When it comes to building a brand, authenticity is everything.
A brand is not what you say it is. It is how you behave, and how you interact with your business users. How a business interacts with its clients can determine the success of the brand, the audience, and even the business itself.
Brands need to focus on developing brand authenticity. Authenticity is a complex concept but it is essential to go beyond the functionality of an offering and highlight the unique quality of your product.
Brand Authenticity describes the feeling that people get from your brand. It’s that “gut feel” people have when they see your logo and hear your company’s name. When they buy a product or follow a social account and come back to buy another product, it increases brand authenticity. On the other side, when they feel like something is amiss and find out it is a fake you are harming your brand credibility.
Brand authenticity is one of the most important elements of a brand’s success. It directly influences identity, advertising, customer engagement and loyalty. A brand is so much more than a logo or just a name.
You can’t build a brand around some idea of yourself that isn’t actually true—just like building a house on sand will eventually crumble, so will any business built on a foundation of lies and false promises.
Brand authenticity is a tough one. It can be hard to know how to make sure that your brand is authentic, but here are some ways that you can improve it and also some practical tips that you can implement today:
You don’t need to fake it or put on airs to please your customers. Just be yourself! If you’re funny, keep being funny! If you’re serious, keep being serious! If you’re down-to-earth, let that shine through in everything that you do. Don’t try too hard to be cool or edgy. There’s nothing worse than trying to be cool! If you try too hard to be hip or trendy, people will see right through it.
Be yourself, even if that means being uncool sometimes. Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability or humanity in your content (even if it’s just a little bit). People respond well when they feel like they’re connecting with real people who have real lives—it makes them feel more connected when they see someone else struggling with something they know about too!
The most important thing is that you’re authentic. People can tell when you’re not being real—it’s the same feeling they get when they find out the tooth fairy isn’t real. If you try to be something or someone else, you’ll lose credibility and break trust with your audience.
Don’t try to be someone else. The best way to build your brand is by being yourself. It may seem scary at first—who wants to put themselves out there like that? But think about it this way: if someone likes what they see of you on social media, they’ll probably like the real-life version even more!
Be consistent with your branding and messaging. When you have a look, voice, and tone that’s consistent across all of your content, it helps make sure that people know what to expect from your brand. If someone visits your website and sees something different than what they saw last time they visited, they won’t know what to think of it—and they might just leave.
Make sure that everything is consistent across all of your platforms so that people can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
Being consistent means keeping up with everything from your website design to social media posts. It also means having uniformity across platforms—if someone sees something on Twitter and then comes back later to find something else on Facebook, they may get confused because they think they’ve come across two different companies instead of just one.
By being consistent, you’re making sure that whoever sees your brand knows exactly who they’re dealing with every time!
In the process of building a strong brand, the first step is to include everyone—from the CEO to the newest employee. It’s important to remember that this isn’t just about “marketing” or “advertising”; it’s about communication, which involves every aspect of your business.
When you’re building a brand, you need to remember that your brand is made up of people. People have opinions, ideas, and passion—and those things all make up your brand. So when you’re thinking about how to improve authenticity, it’s important to remember that this is an ongoing process. You can’t just set down some guidelines for yourself and expect everyone to follow them forever!
Make sure your ‘About’ or ‘Team’ page is kept up to date on your website and, more importantly, showcases each member of the team. People should be able to get to know the people from your brand by reading these pages.
Use images of yourself and/or team members in your social posts. Like it or not, people want to see that your brand is run by actual human beings. We’ve all heard the saying, “people buy from people.” But how do you make sure you’re actually selling yourself?
You have to let your staff be themselves in your photos. If you want to attract the kind of clientele that will buy from your business, then show them who you are by taking pictures of your employees.
Mix up the shots—take some candid shots as well as some more formal ones. The casual shots should give a warm, friendly feel while the more formal shots will give off a serious, professional vibe. As long as they’re appropriate for the situation, use both!
Focus on taking pictures of your staff in situations where they feel most comfortable—that way they’ll be able to show their true personalities through their expressions and body language instead of feeling like they’re being forced into an awkward pose or situation just to please their employer!
If you are the type of business that meets customers face to face, it is much better that they get what they are expecting when they arrive at your premises. Your photos should show the space where you work so that people can get an idea of what they’ll see when they turn up. Regularly take new pictures so even if you move you’ll be covered.
Make sure your office is clean and tidy, but not too tidy—you want to show that people actually are working there! Be authentic! No good having all of your team pictures in a coffee shop down the road, maybe take some in your meeting room so people are already familiar when they come and visit.
When people buy from you, they want to know what they’re getting into. They want to know that there’s a reason why they should trust you over someone else—and it all comes down to having values that matter to your customers. Don’t try to please everyone—it’s impossible anyway! Instead, figure out who your target audience is and focus on them. Make sure those people can see how your product or service aligns with their values.
In order to have an authentic brand, be true to your core values and stay away from anything that seems fake. This will show through in the final design of your business sign, logo, or website. It is only when you are authentic that people will connect with you on a personal level and trust what you have to say. So often we can be our own worst critics, but it’s important to remember that others don’t see our flaws as easily as we do.
Whatever type of branding strategy you plan on using, make sure that every aspect of it reflects the same message. For example, if one of your marketing strategies is ads in magazines, make sure that every ad looks similar—the text should be the same size and style and the graphics should be consistent as well. This will help build trust between your company and its customers because consistency builds familiarity and familiarity builds trust.
What makes authenticity so tricky is that there is no single activity that encapsulates it, but rather a number of activities that fall under its definition. It’s also a concept that is not necessarily taught but must be absorbed. Authenticity is about being yourself, unguarded and uncensored, in everything you do. Be true to yourself and be consistent with who you are; avoid what feels artificial at all costs. You should think about your brand as something you’re constantly working on. It’s not something that will ever be perfect or finished or complete. Instead, authenticity is something you’ll always be working towards.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to build a strong brand. Building your brand authenticity is really just about being you, and then doing that consistently over time. The simpler you keep it, the better chance you will have of making an impact with your potential customers. Great brands aren’t flashy or complicated but instead are simple and truthful. Remember that your brand is you and how you choose to present yourself. If you can be consistent in your messaging, create a solid image of what you stand for both personally and professionally, and demonstrate by your actions that your words mean something then the rest takes care of itself.
Photo Credit – Merry Hill / Shaun Fellows, Shine Pix Ltd
