Why Authenticity is Key in Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is one tough nut to crack these days, especially with all the competition around. Sounds familiar? You bet! However, if there’s one thing that still makes a HUGE difference, it’s authenticity. And it’s not just a new buzzword or viral term that we mean here. 

Think about it closely if you’re a brand or a social media marketing agency. Do you really want a brand to seem fake and one that just tries to fit in with what’s trending? Doing this will only cost you followers in the long run, since audiences are smarter these days and can sniff out non-genuine brands in a jiffy. So authenticity in that sense is not only about staying real, but also about remaining consistent with your brand voice, personality, values, mission and core objectives. Otherwise, no matter how evolved your social media marketing strategy is, you’ll still lose out on your brand identity and your efforts will come to naught. 

The proof itself lies in the pudding (or numbers here) for that matter. Matter Communications research indicates how 81% of consumers have either bought, considered, or researched any service/product after seeing posts on the same from influencers, friends, or family on social media. The same report also indicates how 7 out of 10 consumers are more likely to trust these recommendations over information that comes from a brand. Hence, authenticity is what matters the most while learning about any product or brand on social media, according to reports, with 39% of people listing this as the most essential aspect. 

Thus, the writing on the wall is clear for every social media agency and brand out there- Authenticity is the foundation towards gaining more followers, visitors, buyers and recommendations- whichever is your goal. Now let’s understand how authenticity can be a core pillar of social media marketing services. 

Why Authenticity Matters for Your Social Media Strategy 

Keeping authenticity at the forefront is especially vital when you’re looking at harnessing social media for business gains. Here’s how it stacks up: 

• Build more trust- As every social media marketing company knows, authenticity is the harbinger of trust. In fact, an authentic brand will show to the target audience that it is relatable, real, and more trustworthy than others. It goes a long way towards building fulfilling long-term customer relationships and ultimately steers your social media strategy in the right direction. Without trust, there will be no engagement with your brand. Even worse, people may look to competitors who seem more authentic instead. For instance, the Dove Self Esteem project started way back in 2004 and has evolved over the years. However, it has stuck to its actual philosophy or core mission that beauty should bring confidence and not anxiety. This has earned the trust of customers due to Dove’s consistency and authentic philosophy, and made the campaign a roaring success even after all these years. 
• Works as a differentiator- Even the best social media marketing agency cannot salvage your brand if it is not authentic enough for consumers. Authenticity, in this case, can be a major differentiator, particularly with multiple brands jostling for eyeballs across social media platforms. When you are real about your brand values and identity, then you will automatically draw the right kind of audience and social media attention. Patagonia, for example, mainly focuses on activism stories, its values, and shares content related to these topics. This automatically works as a differentiator, leading to the huge success of its Worn Wear program and other campaigns. 
• Improves engagement- Authenticity may contribute immensely towards scaling up engagement with target audiences. When your content and brand personality are genuine, it is more likely to get responses from prospective consumers, leading to more comments, likes, shares, and even conversions. BEIS is one brand that has consistently tracked engagement and looked at using these insights to offer content that is entertaining and true to its real self. It has leveraged its authenticity to outperform retail competitors on social media platforms as a result. 
• Helps maintain consistency- Every brand knows how being consistent matters a lot across all social media platforms. Being true to the brand voice and identity in a consistent manner helps create a more cohesive, appealing, and recognizable brand image that people can depend on. 
• Scales up brand authority- Authenticity can help you establish your brand as a domain authority. Through sharing valuable and authentic content, you can position your company as a thought leader in its niche, thereby gaining more trust from your target audience. This leads to higher credibility and engagement in turn. Some examples can be Chobani which dominates the Greek yogurt space with its authentic focus on quality, natural ingredients, working with local communities, and the wellbeing of the workforce. This has made it a thought leader of sorts in the segment. 
• Builds brand loyalty- One of the biggest outcomes of an authentic brand approach is higher brand loyalty. When the audience perceives your brand as genuine and builds connections with the same, they are more likely to be loyal to your company and even spread the word about it to others. Authenticity can be the building block of a more engaged community around your product/brand, thereby leading to higher customer retention as well. From biggies like Apple and Starbucks to newer names like Fenty Beauty, they’ve all succeeded by sticking to their authentic brand approach over the years. 

Social Media Marketing Tips to Maintain Authenticity 

Now that you’ve got the gist of how authenticity makes a big difference to your social media strategy, it is time to look at a few tips that you can follow to maintain the same. 

• Clearly define your brand voice, personality, and values. These should be reflected in all marketing communication revolving around your brand. 
• Keep tracking customer feedback across social media channels and resolve the same transparently. 
• Build genuine user-generated content while encouraging customers to share their experiences on social media as well. 
• Answer questions authentically and appropriately to build a more positive brand image. 
• Get a professional social media marketing agency to execute regular audits of your social media presence. This will ensure that all your content is consistent with your brand identity, values, and voice. It will encompass reviews of all past content, identifying areas to improve, and making changes wherever needed. 

These are tried-and-tested strategies to take your brand to another level. And celebrities don’t always work. Reports by Marketing Charts also show how social media users are in fact gunning for more authenticity across these platforms, while 61% of consumers feel that relatable personalities are the most appealing types of influencers. This is well ahead of expert personalities (43%) and just-for-fun personalities (32%). In fact, in a major lesson for social media branding agencies today, only 11% of people listed celebrity personalities as the most appealing in this survey. 

Get More Authentic to Take Your Brand to the Next Level 

To put it in a nutshell then, authenticity can be called the bedrock of social media marketing. If you aren’t authentic and consistent in terms of your brand messaging, personality, and voice, then your campaign, product, and brand will simply not cut it in today’s highly competitive landscape. 

So check out the above-mentioned tips, get expert help on infusing that much-needed layer of authenticity into your social media strategy and start telling more relatable brand stories that resonate with your target audiences.