Why It Pays To Let Your Site Visitors Know The Real You

Many business owners believe that they need to run their organizations and present themselves in a way that can best be described as ‘dry’ and possibly even ‘boring’. The belief is that it’s unprofessional to show a sense of humor or personality, while maintaining an image of being infallible is the only way to inspire trust in your abilities.

This is understandable, seeing as it is the way that many businesses have operated for a long time. In reality though, it is neither necessary nor particularly useful. In reality, it can actually be very beneficial to show the personality behind the brand – and especially when it comes to digital marketing.

It’s More Engaging

For starters, if you want to know the secret to great sales copy, then it’s time to look at the role of ‘storytelling’. Great storytelling is one of the most effective ways to get people to engage with a message and to imagine how what you’re selling could benefit them. If you can recount your personal story and talk about how a particular product/technique/service helped you to get to where you are today, then you’ll find that your readers are instantly much more interested in what you’re selling. But of course you can’t use this type of structure without breaking into the first person narrative and talking a little bit about yourself and/or your business.

You Can Let Others Relate to You Easily

If you’re honest about your business and you talk about the processes you go through and your emotions a little, then you’ll find it makes you more relatable… and that in turn can improve your likability. Likability is crucial across businesses and is just as important when it comes to getting sales. Think about it: would you rather buy from someone you feel you know and you can trust? Or a faceless organization? Knowing your money is going towards a hardworking team who deserve it can be a nice bonus in any transaction.

It Makes You Seem More Reachable

By being more personable in your copy, you can also make you appear more reachable. If you give the impression that your team is populated by normal people, and if you even use your name occasionally, then you will give the impression that your team can actually be reached by customers or clients who perhaps have problems or questions. This in turn can be very reassuring when you’re planning on spending your hard-earned money.

It Helps Your Social Media

If you let people interact with the personalities behind your brand, then you open up many more opportunities on social media. Not only can you get your staff to run blogs and accounts that help promote your business, but you can turn more moments into marketing opportunities. This is something that IBM have tapped into very cleverly with their blogs for ‘IBMers’.

Honesty is Crucial

Perhaps most important of all is that you be honest. Honesty is integral to a good business relationship, even when that means admitting your mistakes and challenges. Today your average customer is much savvier than they may have been in the past, meaning that they can tell when you are trying to pull the wool over their eyes. We know that few things go completely smoothly and so when we see a company denying that, it only makes the company seem out of touch or dishonest.

This is rarely more pressing than when a sole trader – someone who is clearly a sole trader – constantly refers to themselves on their blog as ‘we’. Most people see through this and it ends up looking disingenuous, or worse, like you’re ‘playing grown up’. It’s just as awkward as when big stuffy companies try to appeal to a ‘hip’ young market.

Just like dating, sometimes the secret to success in business, is just to be yourself.