There has been a major shift in marketing in the last several years from ‘selling’ to ‘telling’. Consumers have become more savvy and are no longer keen to traditional marketing tactics. One of the ways to reach your customers is to be real…authentic. How do you do it?

1. Leave your body. Figuratively, at least. You are the subject matter expert for your business, but that is not always a good thing when you are trying to create content for non-subject matter experts. You need to avoid using technical or industry jargon. If you need to, have someone that you trust who does not work in your industry read your content before you post it.
2. Don’t stock up. When creating visuals, try to use ‘real’ photography instead of stock images. If you are a restaurant, hire a photographer to take some nice photos of your food. If you have a storefront, use photos from your actual store of your actual products. Use real people in your photos (make sure to get consent). Take photos and videos of your staff enjoying themselves or talking about your business or products.
3. Don’t do it. Let me clarify…don’t do it yourself. Give creative license to your business’ advocates, your loyal employees and customers. That is the most authentic content you can find. It gives them a sense of ownership and a bit of the spotlight.
4. Tell a story. People do not want to be sold to. They want to be given all of the information they need to make a decision on their timeline in their own way. Weave your story and sprinkle in information about your product or service. People respond better if they hear a story rather than a sales pitch.
5. Be human. This is probably the hardest thing for business owners and marketers to do (ironically!). Write like a person, not like a business. It brings a sense of personal touch to your content.

If you are going to change to a more authentic approach, do it slowly so you don’t throw your followers for a loop. Find the ‘voice’ that works best for your business by testing different phrases, words and imagery.