Nowadays, our brand reputations are preceded by the content we put out online. This need to be omnipresent on every social platform is ever fast and ever growing in popularity.
And it seems that it’s often done with a rose-tinted view of the busines industry. ‘New business secured’ here and ‘award winners’ there. It’s easy to get swept up in the cultivated and carefully considered world of social media.
It’s easy to see that success plastered across every platform, making it appear as if the world of business to many is always win, win, win.
But as business owners, we know that’s not always the case.
Behind our brand are the people. The people who have had to overcome obstacles to success, as they make their way up the business ladder.
As a small account-based marketing agency, we have had our fair share of slow days, even slow months. There’s been loss of business, and qualified leads that haven’t quite converted.
For every time we’ve shortlisted for an award, or won a new client, there’s been knockbacks and failures along the way too.
This is the side of business that we don’t tend to see on social media.
But maybe we should.
After all, it’s those setbacks and stoppages that have in fact been the learning curves for our business. They’ve helped us to develop new and better ways of thinking and working as we continue to grow.
And we know we’re not the only ones.
Which is why we need to start humanising the world of business online. We need to share those setbacks.
In fact, according to a report by Stackler last year, 88% of buyers stated that authenticity was a large contributing factor when determining which brands to buy from and support.
People buy into honesty and authenticity. They buy into the real person- so why aren’t we showing it more often?
By being more human and celebrating both the success and setbacks of our business, this will make us appear more relatable, more relevant, and perhaps even more empathetic.
It helps open up more conversations, provides support to those who need it, share experiences and common issues, and who knows, it may even open up more business opportunities in the long term.
So, let’s take off those rose-coloured glasses and instead start authenticating the business world online- we’re all only human after all.
