Forrester and Authentic Brand Index along with the endorsement of Dimension Data (NTT Group Company) all agree that an authentic brand moves the business forward.
As the quote below says 'how do you get your customers to believe and trust you?'....'By being authentic yourself'.
A fairly compelling statement and one we all understand as B2B professionals.
In an ever increasing digital world with large volumes of content, nurturing conversations online is becoming harder and coupled with the need to be authentic, your view or voice must accompany any interaction.
This is where Expert-to-Expert Marketing prevails. Enabling your employees with the expertise to regular showcase their knowledge with their direct audience (peers, clients and prospects) will act as the best possible vehicle to have your brand shared across the market.
The effect of this will be a multiplier as your employees' networks will not only share themselves but begin to reference during other interactions (meetings, lunches, events, content etc)
In summary by taking this relatively easy step of ensuring your employees are authentic when communicating online your brand can potentially appeal to 70% of people overnight.
Customers today see through advertising. According to a Forrester reportviii , only 10% trust online ads, and just 32% trust information on company websites. They trust reviews more. 70% trust recommendations from family or friends. But everyone believes their own experience as a customer because they know it’s authentic. So how do you get your customers to believe and trust you? By being authentic yourself. By living the values you want your brand to stand for. By creating an internal culture which is truly aligned with the external brand proposition. The Authentic Brand Indexix says that having an authentic brand makes business sense because, ‘the stronger a brand’s core authenticity is, the more likely people are to become advocates of the brand, and the greater the share a brand will have of its market’.x
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