294 week ago — 6 min read
As a founder, of course you want to develop and offer the very best product or service possible. In fact, you are probably striving for perfection, utilising all of the tips, tools and resources available to you in order to achieve that goal.
Few of us ever actually achieve total perfection, but the good news is we don’t necessarily need to. In fact, your customers might like you even more in a slightly imperfect state—that is, as long as you are authentic.
Digital Marketing is Eroding Traditional Models of Promotion
Once you have created the very best product you can, you need to think about promoting it, in a way that persuades people to buy it.
As explained in Marketing in a Digital World with Aric Rindfleisch, one of the many courses available from GlobalLinker affiliate partner, Coursera, the old approach to promotion was known as “top down,” devoted heavily to firm-controlled advertising and entailing very little customer involvement or consultation. But, as Rindfleisch explains, “In this new digital marketing environment we are moving from managed messages designed to persuade to authentic messages designed to narrate or tell a story.”
A firm’s customers are now sometimes heavily involved in the promotion process. In fact, they may not only help you to distribute your ads, and to promote your product and messages but, as explained in the GlobalLinker article, “Perfecting your Product – Without a huge product development team,” they may even help you to create those things in the first place.
Your customers’ social media commentary can be hugely impactful to your firm, at least helping to make or break it, long after their actual purchase of a product is complete. If they decide that they love you, their loyalty and creativity can know no bounds. But if you betray or disappoint your customers, both your revenue and reputation may be at risk.
So what is authenticity? How to achieve it?
Let’s start with what authenticity isn’t. As the Marketing in a Digital World course explains in much greater detail, there are two key factors that make brands seem inauthentic:
The course also offers several tips on how to achieve authenticity, thereby increasing your odds of succeeding as a small or medium enterprise:
In sum, authenticity alone won’t get you where you need to be. You will still need a strong product, and your promotions will still need to be thoughtful and strategic, connecting with your customers and what matters to them. It can take a bit of practice, and various approaches and adjustments. But if you keep these basic principles in mind, and continue to learn more about Marketing in a Digital World, you should have a better chance of getting there.
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GlobalLinker StaffWe are a team of experienced industry professionals committed to sharing our knowledge and skills with small & medium enterprises.
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