thought about and made by real humans. On platforms like LinkedIn, spontaneous photos of ‘behind the scenes’ footage or from events are being favoured because we just want to see real people doing real things.
As a society, we’re in a strange transition period where we’re learning to balance these enormous technical, digital advancements with content that feels spontaneous and real.
If you want to show up more authentically in your marketing, but you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got you covered my friend.
Get in touch with us and start using your authentic voice to attract the right people and win more conversions.
