by
release date: February 2, 2024
Consumers want to know that the business they are doing business with is genuine. Now more than ever, businesses need to take steps to demonstrate their authenticity to customers and differentiate themselves from competitors and AI fakes.
genuine This can mean “not false or imitative” or “true to one's own spirit and character.”
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, companies have sought authenticity and differentiated themselves from mass-produced products on the market. This is true now more than ever as customers seek authentic representations of brands and experiences with those brands. This means brands need to be transparent, accountable, and aligned with their stated mission.
In a year where generative AI has risen and social media companies have introduced stronger verification policies, it's no wonder that digital marketers inside and outside of the tech industry are making trust a top priority.
Why is reliability important?
Reliability is essential to trust. Customers buy from brands they connect with. By connecting with a brand, customers build trust and are more likely to buy from you.
Consumers have more choices than ever before. If your brand isn’t speaking to them or they don’t trust your brand, they can find an alternative. According to the global report 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer, most professionals looking for information about new technologies and innovations turn to social media, national and local media, friends and family rather than other sources. It relied on online research.
Authentic engagement shows consumers that your brand values and respects their opinions. This creates loyal customers who favor your brand over your competitors.
How to be authentic in business and marketing
Here are some ways companies can demonstrate authenticity in both messaging and operations.
- Please tell the story. A brand's backstory tells customers “its values and the why behind them.” Show customers what has remained consistent throughout the evolution of your brand, from its inception to its current state. It shows integrity and shows customers what they can continue to expect from a brand that has been consistent throughout its history.
- Be transparent. Admitting your flaws, mistakes, and mistakes is part of being authentic. No brand is perfect, and companies can always deviate from their stated values and mission. When this happens, it is important to acknowledge and disclose it. Customers don't expect perfection and value integrity even when it highlights a company's shortcomings. When things are going well, show your appreciation to your customer base. In general, transparency also refers to being honest about a company's practices and ways of working.
- Be consistent. Consistency is key to creating a sense of authenticity among your brand's customer base. When a brand consistently engages with customers, customers perceive that the brand is staying true to its identity and builds trust and confidence.
- Recognize multiple goals. Businesses are multifaceted and have different goals to achieve. Companies juggle many goals, including securing shareholder wealth, developing employees, contributing to the environment, corporate social responsibility, employee training and development, and community engagement. Companies need to find ways to incorporate these multiple goals into their values and mission statements. As priorities change, companies need to reflect this in their corporate statements and marketing. A company's message and identity must honestly encompass its diverse, and sometimes conflicting, priorities without making the company seem hypocritical.
- Have a purpose. When a brand offers a product or service that improves the world in some way or solves a big-picture problem, it creates a sense of authenticity and can increase customer loyalty. Gen Z consumers are more likely to remain loyal to brands that are committed to social change.
- Align your employees with your core values. Employees, especially middle managers, need to be aligned with the company's values. Their role must be more than administrative. You need to ensure that your frontline employees embody your company's values in their work and authentically express those values when interacting with customers.
- Accept user-generated content. Consumers seek user-generated content to get a first-hand perspective on products, brands, and services. User testimonials and blogs are more trustworthy than brand-generated content. User-generated content fosters a community around your brand and shows the impact your brand has on that community. Businesses need to amplify the voice of their users and foster conversations between users. According to the aforementioned Edelman report, most professionals trust their colleagues more than their company's technical experts, CEOs, and journalists.
- We deliver quality. Customers increase their trust in a company when it promotes its products and services and delivers on its promises. When a company repeatedly delivers quality that matches its message, it leads to a sense of trust among its customer base.
- Discriminate. An authentic brand identity helps differentiate your brand from your competitors.Customers know what the brand is best at They are do. What makes a brand unique is also what makes it authentic.
The benefits of authenticity in business and marketing
The benefits of reliability in marketing and business operations include:
- A genuine connection. Authentic brands foster authentic connections with their customer base. There is a genuine connection between customers and brands based on shared values.
- Improving brand value and reliability. Authenticity increases brand equity, or the social value of a brand name relative to generic equivalents. and credibility – the perception of a brand’s ability to deliver on its promise. A brand is trustworthy if customers can trust its product or service blindly.
- Improved SEO performance. Authentic brands frequently experience improved SEO performance. This is because we create and curate high-quality content that your target audience is interested in and actively searches for.
- Improving customer retention rates. When customers trust a brand, they are more likely to stick with it, increasing customer loyalty.
- Improving brand awareness. Loyal customers are more likely to be brand advocates. This expands your brand's audience and conversion rates. Authentic messaging and user-generated content can also help create a community around your brand.
- more conversions and sales. A loyal customer base and customer advocates generate both repeat and new sales in the form of both new and repeat customers.
Examples of authenticity in business and marketing
This brand sample has a serious marketing strategy on social media and other areas.
- Adobe. Adobe partners with influencers to create how-to content about Adobe programs. Influencers typically have experience with the product, have creative freedom in content creation, and provide authentic user-generated content.
- Amazon. Despite controversy over the treatment of its employees, Amazon has built a foundation of credibility by sticking to its promise and customer service. A commitment to service and customer centricity has contributed to the brand's perception of authenticity, despite its shortcomings.
- Grammarly. Software company Grammarly is posting behind-the-scenes videos of its staff in its “Meet the Team” social campaign. These videos humanize your brand and build trust with your audience by giving a sneak peek into the work that goes into making a product or providing a service.
- Kodak. Camera brand Kodak encourages users to post photos taken with Kodak products on Instagram using the hashtag #MadeWithKodak. Kodak then reposted the photo. Photos serve as visual support for Kodak products and create a conversation about the brand that others can trust.
- L.L. Bean. The outdoor apparel brand took a break from social media and went out for Mental Health Awareness Month to embody its environmental values and donate to mental health causes. Employees and customers were also logging into fitness tracking app Strava during off-hours. This campaign demonstrated LLBean's commitment to its core values and building community with its customer base.
- Microsoft. Microsoft maintains a TikTok account that it uses to participate in the creator economy and post humorous and relatable content, such as a video that teaches viewers how to delete columns in Excel. Even though Microsoft is one of the largest companies in the world, they use short-form video content to create an authentic and personal feel in their marketing. Microsoft may also respond to you or engage in conversations about your brand.
- Open AI. Despite general doubts about the trustworthiness of AI, OpenAI remains committed to a set of core values and goals in public messaging. It also ships a product — ChatGPT — that supports the company's commitment to providing useful tools.
Editor's note: This list is based on web research and is presented in alphabetical order.
Ben Lutkevich is a WhatIs writer, writing definitions and features.
Dig deeper into marketing and customer experience
