Today’s consumers are overwhelmed by choices. With personalized advertisements, catchy slogans, and flashy campaigns, many consumers are experiencing an information overload. Marketers are left wondering how to establish and protect their market share in such a competitive climate. Ideally, your product is differentiated enough in the consumer’s mind to stand out from the rest. But even if you are selling a product that is similar (if not identical) to that of your competitors, there is one other surefire way to get your audience’s attention, and ultimately, their business – and it’s messaging your product from a place of authenticity, ie. practicing authentic marketing.
As our world becomes increasingly digital, buyers are spending more time online and doing more research on the products and the brands they buy from to see if their mission aligns with their own personal beliefs. When making important purchasing decisions, 86% of consumers say authenticity is a key factor in deciding which brands they like and support.
What is authentic content marketing?
Authentic content marketing is the practice of providing relatable information that entertains and educates your audience in a way that helps them form strong and loyal connections with your brand.
Unlike self-promotional marketing tactics, authentic marketing attempts to show buyers what your brand is really all about and leaves it to them to decide whether you meet their needs and match their values. Authenticity in your marketing efforts will help you connect with consumers and clients for a better relationship.
Why is authentic content marketing important?
Traditional advertising is no longer as effective.
Marketing, by nature, feels like manipulation. That’s because most companies still rely on traditional advertising methods to sell their products. We all spot these tactics from a mile away, and often just tune them out.
Strategic content marketing tends to be a bit more engaging, but even the most well-written sponsored articles and social posts contain shameless plugs that are easy for consumers to spot and dismiss.
David Beebe, Emmy Award-Winning brand marketer, once said “Content marketing is like a first date. If you only talk about yourself, there won’t be a second one.” No one wants to hear a brand boast about how great it is. You hear the writing advice, “Show, don’t tell.” time and again, and this still holds true.
Audiences can catch onto ingenuine marketing.
Authentic marketing is a way to build trust with your audience, and as you form your content marketing strategy, think of it as an opportunity to build a relationship with your audience rather than just a way to generate leads quickly.
One survey showed that 81% of consumers said that they needed to be able to trust a brand in order to buy from it. While immediate results may be enticing, you will find that developing authentic content that taps into your audience’s needs, curiosities, and pain points will have a greater impact over time.
Consumers are increasingly aware of brand values.
A lot more research and thought are being put into the brands audiences want to align themselves with. They’re paying more attention to company mission statements, if they’re treating their employees ethically, and if they care about sustainability. Consumers want to support businesses that share their values and with authentic marketing, you’re put in a place where you can do this.
5 Steps to get started with creating authentic content marketing:
1. Tell your brand story in a relatable way.
According to an expert panel of young entrepreneurs, your brand story should set out to tell your audience how your company came to exist. The narrative should also speak to what you are trying to accomplish and what drives you to stay in business. To ensure that people can connect with your story, it’s best to keep it straightforward and honest. The more complicated the storytelling of your business becomes, the less likely it is that your audience will choose to follow along or feel like it’s authentic.
To keep your brand narrative alive and reveal your human side, documenting experiences through different forms of content like blogs, social media, and video is a fun and easy way to produce authentic content around your brand story.
2. Define your audience and address their pain points.
Take the time to figure out whom you are trying to appeal to and what their interests, needs, and challenges are. Then aim to address those concerns by sharing your knowledge with informative and educational pieces – explainers, infographics and guides, for instance – that will help your audience see you as an invaluable resource. Authentic content marketing focuses on a consumer’s end-to-end experience and their pain points along the way instead of simply selling a product. Pieces with this kind of content can help establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry vertical as well.
3. Choose your marketing channels wisely.
Think about where your audience spends its time – not just when doing product research, but where it connects with others. Your authentic content marketing could live on a blog or website, but your message should also be amplified through other channels (like social media) to ensure that it reaches your intended audience, encourages interaction and builds community.
4. Be consistent with your brand.
Brand consistency involves making certain that your brand values, image, and messaging are consistent across all channels. Customers appreciate it when a business has a consistent brand and it feels more authentic. In fact, consistent presentation of a brand has been seen to increase revenue by 33%.
5. Be empathetic to your consumers' needs
Authentic marketing ties in well with empathetic marketing, which requires the ability to sympathize with consumers before promoting materials. Consider how the news and current events may affect how your customers view the world. Failing to take into account how current events impact decision-making can have dire consequences for your brand reputation and bottom line.
Challenges in authentic marketing
Taking a stand on global issues
Taking a stand is important for companies looking to develop these authentic relationships with their consumers. In fact, 66% of Americans say they would switch from their normal purchases to a new product if it came from a purpose-driven company. Although aligning your company with the values you believe in is beneficial, it is also important to carefully consider how to achieve this and if it truly aligns with what you believe in. Companies can face a backlash if users don’t feel a company’s support is coming from a genuine place.
Making sure that marketing goals are not merely tied to sales
While the ultimate goal of your brand should be to make sales and generate revenue, look at authentic marketing as a tactic to be employed long before the point of purchase. Assuming you connect with your intended audience, the goal of authentic content marketing should be to let people get to know your brand, relate to your mission, and ultimately trust you enough to make repeat purchases (or even refer their friends to you). Therefore, better indicators of positive content marketing performance are brand sentiment, brand loyalty, and brand affinity, not just sales.
Supplement authentic content with complementary licensed content
Since no one knows your brand story better than you, it makes sense for you to focus your in-house resources on the strategy and production of your authentic content. However, it may prove challenging to keep up with this work and produce enough content to maintain a consistent cadence. To amplify your messaging and bring context to your business, you can license trustworthy thought leadership content from content licensing partners like The New York Times Licensing Group (NYTLicensing). The New York Times Licensing Group helps companies connect with their audiences, harnessing The Times’s world-class journalism and content curation to engage customers and build trust.
Strategic licensed content will allow you to select from an array of articles and multimedia resources covering a wide range of topics, written by like-minded experts in any number of fields. To connect with your content marketing strategy, this licensed content can be introduced along with quotes or commentary from your own CEO, explaining why your business cares about a particular topic or how your business is contributing to society in a positive way.
Authentic Content Marketing Examples
Authentic marketing is beneficial across a wide range of industries, since it cultivates better client relationships. Below are B2C and B2B content marketing examples focusing on creating authentic connections with their audiences.
AdvisorStream Incorporates Licensed Content to Build Trust
A great example of content marketing is AdvisorStream, an award-winning marketing automation platform that helps financial advisers grow their practices by building trust and credibility with clients through highly engaging, authentic and personalized communications. The platform uses thought leadership content licensed from reputable sources, including NYTLicensing, to help drive conversions and engagement for its user base.
Lowe’s Uses Content Marketing to Encourage DIY Projects
Lowe’s used Instagram Stories to show its followers how to do DIY projects to maximize any space. The campaign featured about 50 clips that spanned less than a second long. This unique campaign was able to grab user’s attention while allowing them to rewind or fast forward through the clips. The brand focused on creating an authentic connection with consumers by focusing on client needs.
Final Thoughts
As you set out with your authentic content marketing strategy, give yourself permission to take risks and show why your brand is real. Be transparent and vulnerable; let your audience have a behind-the-scenes look at the people, the places, and the challenges that have made your brand what it is today. And don’t be afraid to experiment with new formats or channels. Even if you experience technical challenges or decide to change course, trying something new reveals the kind of humanity that your audience will appreciate. Authentic content can be a powerful tool to build your business and brand, while creating important consumer relationships.
