Does your audience believe your brand is truly authentic? Is your brand using a myth to sell its products and services?

Marketing used to be about creating a myth and selling; now it’s about finding a truth and sharing it.

Marc Mathieu mentions this while explaining how his company is looking for ways to share a truth. He says it’s beneficial to invite in the audience and let them take ownership and share the truth with others.

3 ways to find your brand’s social truth.

It starts when you…

Admit You Don’t Have All The Answers

The irony is having Kanye West lambast someone for “not having the answers” is very entertaining to say the least.

But it does bring up a good point.

As a brand, a person can be rigid in one’s own truth without accepting the truth of others. Your brand is not the end-all-be-all in the market.

Before I go off on a tangent, let’s get back to the basics…

Finding your brand’s social truth is knowing your product or service may not solve all your customers’ problems.

If you pitch your product to your customer when there is a more effective solution, this could backfire. For instance, have you ever been to a mechanic for a problem only to have him tell you about a quick fix you can do yourself?

I’m sure this has happened at some point in life if you can remember.

Do you remember the feeling you had after receiving that good news? Even though you will not patronize his shop, you feel like you owe a debt of gratitude for his cost-saving suggestion.

It works the same way with social media.

Understanding you don’t have the answers and providing an alternative solution is how you find your social truth.

See Transparency As An Opportunity

When speaking of seeing transparency as an opportunity, I can’t help but to highlight the Kardashian brand.

Let’s face it, they’ve built a multi-million dollar brand by being transparent (recall the Kim Kardashian sex tape?).

For years, viewers were invited into their homes and witnessed the pits and peaks of the Kardashian / Jenner family.

So what does this have to do with your brand?

Everything.

If you are afraid to shine a light on the inner-workings of your organization, take a page from the Kardashian playbook–and just do it! It could generate millions.

Your customers would love to know that your brand may need improvement in some areas.

Acknowledge it and invite them to be a part of the improvement process. Taking that leap is how you find your social truth.

Make The Inside Reflect The Outside

What’s one thing the world’s most profitable company must do to increase sales?

Aligning the inner-workings with the outside world.

No matter how profitable you are, you must keep up with the latest trends and technologies. The pace of change among customers is often faster than the changes inside many organizations.

Is your organization engaging with customers on platforms in which they reside? Are you speaking the language of your target audience? Are you set-up to meet the needs of your customers by delivering what they want, when they want it?

Try listening to see how your customers are talking about your brand.

That’s a sure-fire way to find your brand’s social truth.

Final Thought

Finding your brand’s social truth starts with admitting that you don’t have all the answers, seeing transparency as an opportunity, and making the inside of your organization reflect the outside.

It takes courage and humility to find your brand’s social truth. However, once you take that leap, it will provide you with all the tools to better communicate with your target audience and build a stronger brand.