Standing out from the crowd with authentic marketing - What is authentic marketing?

With advertising and branding under our noses everywhere we go, it is important for marketers to ensure that their brand stands out from the crowd.

Here in part one of this series on authentic marketing, Marketing Manager, Sophie Proctor, explains exactly what authentic marketing is.

 

Brand authenticity is where a brand's marketing and messaging aligns with the reality of its values, mission and products or services.

Authentic marketing helps differentiate your brand from your competitors as it shows off your originality. After all, your brand is unique.

The key is being clear on what your brand is, what it does and what it stands for. You should show this through your marketing strategy – as well as by taking action and standing up for what the brand believes in, when appropriate.

Make sure that every element in your marketing campaign stresses your brand’s uniqueness, emphasises distinguishing features and is a full representation of your brand.

In an ideal world, your products or services are unique enough to stand out from your competitors’. However, this can be difficult when there are lots of consumers looking for the same or similar things. Therefore, your brand and marketing need to be the assets that stand out and attract attention.

Helping your brand to stand out from the crowd allows you to be recognisable and memorable, as well as authentic. This authenticity then supports brand loyalty and repeat purchases from your audience as they remember and trust your brand.

The need for real, genuine connections is growing everyday both online and in person. People are looking for brands to be real and relatable in their marketing, not showing an edited and refined version of them. This portrays inauthenticity and consumers can see right through it.

An authentic brand is transparent, honest, consistent and completely genuine with their marketing and actions. But this needs to be real and not forced for it to be totally authentic, otherwise your brand will have the opposite effect and will be perceived as unreliable and insincere.

The aim with authentic marketing is for paid campaigns to come across as relatable, with the ability to build real connections with audiences – rather than coming across as a paid strategy pushed under people’s noses.

One example of a real authentic marketing campaign that worked is Dove’s Self-Esteem Project, previously known as their Real Beauty campaign. It’s effective because it is relatable, builds a real connection with their target audience and stays true to the brand’s values.

Authenticity will continue to play an influential role in marketing strategies for some time, but it isn’t just about being honest and ethical. It includes building a strategy that delivers a message that resonates with the audience it is delivered to.

Remember – brands that lack authenticity have higher marketing costs because they lack brand loyalty, and as they need to consistently market to new and existing audiences.

If you would like support to build an authentic marketing strategy for your brand, drop me an email today.

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