Authenticity grows audiences

This week I have been at the Connect Now conference in Sydney. It has had a stellar line-up of speakers including Gavin Heaton @servantofchaos, Katie Chatfield @katiechatfield, Tara Hunt @missrogue, Brian Solis @briansolis, Laurel Papworth @silkcharm, Jim Stewart @jimboot, Darren Rowse @problogger, Gary Vaynerchuk @garyvee, Debs Schultz @debs, Stephen Johnson @huxley, Fi Bendall @fibendall, Simon Mainwaring @simonmainwaring, Natalie Hofsteede @givealittle, Simon and Marie Young @audaciousgloop and Chris Noble @worldnomads.

While much of the information and advice might not be new to those already operating in the social media space, it has been extremely beneficial for the vast majority of people who are beginning to use inbound marketing and social media in their businesses instead traditional marketing techniques.

But as someone who attends a lot of new media conferences in Australia and the USA, I was still struck by a few of the key messages at Connect Now.

The biggest take home for me was that authenticity is crucial. While businesses are flooding into social media to take advantage of its burgeoning popularity, very few are succeeding, and that is likely because they lack an authentic voice.

But those who are succeeding are really showing the way forward with their truly authentic attitudes.

Consider Gary Vaynerchuk. The founder of Wine Library TV has enjoyed explosive popularity and a booming business empire without any traditional marketing or advertising. Gary video blogs daily and speaks with amazing passion and authenticity. Its the sort of thing than cannot be scripted or contrived, its 100% genuine.

Gary implores us to forget about the technology and fancy dressing of lighting, graphics and heavy editing. The message is the key for Gary. He concentrates on pushing out his content then takes the time to interact with his audience.

Gary says you must love your audience in order to succeed in social media. He claims that in the early days when he was building Wine Library TV he spent 30 minutes a day creating content then 14 hours in the community.

Gary urges people not to just talk about it, but to live it and its very clear that he does. His passion and authenticity is rocket fuel for his business.

Darren Rowse is one of the world’s most popular bloggers. Blogging is a business for him but you don’t think of Darren in a traditional business sense. His blogging is helpful, passionate and authentic first and foremost. He works hard on content and community and as a result his business thrives.

Gavin Heaton’s success in social media is not defined by sales but through his considerable “social equity”. One of Australia’s leading marketing bloggers, Gavin is a connector for many people who now operate in the space.

During the Q&A session on day 2 of Connect Now Gavin nailed it when he said “we now operate in a economy of generosity, the more generous you are, the bigger your potential”.

The implications are clear. Those who join social media to sell, sell, sell without making any attempt to engage, listen and help will not succeed.

Debs Schultz supported this feeling by saying “there’s no such thing as a social media campaign.” Debs says that you should start small, keep testing, success takes time. Join the lives of people rather than interrupting them. If you help users participate the benefits will flow later.

Inbound marketing relies on this fundamental shift in marketing thinking. But its also quite real. As Debs Schultz says, “The customer is not elusive, they’re annoyed”. We need to stop broadcasting, stop interrupting and start engaging.

And the best way to engage is with authenticity.