When it comes to your online course or coaching service, authenticity is key to successful marketing.
“Fake it until you make it.” While this is a saying consistently in nearly every profession, when it comes to copywriting, and marketing your business, however, faking it will backfire. Here’s why.
According to digital marketers, Americans see 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements a day. That means consumers have become advertising experts.
They can recognize a fake. They also recognize hard-sell marketing techniques and can turn them off quicker than a dog snatching a bone.
If you’ve ever hit the delete button after the first couple of sentences of an email that oozes with insincerity and slime, you know what I mean.
And, because you don’t want that to happen to you, here are some ways you can authentically market to your audience and go to bed feeling good about yourself.
Define your unique value proposition
Identify what makes you stand out from your competition.
Think about:
- What do you do or offer that makes you different?
- What value can you bring to the table?
- What makes you unique from others in the same niche?
- What can you do to improve their lives in a way that no one else can?
- What life experiences do you bring that differentiates you?
Be yourself
We tend to trust people that we know. So letting your audience know you is important.
Ways to do this:
- Respond to emails and questions so they can see your expertise.
- Go live so they can see your face, hear your voice and see you as a real person.
- Admit when you make mistakes. It helps your audience relate.
- Use your own voice and vocabulary.
- Don’t try to be someone or something you aren’t. (Remember they can identify fakes.)
Share your story
We tend to like people we can relate to. Whether that is life experience or shared mistakes, the more we know about someone the more likely we are to buy from them because ultimately, we like to buy from real people over faceless companies.
Here are some ways you can share your story:
- Tell how you began your business
- Explain why you are passionate about it
- Explain your why
- Share what inspires you
- Tell about life-changing experiences related to your course or coaching
- Share AHA moments
- Share photos that give them a glimpse at you (your pet, your workspace, your family)
- Give them a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the business
These glimpses into you as a real person increases your authenticity and makes you approachable, believable, and trustworthy.
Build relationships
Sure you’ve seen the ads: “I made $1 million in my first course launch with a cold audience and no ads. Find out how!” But the reality is that building relationships doesn’t happen overnight and people are very unlikely to turn over money to someone they don’t know, like, and trust.
You can build relationships through many platforms or a combination of them:
- YouTube
However, the most tried and true way to build a relationship with your audience is still through emails.
- Because you own the list and have complete control over it, you don’t have to worry about algorithms and constant changes.
- Because people have to choose to join your email list, they are a receptive audience and they want you to be there.
- The other great thing is that emails show up when you want them to, right in their inbox and they will be there whenever they check email.
Did you know that on average people check their email 6-20 times a day? On the flip side, social media posts not seen in the first hour to hour and a half, are generally never seen by your audience at all. Don’t overlook the power of emails.
Know your WHY and share it frequently
The underlying question consumers have is WHY
They want to know:
- Why they should trust you
- Why you can help them
- Why you are the expert
- Why they need you and your service
- Why you are different than other people doing the same thing
When you can answer the WHY you increase your authenticity and build confidence. They become more likely to turn to you to solve their problems and trust that you can help.
Be consistent
This is perhaps the hardest part about marketing yourself– consistently doing it. You definitely don’t need to do this every day, but setting up a schedule and sticking to it will make this an easier job.
Show up regularly on whatever platforms you choose. (If you are new to all of this, choose just one or two to start with or it will become a full time job.)
While some recommend emailing daily, you can build trust and show authenticity with a consistent weekly email that provides value.
Ways to engage:
- Be helpful
- Provide value
- Post at the same time and on the same days
- Answer questions
- Use a consistent message
- Use the WHYS consistently
Understand your market
Learning about the pain points and problems of your audience is key to authenticity. If you are guessing, you can come across as insincere because you may not actually understand them.
By making them feel understood you are building true authenticity.
A few ways you can do this is by:
- Audience research
- Reading what they ask about or post about
- Talking to them
- Polling them
- Asking them questions
Conclusion
When you put all of these pieces together, you have the authentic marketing in place that will sell your services with confidence and ease. That not only leads to happy customers now, it leads to repeat customers down the road.
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