Why it’s so important for your marketing to be genuine today

How genuine are your brand’s messages? 

How honest is your tone and communication style? 
Does the information you provide earn trust? 

These are critical questions to ask yourself because your customer is very savvy, suspicious and intuitive today. They have wised up to the fake and they’re not afraid to tell you, tell others and walk away altogether. 

Here’s why being genuine is so critical in marketing and what that even means. 

In fact, the whole practise of business has changed. 

Decades ago, brands called the shots. People were incredibly influenced by basic commercials on TV. “Eat this cereal.” “Buy these shoes.” And then they did! Consumers revolved around advertising because it was so prominent and so powerful.  

 

Not anymore.  

The tables have turned: advertising now revolves around individuals. The abundance of choice, the multitude of platforms and profusion of information has put them very much in charge, making their attention more valuable than gold. Marketing now has to prove its value and be worth their interest, or they won’t spare it a second’s glance. 

This is where the appeal and power of genuine marketing has come from – and you can’t ignore it any longer if you’re serious about success. 

Let me explain. 

Nothing proves my point more than user comments under an advert or social media post. 

 

I was looking at a health supplements advert on Instagram and Facebook recently. The ad had all these supposed customers talking about their experience using the products. They were saying things like, “I don’t go to the gym often but now I feel like these are giving me the results I never got before.”  

It appeared a bit forced. 

Then I looked to the comments section, and people were actually tagging the influencers featured in that advert. I clicked and they were all gym enthusiasts who were professional bodybuilders long before this supplement came along yet were claiming the product was the reason why they were so fit! The comments section was (understandably) full of people accusing them of this. One user tagged the influencer, and said: “how much did they pay you to say this? As if these tablets made you sweat like a waterfall like you said!” 

Sure, there are always nasty commenters out there. It’s a sad reality of today. 

However, there were a lot of people calling the brand out for being ingenuine, presenting a false scenario – and I have to admit, I feel they were right. I’m sure this cost them quite a lot of sales. 

It was the same with another post I saw for a male skincare brand. The advert showed a model with flawless skin, and the claim said: “this man has never used skincare in his life – see his reaction.” Then, he proceeds to apply the mask to his face and looks shocked, saying “wow, this tingles.”  

First of all – there was absolutely no way that the model in the advert had never used skincare. But worse was, everyone in the comments section was saying the same and mocking the poor acting. I’m pretty much certain that this product lost a lot of sales because of this too. 

 

What if these brands had have taken a more genuine approach?  

Instead of the claiming the buff guy or the model were transformed by this miracle cure, that they showed a more legitimate message?  

For instance, the skincare brand could present a real case study of someone using the product over a month and showing the difference. If it really worked, then there wouldn’t be a problem showing it for audiences to see. 

What if the supplement brand showed actual evidence? Or it was honest that the people in the video used the supplement to enhance their gym routines rather than touting it as the miracle cure. 

Yes, while marketing’s goal is to highlight the best of something, all of this reiterated something for me: being genuine is really important.  

When a brand stands for something and their marketing is consistently true to it, that’s when they seem to get the best results. 

Customers today want to understand the substance of a brand so they can decide if they want to be associated with it. This can include elements like corporate social responsibility.  

Before you think: “well, my brand isn’t curing cancer. We’re just here to just do a good job”, that’s exactly what I mean. You can be genuine about this. 

When you stand for being there to perform a quality service or provide a great product, and you show it through your marketing, people start to notice. They flock to you, actually. Why? Because you’re in it for the right reasons and customers prefer this. 

Conversely, if you lie, stretch the truth and make false claims, people see through it and they aren’t afraid to call you on it.  

 

 

My point is: don’t treat your audience like fools. 

They aren’t stupid and they have a natural instinct for detecting the false from the real.  

Yep, marketing always has a spin. Marketing messages are designed to focus on benefits to spur a reaction from an audience. However, don’t push it into a point where you’re hoping people fall for it. Don’t make false claims or set up false scenarios and hope they won’t notice. 

They do notice. 

And they tell both you and the world. 

This is why influencer marketing is starting to lose its power with audiences today. While it was genuine originally, today, businesses pay big dollars for endorsements that are often not legitimate. The person speaks highly of a product that they’ve never used before and people have wised up to this. 

 

4. Respond to comments – engage in the conversation (within reason) rather than just leaving a silence. 

5. Network with like-minded brands that share similar passions as this will help you leverage off other similar groups. 

6. Sense check your message – have a professional marketing copywriter offer you some external perspective   

7. Hire a professional marketing copywriter to help create genuine content that connects 

 

Christopher Melotti 
Melotti Media | Copywriting & Message Marketing Bureau
www.melottimedia.com.au