But what does brand authenticity mean? And how can you demonstrate it?
Brand authenticity is how customers perceive and interact with your company.
According to a study by Cohn & Wolfe, 91% of consumers will reward brands for being authentic, while 63% would buy from a brand they perceive as authentic over its competitors.
Brand authenticity is the degree to which your brand is consistent, honest, and transparent with its values, mission, and promises. It's about being true to yourself and your customers and not trying to be something you're not.
Demonstrating brand authenticity can help you build trust, loyalty, and credibility with your target audience. It can also help you stand out from the crowd and differentiate yourself from other marketing agencies that may offer similar services.
But how can you show the authenticity of your brand? Here are some best practices to follow:
The first step to demonstrating brand authenticity is to have a clear and consistent brand identity and voice. It means knowing who you are, what you stand for, what you offer, and how you communicate with your customers.
Your brand identity and voice should reflect your core values, mission statement, vision statement, unique selling proposition (USP), tone of voice, personality traits, and visual elements. Align these elements across all your touchpoints, such as your website, social media platforms, email campaigns, blog posts, etc.
A strong brand identity and voice can help you create a memorable impression on your customers and convey what differentiates you from other marketing agencies.
Another way to show brand authenticity is to share your story and purpose with your customers. Share why you started your business, what challenges you've faced, how you overcame them, and what impact you want to make.
Sharing your story and purpose can help you connect with your customers emotionally and show them you're more than just a business that wants their money.
It also helps to highlight your expertise, passion, and values.
Share your story and purpose through various channels, such as your website's about page, social media posts, blog articles, podcasts or videos, or even customer testimonials or case studies.
Transparency and honesty are essential for demonstrating brand authenticity. It means being open and truthful about your processes, pricing, results, successes, and failures or mistakes.
Being transparent and honest can help you build trust and credibility with your customers by showing them you have nothing to hide or manipulate.
It can also help you build a culture of feedback and improvement in your business and encourage your customers to stay loyal and spread the word.
Be transparent and honest by providing precise and accurate information on your website, disclosing any conflicts of interest, and admitting when you don't know something.
It means acknowledging your errors and sincerely apologising when you do.
Share positive and negative customer feedback by reporting wins and losses in your campaigns, explaining how you measure and optimise your performance, offering guarantees or refunds if applicable, respecting privacy policies or data protection laws, etc.
The final way to demonstrate brand authenticity is to engage with customers authentically.
Authentic engagement comes from listening to their needs, wants, opinions, questions, concerns, compliments, and complaints. It means responding promptly, respectfully, personally, professionally, helpfully, gratefully, or empathetically. It's creating content that educates, entertains, inspires, or solves their problems. Ask for feedback and suggestions on improving their experience with your service, and invite them to join a community of like-minded people. Reward your customers for their loyalty with rewards for personalised offers.
Genuinely engaging with your customers helps you build strong relationships, encourage word-of-mouth marketing, and build a community of brand advocates who will support and promote your brand.
Engage your customers through social media platforms, email marketing, webinars, live events, online forums, or any other channels where they are active and receptive.
Being active, responsive, and genuinely caring about your customer's experiences establishes your commitment to their success and satisfaction.
• Use your customers' names and discuss their specific situations or needs to make your communication more personal.
• Empathy means putting yourself in your customer's shoes and letting them know you understand how they feel or what worries them.
• Provide valuable content by sharing tips, resources, and insights that help your customers achieve their goals.
• Ask your customers what they think and what they would change, and show that you value their input.
• Proactively reach out to your customers to check their progress or offer help before they ask for it.
• Celebrate successes by acknowledging and praising your customers' achievements and sharing their success stories with your community.
Demonstrating the authenticity of your brand is more than just one thing; living and breathing your brand's values, mission statement and vision statement are the foundation and the launching band to brand authenticity.
HiveMinded creates meaningful experiences that convert and retain an ever-evolving audience.
