I keep seeing articles, social media posts, and training details about how to be authentic on social media, which has prompted this blog. Learning to be authentic seems like a contradiction in terms. It’s important that you reflect your brand in the correct manner. Every person and every business is unique. Hence, it’s okay to be different and being authentic on social media is crucial.
What Do You Say On Social Media?
When it comes to what to say on social media, you marketing goals, core values, company values and desired outcome all matter. No matter what you sell, supply or offer, being authentic on social media is important. Lots of business people wonder how they ‘should’ be and what they should say on social media. Is this something you’ve ever wondered about? Being anything other than your authentic self on social media is likely to be tiresome and unfulfilling. People want to get to know the real you and understand your core values when it comes to doing business.
Planning To Be Authentic?
Planning to be authentic is like planning to be spontaneous. It just doesn’t work or make sense. Social media platforms are full of people sharing their good news, which is wonderful, and I love seeing it. Reading about business success and people doing well makes me smile because it’s uplifting. It’s so inspiring to know that people are achieving their goals, smashing sales, and pushing their businesses forward. That’s one of the reasons why I love being an Events And Awards Compere. Being around amazingly successful and talented people is not only motivational, it’s fun.
Withdrawing From Social Media
I don’t know about you, but if things are not right with me, I tend to withdraw from social media. Mainly because I’d rather say nothing at all than pretend everything is great when it’s not. Being glum is just not my style either. What’s more, ycan’t plan to be authentic. It just won’t work, so whether you’re using social media to promote a product or service, stick to the facts. Be passionate and positive, but always be authentic.
Is Authenticity Good For Marketing?
Is authenticity good for marketing, I hear you ask? What I’m saying may seem contradictory. As a Chartered Marketer, I understand the importance of competitor awareness. I’m all about social media planning. I champion people getting their marketing messages out there for people to see. However, never ever at the expense of being disingenuous, transgressing core values, or saying what you think people want to hear for the sake of it.
Authenticity On Social Media For Service Providers
Fundamentally, authenticity is especially useful and important if you’re providing a service. I help many of my marketing clients to present themselves as an expert in their field. Regularly, I stress the importance of being true to themselves by being authentic. Furthermore, you don’t have to be something you’re not when marketing a service. Plus, you must communicate the right marketing messages that portrays the benefits of what you do, but always with accuracy and good intentions.There can be a degree of having to ‘big yourself up’ when you’re setting yourself up as an expert in your field. You can do this without seeming arrogant and remain authentic though.The upshot is that authenticity is crucial for all service providers!
Authenticity When Marketing Products
If you’re marketing a product or service, it’s vital that you describe your products correctly by law, because under consumer law you have a duty of care to provide accurate descriptions.
On social media, many sales and marketing professionals are using personal profiles for the purposes of reaching out to potential customers. Your organisational culture and values will be important and must be considered. However, it’s important that you are yourself, so that you’re reflecting your own characteristics and personality. This means that even when you’re marketing is product led: authenticity is essential.
Incorporating AI Into Your Social Media Strategy
Incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into your social media strategy can enhance efficiency and creativity. However, it’s essential to ensure that AI-generated content reflects your unique personality, style, and brand voice. Training your AI tools with your specific preferences and guidelines is crucial to maintain authenticity. Relying solely on AI can lead to generic or impersonal content, so it’s important to balance AI assistance with human oversight. This approach ensures that your social media presence remains genuine and resonates with your audience.
You Do You!
You do you and I’ll do me! I guess what I’m saying is let’s all plan our social media. Let’s post regularly about topical things. Relish in sharing our good news. Enjoy each other’s successes. But let’s all be true to ourselves and authentic on social media. It’s so easy to compare ourselves to other people, but who we are is always enough. There’s a reason we all look different, sound different, and have different personalities. It’s because we’re each unique and we’re supposed to be! Even twins have differences! My mum is an identical twin, so I know this to be true.
Whether you realise it or not, other people are, inspired, motivated, and look up to you. Just the other day, I had a call from someone who wanted to tell me that I was inspiring to many businesspeople. I never expected the call and was totally surprised by this news. Imagine how thrilled I was! Yes, I was over the moon. That call made me feel so good about myself, which leads me to my next point…
Interact With Others On Social Media
It’s important to interact with others on social media. Don’t just post stuff, use social media to form relationships as well as a following. Interact with other people’s posts. Again, be authentic in your responses and avoid being confrontational. I’m not here to tell you what to post on social media and what to say. You know what’s right for you and your business, but steer clear of controversy if possible. Use social media, especially platforms like LinkedIn, for networking and building connections. My general rule of thumb is behave, on social media, how you would in person! Here comes that authenticity word again! Always be authentic!
Let’s Do This
Let’s do this! Embrace who we are and let our inner specialities shine through! Always be genuine and authentic ! Stay true to who you are! Be you, because who you are is more than enough!
However many social media followers you’ve got, you want followers who are following you for the right reasons. You’re better off having less followers who are genuinely interested in you and what you do. Rather than having a mass of inactive and uninterested followers. Having a large crowd who are disinterested and disengaged is futile. Besides, people are pretty good at working out who is fake and who is authentic on social media. I guess it all comes down to integrity, confidence, and letting the real you shine through.
Go on…shine brightly and be who you are!
You’ve got this!
I’m Tracy Heatley
I’m Chartered Marketer and Certified AI Marketing specialist, Tracy Heatley; the author of this blog. If you would like to read more about marketing and AI marketing, my blogs are right here for you. Do get in touch if you would like to know more.
