5 Tips to Build Brand Authenticity in Social Media

Authenticity simply means to be real, genuine, reliable, credible and trustworthy. As we increasingly live and work in the virtual world with less and less person-to-person contact it’s all too easy for people and companies to fake it to achieve their end goals. Is this the way of the future – not at all! If you really want your brand to shine you must be authentic, the real you in yourself and your brand must shine through.

Being authentic online is more important than ever to build relationships, gain customers and to develop their trust – this above all else is key to success in whatever it is you do.

Here are some tips to help you to develop your brand authenticity.

Use Images and Graphics

Using images in your social media is very important. Firstly, people are more inclined to look at an image over reading a lot of content. They not only catch someone’s eye but they also convey a message to your audience. To that end you must be careful to ensure that the image you use reinforces your message. Stock photos have their usefulness but candid real images are far more effective. They bring your audience directly into your brand; they are more authentic which in turn increases your credibility.

Be Social and Engaging

No one likes stuffy posts that don’t say much of anything and just try to sell. Social media gives businesses unique opportunities to really speak to their audience. Engage with your audience the same way you would with a friend on a personal social platform, keeping the conversation casual and real lets your audience see your brand in a subtler more effective manner. You want your audience to see that there’s a real person behind your business posts.

Showcase your Team

Interviewing your staff from the president to the newly hired gives your audience a glimpse into what makes your business great. Interviews with the thought leaders of your company can help to establish authority and credibility while an interview with the new kid on the block shows that your business is transparent and approachable.

Real Time Posts

While social media scheduling solutions abound and are extremely convenient it’s important to intersperse scheduled posts with posts in real time. Your audience will notice if your posts come out at the same time every day with relatively the same content. That kind of strategy gets old really quickly and your audience will sense that it’s contrived. When there’s a breaking news item, throw out a quick comment or tweet. If you’re doing something cool or different snap a pic and post it. Engaging in the here and now with your audience adds to your authenticity and quite frankly your likability!

How do you Really Feel about That?

Expressing an opinion in a business social platform is often viewed as a no-no. Really though this isn’t the case at all as long as the opinion expressed is done so in a respectful manner. Well-presented controversial opinions can and do win people over even if they don’t agree because it shows them that the people behind the brand are real and act with integrity in the face of differing opinions. Stand true and tall but remember to be sensitive and respectful.

These tips will help you establish brand authenticity, authority in your industry and most importantly the trust of your target audience which will keep them coming back for more. Measuring authenticity isn’t really possible but when you see your followers rising and engaging you’ll know you’ve succeeded.

The Real Deal Regarding Authenticity

Authenticity – It’s a buzz word in the online marketing world these days but really, what is it all about and why is it so vitally important in your business?

When you are perceived as being authentic both personally and in your business you are building trustworthiness among your audience, your postulations are “worthy of acceptance” because they are true and are “not false or imitation” and your audience comes to regard you or your business as “true to one’s own personality, spirit or character is sincere and authentic with no pretensions”.  When your audience feels that you are genuine they begin to trust you and trust goes a long way in establishing and nurturing a relationship. (I got those big fancy words from Merriam-Webster's definition of authentic)

Many people and businesses struggle with the concept of authenticity, finding their voice, using it consistently, and being transparent. They simply don’t fully understand what it means or how to go about being that way online. We all know we should be authentic and for some, efforts at keeping it real have had disastrous results primarily because they understood “authentic” to mean they must expose every aspect of themselves in order to be considered authentic when this isn’t the case at all. Business owners must take great care in how they represent themselves online.  Bombarding your audience with pictures of your last family vacation, weekly meal plans and bad jokes your sister sends you, with your next flash sale and awesome service, won’t win you any loyalty, nor will it generate conversions from your followers because your messaging is inconsistent, sometimes irrelevant and disorganized.

Like so much in life and in business it’s about balance. Giving your audience a glimpse of who you are while showcasing your honesty and delivering your mission driven and value related messaging using a consistent voice will help you achieve the online marketing results that you are striving for.

Values are our belief systems and when values are misrepresented or misconstrued your audience will not trust you. Successful relationships are built on shared values; this holds true for both business brands and personally.

To help you to determine your values ask yourself the following questions:

• Why do you value what you do?

• How are you exhibiting the values to your followers?

• What do you value about your customers, clients and employees?

Within the answers to the above questions you will discover the nuggets of what your audience wants to see and hear from you in your online messaging. Your followers want to know what the business stands for, what the shared values are. Who you are is best represented by the sharing of your values with your audience. Through this you will develop a genuine, authentic voice, one which will facilitate trust and trust is what you want to achieve, trust will increase conversions and will help you to establish your brand as an authority.