Social Media Marketing Success Lies in Authenticity

I’m a self-taught Social Media Marketer.
No “Guru”… No “Expert”…

But a Practitioner!

And the key to being a shit-hot practitioner on social is simple - get down and dirty with it!

Getting Your Hands Dirty

From Facebook to Snapchat, when trying to gain an idea of any social network’s value to you or your business, there really is no better means of finding a platform’s worth, than through first hand experience, and immersing yourself in all of social’s glory.

Immersion, however, is only half the battle, as a platform’s true potential can only be accurately gauged through listening, an all too often forgotten element in making your social strategy work for you.

• Listening to what interests your potential audience have.
• Listening to what they need or want.
• Listening to not only what is being said, but how it is being said.

It’s through gaining an understanding of each social platform’s unique quirks, and how to execute your strategy with the proper cadence, that really separates the wheat from the chaff, the great executions from the not so great… The Gurus from the Practitioners!

Well… that’s not quite the whole picture though, is it?

First hand experience is all good and well, but, there is another key indicator that highlights whether your chosen expert really is worthy of your time… Authenticity!

Keep it Real!

When it comes to marketing online, so many people, and so many businesses out there attempt to become, or at least be seen as, something they are not - whether it be adoption of a ‘crazy’ new tone of voice, a new YouTube video creating the desired perception, or just simply saying what it is they think others want to hear.

The problem here lies, pardon the pun, in the fact that consumers of your content can smell bullshit a mile off, with inconsistency often being considered and recognised as a lack of Authenticity.

We all know ‘Authentic’ when we see it.
It ain’t a metric.
There’s no magic formula for measuring someone’s level of authenticity.

But, it does exist - You can feel it!

There’s been many a marketing guru rock up to tell us the importance of being relevant and “keeping it real”, particularly when it comes to sharing their thoughts on marketing to millennials, which, in fairness, they are partially correct about.

Relevance and being authentic are indeed essential when trying to win millennials’ attentions, however, ‘millennial’ is far more than a demographic - it’s a mindset, an attitude - and one which all consumers, regardless of age, are beginning to adopt.

So, how to ensure you or your business are authentic?

The solution is simple - be honest with yourself first!

Being self-aware enough to recognise what you’re good at, accepting your weaknesses, and accentuating your strengths, will set you on the path to authenticity.

“True perfection has to be imperfect” - Noel Gallagher

Speaking to your audience in an honest manner, with honest intentions, is a sure fire way to increase community engagement, as, here’s the secret, real people actually prefer to speak with real people…

Mind blowing, eh?

So, as you put another “How to kill it on Social Media” manual to one side, as you purchase another 10,000 Twitter followers, as you set-up those prescheduled posts on Hootsuite, and craft that automated DM on Crowdfire, ask yourself one question: “Who am I trying to kid?”

War on the Bullshit

So, why the sudden interest and urge to post my thoughts on Authenticity?
Why the need to vent?

Because I spend a lot of time on social media.
See a ton of marketing executions on social media.
Some great. Some not so great.
Some absolutely woeful…

So, I’m calling “War on the Bullshit!”
Hoping to learn from others’ mistakes, and discover if there’s a solution to be found for the issue at hand…

And today, I’m gonna turn attention to the platform where a lack of authenticity is rife…

Yep, you guessed it - LinkedIn.

Ok, yes, LinkedIn is a hugely authoritative platform with, as stated on their own website, more than 400 million registered members, and boast the impressive stat of professionals signing up at a rate of two new members every second - surely the place to go when looking for an expert’s view on a particular topic.

And rightly so, LinkedIn have created a fantastic platform and encouraged the crème de la crème of the professional world to get on board, producing a highly skilled database, filled with insight.

I have no qualms with LinkedIn, my issue is with how we are using LinkedIn - it’s the post, after post of disingenuous, “look at me” content that drives me insane - surely I’m not alone?

Everyone on LinkedIn is, in some way, an expert… a guru… a fountain of knowledge in their specialised field - where all your industry questions can and will be answered, right?

That is the intent, yeah?

Why not put them to the test, call them out on that piece of content they are so desperate to associate themselves with… let’s see who are the real experts… and who are the real practitioners!