Is there a secret to brands creating a loyal and supportive fan base? How do some companies have both strong sales and customers that align with their mission? The key to accomplishing this might be simpler than you think: authenticity. One of the most important steps brands can take to make their marketing impactful is to be as authentic as possible. People want to know that when a company is speaking to them it’s genuine, with an actual person behind the message that they can trust.
Gone are the days of flashy, self-serving advertising and witty, yet meaningless, taglines. After the pandemic shook the world, people are looking for truth and authenticity. To be frank, after decades of being advertised to, our B.S. meter is stronger than ever. This is why it’s important for writers and marketers to be as genuine as possible.
One writer that fully embraces the power of authenticity is Catherine Nikkel. She understands and incorporates the power of being real, which is why the content she creates for clients is memorable and easy to connect with.
As one of her clients puts it, Catherine “takes the time to get to know me, understands what message I want to convey, then finds a happy medium between me and the public.”
The fact that Catherine truly gets to know her clients is key to making their stories relatable and genuine. Churning out generic blog posts that lack personality are quickly cast aside by readers and labeled as yet another marketer just trying to make a sale. In Catherine’s work, her priority isn’t to mass-produce shallow advertisements. She writes to make an impact, build a brand, and allow authentic and mindful media to make a connection.
“Ghostwriting is all about helping clients create an impact by conveying their best message in their own voice,” Catherine says. “I capture their unique voice and vision, then match their style of speech to make every piece authentic.”
As you can see, it takes each person’s genuine identity to bring content to life. With this method, Catherine is able to dig down and create authentic content that genuinely impacts its readers.
Another way Catherine is able to make an impact is through sharing her own story. By being open about her challenging life’s journey, she’s embodying the authenticity she creates for clients.
Catherine’s story begins as a pregnant 15-year-old, moving into a home for teen mothers. Refusing to become another statistic, Catherine marched forward and created a thriving career in social work. Eventually she decided to step away from social work and pursue her true passion of writing. This is when the unthinkable happened. She experienced not only immense pain but unexplained paralyzation from the waist down.
This was both a terrifying wake-up call and an opportunity for a new beginning. Catherine dug to the core of her authentic being, realizing that helping others tell their stories in the truest, most impactful way possible was what drove her. The triumphant highs and demoralizing lows she’d experienced created a foundation on which Catherine built her new career as a highly sought-after writer for whom all things are possible.
By being completely open and vulnerable about her story, Catherine is establishing a level of trust and relatability. Anyone who has experienced challenges in their lives knows what it’s like to overcome them and what it takes to build a new future from scratch. We’ve all had ups and downs so it’s no wonder we want the brands we interact with to have the same sort of realistic, human quality. Marketing should be a reflection of our experiences, and this starts with complete authenticity.