Six key fundamentals of authentic marketing to strengthen and grow your business

Despite what many marketers will tell you about how to “Get clients!” “Make six figures, now!” there are no real rules for executing marketing tactics. First, businesses and their client bases are so diverse in so many ways, what works for one company may not likely work at all for another company.

Even if they are similar, there are no guarantees. Yes, there are best practices for companies of comparable size and scope and industry and target markets, but rules?

No.

And, if this is true on a macro level, it’s even more true on a micro level, where coaches, healers and other creative entrepreneurs are often solo operations and are as different as a field of wildflowers under a hot July sun.

You simply cannot pick up someone else’s marketing plan or tactics from the outside and adopt it for yourself.

Doing that doesn’t take into consideration all the important aspects of your business’ strategy, your ideal clients, and your own growth goals. Even more important is that it won’t be tailored to you – not to your values, your lifestyle, your availability, your personal brand, or your energy signature. So, when you start implementing, it’s harder to sustain and stand behind.

It won’t be in alignment with the way you work best, and you’ll have a harder time connecting authentically with those you want to reach.

So, if there aren’t any rules, where do you focus to develop your business, build your marketing structures, and start promoting your work?

Not Rules, but PrincipleS INSTEAD

Although there aren’t fixed rules, there are certain principles to follow when making these types of decisions. In addition to the basic principles of authentic marketing, there are six guidelines I’d like to share with you today.

Know your strengths

Knowing your strengths helps you to focus on what you do best and use your gifts and talents. Some people are good writers. Others love talking on video or have a voice that resonates aurally. Doing what feels easy, fun, and effortless to you makes it easier to produce content that best transmits your original essence.

It also allows you to balance, leaning into what feels easy as you learn to stretch in other areas outside your comfort zone, like learning an innovative technology or becoming more visible.

Understand your capacity

Knowing your limits and being honest with yourself about what you can and cannot do is so important. It allows you to set realistic goals, manage your time effectively, and avoid overcommitting yourself. If you’re building your business while working another job or raising toddlers, your capacity is different than if you are working in and on your business full-time.

If you understand your capacity (time in your day plus your energy), you set realistic commitments for yourself and for your audience. Authentic marketing isn’t about doing everything or being everything to everyone; it's about being genuine, honest, and realistic to yourself first. You then transmit that authenticity in what you offer and how you can help your ideal clients.

Showing up is paramount

When you show up, you demonstrate your commitment to your business, your brand, your ideal clients and ultimately, to yourself. Whether it's through regular blog posts, social media updates, or in-person events, showing up is essential for building trust. As people see you - sharing your message, telling your story, offering help, responding to people, generating content – they see your commitment.

Over time that develops into confidence in your work. You’re not just some flashy, gimmicky one-and- done. You’re dedicated. You’re there.

And, yes, of course sometimes life does happen. And when it does, shower yourself with compassion and kindness. Beating yourself up for needing to tend to other things doesn’t work (trust me, I’ve tried – a lot!) But when the storm has passed, your business, your marketing and your potential clients - those relationships need your meaningful engagement.

Consistency is key

Consistency is a critical component of authentic marketing because, over time, it helps build trust with your audience. (I’ve written about this before here and here as well). By consistently delivering meaningful, helpful, and high-quality content you help establish yourself as a trusted source. Engaging with your potential clients and audience in a genuine and authentic way does as well. You become someone to be counted on to provide information, expertise, insight and/or inspiration.

Mission over metrics

Mission over metrics refers to prioritizing your message and getting it to those that need it over metrics such as likes, shares, and followers. Authentic marketing is about building meaningful relationships with your audience and making a positive impact on their lives.

Yes, metrics can give you a window into how far your message may be reaching, but they aren’t the only or even the most reliable source. People may read something meaningful but never reply to your email or like a post. Others mindlessly like or click or share without really sinking into the content.

Make your content easy to find, consume and share. By thinking about what best serves your potential clients, you’ll have a better chance at reaching them, no matter what measurement you look at.

Trust building takes time

Unfortunately, many business coaches and standard marketing people don’t talk enough about this. Everyone moves through the buyer’s journey at a different pace. And everyone needs to feel a different level of trust to say “yes” to what you offer in your business. And every coach, healer or creative entrepreneur brings her own level of skill and knowledge levels to building that trust.

If your work focuses on areas where there is a lot of culture-induced shame – like addiction, relationship issues, or body/weight struggles, for example - this is even more true. It takes a lot for some people to say they need help, and finding someone they trust to help them with what they’re struggling with may take time.

Given all this, it can take a long time to develop and grow your business to where you’d like it to be, so please don’t give up.

When you realize there aren’t any real rules, you free yourself to design your marketing in a way that feels good, that feels authentic to you, the real you. And, by focusing on your strengths, understanding your capacity, showing up consistently, prioritizing your brand's mission over metrics, and cultivating trust with your audience over time, you can build a strong and authentic presence, one that that resonates with your ideal clients and best supports your business.

Photo by insung yoon on Unsplash