Why Authentic Content Marketing Matters Now More Than Ever

I recently was on a webinar hosted by Born Social, and the topic of discussion was ‘A new age of influence and how do you effectively integrate social-first creators into your strategy‘. One of the main things that I took from it was how people are looking for more authenticity than ever before when it comes to not only their social media feeds but also in most of the media/marketing materials they consume.

With the continuous rise of TikTok, we have seen from Gen Zers that they are more interested in social media that reflects their true personalities and interests. They want to see the real person behind the persona, and they are not as interested in perfect social media feeds consisting of content that is carefully curated.

They are taking a step away from ‘Influencers’ and taking a step towards the new age of ‘Creators’. 

We are seeing new brands hit the market that have been created by everyday people, and there is no filter or photoshop behind them. The brands have no polished photos and no perfect captions. The future of creator marketing is brands that have an authentic message and were created authentically, with the ones gaining the most traction being the ones that encourage the creator to be themselves. 

The secret to many brands’ current success is in their extensive use of authentic marketing and content to attract customers and get them interested in their products. By creating content like this, businesses can show new buyers and regular clients what they can buy and how it would look on a real person. All you have to do is look at your TikTok feed to see how more and more brands are engaging with real people like never before because they are now seeing the value behind their real honest reviews, which is what your customer wants to see. 

Take for example Kim Kardashians’ brand SKIMS, one big part of their marketing is their interaction with content creators – sending them products so that they can show them off, how it fits etc. in a video or picture on their social channels, helping them to get on the radar of someone that might not have considered their product before.

Not only does this technique get your product in front of your audience it also creates a domino effect with other creators that may want to receive some product as well, potentially going out and buying your product on their own, with the hopes the brand will notice them and want to work with them too! 

So the main learning that I took from this, was that authenticity is the key to customer engagement and never before has it been so important to be yourself on social media.

Michelle

Michelle Harrison is a Senior Account Manager, part of the PR and Marketing team with Fuzion Communications, a full service brand communications agency that operates from offices in Dublin and Cork

Tell Your Story with Integrity and Soul

The odd time, in between watching Kevin McCloud and his Grand Designs and the News, I sneak a peek at Keeping up with the Kardashians just to see what ridiculous subject they are talking about.

The way they seem to leave their whole life open to the public I find often crude, staged and so far from any sense of reality I know or would like to know!

The car crash show is about a blended family with Kris Jenner (The Momanager), her adult children from her first marriage, her (now former) husband, Olympian and great American hero Bruce Jenner, with his kids from his second marriage (the kids from his first marriage had the sense not to get involved with the show) and into the mix Kris and Bruce’s own two young daughters, who have grown up with cameras on them 24 seven.

It’s total drivel and I find it so fake – and just when us voyeurs thought it couldn’t get any more off the wall, Bruce, the all American hero,  announced to the world (via TV of course) that from now on he was a she; Bruce was now Caitlyn and proud to come out of the closet!

Any decent publicist worth their salt would have predicted the death of the programme, with people turning away in their droves from this far fetched, totally manufactured story line.

But you know what…..I think the whole family have handled it (OK there were a few fake tears from the former Mrs Jenner – Kris) with great compassion, honesty and openness.  Most celebrities would have hidden away and licked their wounds, far from the public they once courted.  That’s what I expected.

Not the Kardashians and Jenners!

Coming up trumps is Kim Kardashian and Caitlyn’s youngest girls Kylie and Kendall.  Kim, who got the whole Kardashian merry-go-round going with her infamous sex tape is coming across as supportive, understanding and so articulate and honest.  I’m seriously impressed and I never, ever thought I would say that about a Kardashian!

The two  youngest girls, still in their teens and living in such a high beam spotlight, obviously are having more trouble with it, but they are communicating in such a dignified way on TV and on their social media pages and it’s clear that they remain proud of their dad.

And there is a lot to be proud of.  Bruce/Caitlyn is out there telling her story with integrity and soul.  She is putting her hands up to the past failings as a father and a husband and she has sought and is finding redemption through her coming out.  The relief is all over her much surgically manipulated face.

Last night America showed its acceptance by awarding her the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs, an award presented annually to individuals, usually high profile sporting personalities, whose contributions to society transcend sports.  The respected reporter Diane Sawyer, the last person to interview Bruce as he announced his transition to Caitlyn was was in the crowd, cheering Caitlyn on; her presence at the Awards spoke volumes, supporting Caitlyn and her actions.

But the big thing for me was the presence of all of Caitlyn’s children, step children and his 88 year old mother, up front and centre supporting her.  Caitlyn will be an example to other people who are thinking of making a difficult transition – and her family I have to say I now kinda respect a little!

It just makes me think of the odd client we have, who hesitate about telling their own story – nothing in anyway intrusive like the Kardashians, just their business story.

They really need to jump over the fear hurdle and just go for it. They have nothing to fear if they are honest and communicate with soul and integrity.  As long as this can be demonstrated people will want to connect with them and their businesses.  That is what PR is for –  It helps clients to tell the story of their business and allows them to connect with people.

Don’t shy away from any opportunity that could benefit your business.

Don’t think – what if; I shouldn’t; what would my peers think?  Because if you don’t take up the opportunities to tell your own unique story, you can be sure that your competitors are talking to us or agencies like us (but obviously not as great as us!) without that fear of telling their story.

Be brave, be honest, have soul and command your own airwaves – and if you need some help with that, you know where we are …

Deirdre Waldron is the founding partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland

 

 

Me and Kim Kardashian splashing in the sea!

“Why is it so hard to build followers on twitter?” I get asked frequently by clients and at my courses.

Kim Kardashian has over 17 million followers on Twitter. Maybe she holds the answer to that question?

What’s the magic? Does she say incredibly inspirational things, is she really interesting, does she have unique insights into the mysteries of life?

A quick peep at her tweets over the last few days ..not a whole lot going on really except a few posts with links to some old pictures of her (very nice!) and some articles that she is featured in.

She’s obviously one of those A-List Hollywood stars, famous from the “Keeping up with the Kardashians” reality TV show, she has a colourful life and of course she looks really well !! In 2011 she was the celeb who was searched on Google more times than anyone else.

While Kim is extremely popular on twitter she isn’t too bothered about what other people are saying – she follows 160 people on twitter, a mixture of her own fan sites, some beauty and fashion brands, designers and even Sylvester Stallone gets a look in!

Apparently on twitter Kim just has to open an account and the numbers of fans will flock to her..

Then there is me and you!

For some reason us mere mortals don’t have the exciting lives and magnetic lure that Kim has, so when it comes to gathering followers on Twitter we need to sweat a little harder to gain some followers. It’s not going to happen for us by sitting back, posting the odd nugget of wisdom and waiting for the hordes of followers – nope!

We have to do the leg work, we have to start following others, we have to do the interacting, we have to reply and comment on posts, we have to do some re-tweeting, we have to start posting really clever things, we need to be funny, we need to be genuine, we need to be helpful and nice, we have to build rapport, trust and visibility so that we will first get noticed and then followed – we have to jump into the sea with everyone else and start splashing!

Let’s face it ..I’m not like Kim and it”s highly unlikely that she will ever swim in the sea with me but if I want to get noticed I’ll have to start splashing!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Greg is a social media expert who provides Social Media Consultancy and training in Dublin and Cork