Lots of marketing paraphernalia will preach the virtues of being yourself. Be authentic. Transparent. Show your customers what they’re getting by just letting them know who you are.
Easier said than done. In fact, the reason that it’s not easily done is because it is so easily said. You can write anything you want to about yourself, or your company. There are a lot of dysfunctional companies that say great things about their “team”.
This big push for transparency is different. It’s not a half measure. Can’t be done. You either are or you aren’t.
Aaron Wall is. For folks not familiar with the name, Aaron runs a company called SEObook. Basically, he sells a bunch of products and provides information to people that do what we do (o.k., what Pat does). He’s great at it. SEObook is always good information.
Yesterday, Aaron posted a blog entry on the anniversary of changing his business model. It was, as usual, full of useful information. But the information was not so much about SEO- it was about being yourself.
As a copywriter, it’s a struggle to balance what people used to call “messaging” with this idea of authenticity. The boldface truth of the latter is intensely appealing to me- scary as hell and amazing in its possibilities.
The former is copywriting that’s safe. Lots of people say they want authentic; what they really want is safe. It’s a paradox that’s best explained by one of Aaron’s uncredited mentors:
I think the best brands, the best sites have a large portion of their founders personality in them. Never be afraid to be yourself, after all there are 1/2 billion people on the www, not all of them have to agree with you. Concentrate on the ones that share your views, concentrate on making their experience the very best it can be, the rest -forget them.
Or to put it another way, the best sites say – this is what we do, this is how we do it, if you don’t like it go somewhere else.
You can’t be everything to everybody. That might seem like a downside- it means you won’t be selling to some people. But doesn’t the upside then belong to your customers?
Being yourself doesn’t necessarily mean baring your soul like Aaron does. He’s just an example of how transparency works. In other words, if you’re a morning-person-fluffy-bunny-optimist, let that show in what you’re doing. Is your company bold? Conservative? Funny?
Let people know about you. I will too.
Tags: business trust, Social Media