Why authenticity is the key to unlocking audience trust

With so many companies and brands promoting their products and services to us constantly, it can be overwhelming for small business owners or entrepreneurs to stand out and make their voice heard.

How can you make sure you are reaching the people who want and need to hear your message? How can you share what’s unique about what you have to offer – without sounding like every other ad or salesperson out there?

Especially as social media and other technologies overwhelm us every day with a barrage of information. How can small businesses and entrepreneurs cut through all of that, and reach the heart of the issues their audience care about most?

A crucial key that will help you to build a strong message on stable foundations and attract the customers and clients who need you, is building authenticity into everything you do.

As the internet has brought access to such a wealth of options - an entire online world – bringing choice on a level that consumers have never experienced before.

This allows you to reach large numbers of people that you may not have been able to in the past – and it also allows your customers to be more discerning than ever.

Authenticity can help those same customers to understand your core values and what you can deliver – and why they would benefit by investing their trust in you.

Trust is at the heart of this, as when customers feel they can trust you, not only are they more likely to invest in your product or service, but they’re also much more likely to come back to you again in future. Building loyalty to your brand is the long-term benefit that authenticity will reap for your business.

We all want to feel we can trust the people and companies we do business with – and to support those businesses that are in alignment with the values that we care about. Building this personal connection with your customers, through sharing your authentic message is one of the best things you can do to help unlock the trust of your audience and keep them coming back to you again and again.

Not only does research back up the importance of authenticity for consumers (such as this 2019 report from content platform Stackla: https://stackla.com/resources/reports/the-consumer-content-report-influence-in-the-digital-age/) – but younger generations have been shown to be willing to pay a little extra for a product or service which is socially conscious, support charitable or community based projects, and is sustainable, minimising the impact of the business on the environment and natural world.

This quote from a recent blog from millennial Melanie Curtin explains this growing mindset perfectly:

“I can attest to the fact that sustainability isn't just something I "sorta kinda" consider--it's one of the primary reasons I either buy or don't buy from consumer brands.

When browsing beauty products, my first question is, "Is it cruelty-free?" not how pretty the blush is. When looking at food items like coffee, I want to know first that it's Fair Trade. I don't want to support companies that don't care about how the animals and/or workers are treated, and I do want to support those that do.

In other words, I'm willing to spend more (a lot more, in fact) to know that what I'm spending my money on is actually good for the earth and the people on it.”

The blog is called: 73 Percent of Millennials are Willing to Spend More Money on This 1 Type of Product and you can read it in full here: https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/73-percent-of-millennials-are-willing-to-spend-more-money-on-this-1-type-of-product.html

So you know that authenticity can be a vital tool in helping you to connect with your potential customers and convert them into loyal fans – what steps can you take to do that?

I’ll share some tips and ideas on creating authentic copy in my next blog, so watch out for future posts and you can sign up to my mailing list to receive email updates with more advice, tips and suggestions to help you improve you copy and content marketing easily 😊

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