On Faking It – 4 Ways to Keep Authenticity in Digital Marketing
With an intense push for authenticity in digital marketing, honest storytelling, and behind-the-scenes posts, how does anyone manage to have a bad day or struggle with staff or lose faith in any of the processes inside of a business and still be genuine? You fake it.
Stay with me. I don’t mean that you should lie about the state of things. I don’t say this to encourage false advertising. Instead, I’m here to offer four ways to battle inevitable feelings of personal disappointment without ruining your digital marketing efforts.
No matter how much you love your company, there are times that you may deal with doubt. Perhaps you’re struggling to find the right fits for team members. Or, you might be facing product or service quality issues that need to be addressed. Of course, maybe you’re just feeling inadequate or experiencing the negativity that can come with comparison to other businesses like yours.
Whatever the cause, there are ways to keep momentum and branding alive with your digital marketing efforts until you genuinely feel like using #goals once again (unless you don’t like that hashtag, in which case until you feel what you say).
BUT HOW – PLEASE TELL ME WHAT TO DO!
Sure thing. Here are 4 tools I’ve used and coached others to try while battling the business blues:
Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose.
Evergreen content is the true king. No matter how volatile your industry may be (hello digital marketing!), there are pieces of information that will be able to generally hold truth for a long period of time. When you share this information, it’s important to always consider the other ways you might have shared it. For example, if you post an article, you could have also written a blog post, made a video, created a graphic, displayed the information visually in an infographic, etc.
The bottom line is that unless you’ve shared something that is only newsworthy or true for now, always find a way to stretch your efforts and get the most mileage out of everything you do. Unless you just really enjoy working harder than everyone else!
Do What You Know.
When you’re facing a slump in energy or enthusiasm, it’s not usually the time to shake things up. Some may argue that a change of direction is exactly what’s needed, but hear me out. If you’re feeling jaded, you’re sometimes also experiencing low confidence levels (whether for your business, for yourself, or for both). Learning a new skill is great, but it does take confidence to execute a new skill, especially because you may not get it right the first time you try it.
Rather than risk falling further into the pit, I’d encourage you to think about your strongest skillset and then use that to your advantage. Those tasks will take the least amount of creative energy and will also help bolster your confidence. If you aren’t comfortable with sharing video online, this isn’t the time to try it (although do put it on the list for when you’ve recovered!). If you aren’t a writer, find a way to share information in an audio or visual format.
Phone a friend (or better yet, hire a pro).
Just because you aren’t madly in love with your business right now doesn’t mean someone else isn’t. A partner or an employee should be your first shoulder tap to help out until you’re feeling the groove again. They know the business, and they’ve watched you create a tone and vision. They will be the most logical choice in temporarily carrying the torch for you. Bonus: you may also discover new insight and ideas that you hadn’t considered. Sometimes adding another voice can help freshen your energy and the brand’s direction.
If someone in the company isn’t an option (or there isn’t anyone else in your company), there are pros who will work with you on a consultation, short-term, or long-term basis. It’s their job to spend their effort and time educating themselves on your brand and business and then to create engaging content. You can share your goals and ideas as well as any unfinished projects with them, and they can help round out the effort.
They will also be able to guide you on sharing different perspectives or elements of your business you might not have considered. Seeing your thoughts come to fruition without expending additional energy of your own can help to rejuvenate your spark.
One note of caution: If you’re Type A and also convinced you are the best person for the job, you won’t be any happier bringing someone in at this stage of low confidence. It will likely make you feel worse, even though it will help with consistency for marketing.
When you’re feeling yourself again, that’s a great time to explore the benefits of a marketing partnership. You’ll be able to find someone who understands your direction and can complement your skillset. Then, the next time your energy tanks (and it will), you’ll have someone at the ready. (It would also be a good idea to consider finding a way to use that relationship more frequently – this could help delay or avoid some of your future energy crises.)
Stick to the Plan.
As always, it all comes back to strategy. Thinking up new ideas (and then implementing & testing those ideas) is tough to do when you’re at your best – nearly impossible when you’re not. Look back at your marketing strategy. Where are your customers, what value can you add for them, and when are they engaged? Then share those things. Don’t try to be overly real or story-driven. Just look for ways to help your clientele. After all, your business exists to address a need – there’s nothing more authentic than doing just that.
No matter how you choose to get through your blues, the key is to keep going. Don’t let your lackluster energy or feelings of frustration eliminate all the other marketing work you’ve done to this point. You don’t have to share incredible or entertaining content every time if you’re sharing truth and helpful information.
