In a congested market of companies constantly trying to sell you something, genuine people in a world of influences and influencers are incredibly enticing to the consumer.
Take a moment and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Who would you trust? A shallow self-absorbed individual marketing a product because they were paid to? Or an individual with genuine needs and solutions in which the product or products answered?
In a world with many online influencers and an overwhelming amount of influencer marketing, it is more important than ever to be authentic to everyday people.
Because true influence from a person comes from being authentic and having meaningful engagement.
Authentic Influence in an Age of Constant Decision Making
With so many major brands using influencer content to market in the beauty industry, you probably know by now that having influencers promote your brand is crucial to the success of your business because it opens the doors to engagement from real people.
Oftentimes, however, the importance of choosing the right individual (or individuals) in an influencer campaign goes unnoticed because of the inundation of social media influencers.
It is one thing to become a successful influencer, but truly successful influencers form foundational building blocks with their followers to create brand trust for current and future promotional deals. This helps a person make a well-educated and informed decision about whether to purchase your products or not.
Remember: real influence must come from real people.
It is paramount for your beauty business to use trustworthy individuals with solid and loyal following of everyday people because it not only increases exposure to your brand, but it also allows people to inadvertently trust your brand.
By design, social media and influencer content create the need for followers.
These followers usually follow an influencer because they trust and like the them or what the brands and content they tend to promote.
A good example of this is the skin care specialist Youtuber, named Hyram. His followers trust his opinion on skincare products so explicitly that his influence can oftentimes make or break a product or even topple a skincare business.
However, it is important to realize that Hyram, and many others like him, did not grow their followers overnight. He build his audience over time because he provided meaningful engagement and gave educational advice when it came to purchasing decisions of minor and major brands that he looked into or that sent him products. He gives his honest opinion and doesn’t try to tell a person what to do.
Plus, he has an outgoing personality that people can relate to and want to engage with.
Basically, he leaves the purchasing decision power to a person. Authentic influencers engagement rates are high because they are actually communicating with their followers. They’re not just posting content to try to gain traction and influence without dealing with the questions and comments of the everyday person just trying to figure out what skin care or makeup line is best for their skin type.
It’s especially crucial to not discount the micro – influencer out there. They may not have thousands of followers, but they have engagement rates from individuals who genuinely want someone’s honest opinion and experience about a product that they’ve tried and love, or tried and disliked.
So, even though having thousands or millions of engaged followers is amazing, also look into up-and-coming micro – influencers with a loyal following that is rapidly increasing.
3 Ways to Be an Authentic Influencer
Now that you have a glimpse into the importance of genuine brand promotion, take the time as a beauty business to reach out to influencers with a strong following that has meaningful engagement.
It is valuable to look at differentiating options in the influencer world. Once you have found your match or matches, it is time to consider the following:
1. Be Genuine
Although this concept has been mentioned before, being genuine cannot be understated or overlooked.
Be genuine in all avenues of your business. Whether it is choosing your influencers, or celebrity influencer, or promoting your brand, authenticity is vital to the growth and survival of your beauty business.
Find ways to show how your product or products can answer customers needs and be the solution to their problems.
In essence, be essential, true, and forthcoming to show why you are worth supporting.
2. Real People, Real Results
Take advantage of showing and utilizing real people with real styles. Also, incorporate various forms of communication when communicating your brand’s story to the public.
But most importantly, pay attention to how individuals in and outside your audience craft their rhetoric and the narrative of your business.
People connect through relatability. While it is helpful to have celebrities and popular influencers promoting you—and in no way do you want to negate the value of fame and popular influence for your brand—do not underestimate the power of the regular everyday person.
What they lack in popularity, they make up in honesty, vulnerability, style, and relatability.
People can resonate with the everyday person because they have lived a similar existence. While it is fun to mimic the rich and famous, their recommendations or solutions are not always relatable or attainable to the everyday person’s problem.
Real people make real results, and that in itself is incredibly valuable.
3. Be Unique and Distinctive
While being relatable is crucial, find influencers and promotional ways to be distinct and unique in your beauty business.
Even if your products are typical and useful, find innovative ways to be different.
While people are drawn to the familiar, they are also drawn to the strange and exciting.
Being unique has its perks.
Being relatable while also being unique can take your beauty band and products to a whole other level of success.
Let’s face it, being the same is boring. Be unique and different…its way more fun and exciting.
Build Your Brand by Building Your Influence…Authentically
No matter how you choose to promote your business, keep a sense of authenticity in all the work that you do.
Even though the reasons for the value of authenticity has been mentioned, it is important to note that in a world of influences and influencers, you could be that business that shines above all others simply by being genuine.
Once you build a following, engage with them. Social media was made for connecting with others without even being in the same time zone. You can answer customer questions with a quick video post or even a simple chat of the keyboard.
Real influence means genuine connection.
We are all human after all.
Show what is happening behind the scenes. Take the time to explain your products in a way that benefits your audience to feel awesome and beautiful everyday of their life.
Authentic influencers are few and far between, and the everyday person knows how to sniff them out because they want what’s realistic and attainable for their own life.
Your actions as a business directly impact your results as a business.
So, be that beacon of light for others…the path your potential customers walk will lead you to being there for them and their beauty needs.
They will see that authenticity and follow you wherever you go with your beauty brand.