How to Create Truly Authentic Video Content
The majority of people would agree that the phrase “fake news” has been pushed around way too much over the course of last couple of years.
It has been done to point where this buzzword has degraded in its power, meaning, and value.
In midst of an abundance of truths and lies, it is of little surprise that our recent generations are tired of dishonesty–and the discourse relating to dishonesty.
These people happen to be digital natives. They were brought up with Internet at their disposal–a very normal thing to have. You may think such young people could break down a story’s truth just by looking at it, but in practicality, the opposite turns out true.
A recent study conducted on middle school students found that: 82% couldn’t tell the difference between an ad and news story online, where as more than 30% made the mistake of consider fake news more trusted compared to a validated one.
Long story short–this younger generation is always hungry for dramatic content and put their trust there.
94% of customers tend to be loyal towards a brand offering 100% transparency. What’s more, 73% of them would love to open up their wallet further just to pay for that guarantee.
Your brand should harness such stats by leaning more towards real content.
Over the course of this post, we will go over the topic of ‘authenticity’, how you can leverage it for creating video content that connects with generations in a fresh and truthful fashion.
Describing “Authenticity”
When speaking of authenticity, first question popping into your mind could be:
“Can marketing ever be authentic?”
That’s a fair point because it is centered around the idea of selling.
All too often, selling revolves around bullying, tricking, and seducing people into opening their wallets for something that "could be" important and valuable to them.
That's amateur salesmanship at best.
How can marketing have authenticity while the entire process is created over social pressure and superficial stakes?
Let’s start with a piece of good news:
If you are going through this, chances are, you are not an old-time marketer. Chances are, you’re a content marketer, or one in the making.
You do not create simple "go buy this" advertisements. You tailor content for specific audience base to engage and entertain.
You get inbound.
Now the question remains–what does actually being authentic mean?
To begin with, authentic brands hold sheer empathy for the audience base they have. That implies that, you, being a video content marketer, place your personal brand on the second position to what your customers think, feel, and want. Sure, this may come off as counterintuitive. The brand in question always happens to be the prime point of traditional advertising.
However, if you’re aiming for authenticity, you must move your perspective from striving to sell a precise service or product, and focus towards ‘value’.
And what do we mean by value? Well–your audience decides that. Anything that is valuable to them is value–whatever that makes a difference.
Also, figure out what genuinely matters to them. That’s exactly what you need to pinpoint. It could be financial freedom. It can be environmental awareness. You have to see the world from your audience’s perspective. Rather than pondering the benefits of your service/product can offer, ponder the upsides of from the buyer’s perspective.
It is a subtle key difference, similar to inserting a screw in an already drilled hole–the opposite of making a nail go through a plank.
As in every relationship, at times, ‘playing it cool’ happens to be the best strategy.
Continuously and aggressively showcasing your brand’s product/service would push potential customers away. It will give them the impression that you perceive them nothing but a commodity of sales and money–so they’d figure out fast.
If you wish todo it that way, purchase a billboard screaming your brand’s elevator pitch at anybody they can find. But if you’re wanting to market your content in a strategic way, start being subtle about it. Instead of centering your content on how you can help them, show them you’re all ears–listening, and once you listen, make the move basing on what you come across.
Significant Others
Authenticity happens to be a 2 way street. Although making your videos would come last in any of the typical marketing endeavors, here, it serves as the beginning: an alliance between your company / brand and your audience.
When you’re aiming for successful sale campaigns without authentic content, inviting, engaging and giving birth to value-based interactions all are important.
As we already said, authenticity happens to be a 2 way road. Meaning that, the content you produce should not trickle down to audiences from an inaccessible state of mind, instead, flowing towards them via platforms encouraging democratic, open communication.
Your aims are sparking engagement and building community. At times, that implies dropping a question at your content’s end, thoughtfully calculated to incite the pot and make the comments hum with respectful conversations.
At times, that implies proactively recruiting viewers for creating and sharing their content, which your brand can fuel around the web in several social networks. The ultimate outcome of these tactics won’t only increase social media reach substantially, more importantly, a more resonating connection between your audience and company. Eliminate the fluff, and get friends with the benefits of intimacy given birth by the Internet.
Next Moves
Even though such broad strokes are amazing for getting started in terms of creating content filled with authenticity, there’s a wide-ranging field of smaller tricks and tips you should remember and deploy anywhere you find necessary.
Because in the end, being authentic is the brainchild of one / two sweeping gestures–it has to be constructed with caution over the course of time–using a solid groundwork of specifically laid down details.
In order to increase your video content authenticity, start by:
Going with imperfections: People consuming your content aren’t perfect, and your company shouldn’t be wearing the cloak of perfection as well.
Boldly speaking your mind: If you’re not specific on your beliefs, what should your consumers put their faith in you?
Reacting with respect: Authenticity doesn’t necessarily have to imply posturing–keep things sincere and simple.
Being consistent: Consistency always happens to be the key. However, if the brand voice you have isn’t similar over the course of all your channels, chances are, you will be seen as a phony.
In general, none of these tips and strategies are a magic bullet that will get you creating epic content, but coupled with massive action, the above steps can help you produce great authentic content.
Keep in mind–being authentic isn’t a monetary aim, it happens to be an ongoing philosophy that’d eventually ramp up not your marketing point of view only, but your brand’s nature too.
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