Content marketing has replaced advertising. It surrounds and often overwhelms us. In many cases content is unloved and even abhorred despite the desperate efforts of marketers to make people “love” their content. We see signs of the public’s fatigue with content marketing. We are always looking for the next big smash hit and in the efforts to attain it, content marketing has become ever more insincere.
Sincerity is an old-fashioned term and an idea that is rarely discussed anymore. Unfortunately, the concept of sincerity has been replaced with that of authenticity.
“The older concept of sincerity, referring to being truthful in order to be honest in one’s dealings with others, comes to be replaced by a relatively new concept of authenticity, understood as being true to oneself for one’s own benefit” - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
If we translate authenticity into marketing jargon it is what we refer to as branding. We no longer worry about the truth as others see it, we just worry about what’s true as you define it for yourself.
Sincerity may seem like a willowy concept. But it’s an idea that has been debated for centuries. Two famous ancient thinkers provide us with guidance to think about the concept. Cicero believed that the right ethos (character) is necessary for audiences to:
- Be receptive
- Be attentive
- Like and trust you
One’s ethos (internally generated) is not the same as one’s brand (externally projected). It’s about being driven from the inside, rather than driven from the outside. It is not about how one wants to be seen. It is about the values one holds.
Aristotle defined how ethos affected credibility according to three dimensions:
- Virtue-having the same values as the audience
- Craft -the confidence that the speaker knows what they are doing
- Disinterest-the speaker has no bias, and is caring.
Disinterest is an especially important concept. Everyone knows that marketing content exists to generate revenue. Knowing that companies have a vested interest in making money how can brands demonstrate that they really care about the customer, instead of just wanting their money? It requires transparency.
The wisdom of ancient philosophers reminds us that character matters. They remind us that credibility rests on sincerity and that we should focus on values, rather than appearances.
The path to sincerity must involve the pursuit of clarifying what the customer wants. Too often brands assume customers will share the same views that the brand is promoting. The goals of building an audience for a brand can morph into making the audience into the brand.
Never confuse your brand with branding the customer. Individual people have their own identities, which are almost never identical to any company’s or nonprofit’s.
Brands should talk about their values, and what they are doing to make those values a reality. There are not many customers that take time to learn what a firm’s corporate mission is, because it is usually vague and well hidden. Your mission doesn’t need to be original, but it needs to matter to consumers. And it needs to be simple, stressing one key idea, such as value, access, quality, or helpfulness. Avoid “we are going to change the world” statements. They are nothing but nonsense.
Sincere content stays away from making self-deprecating statements like “You make what we do possible” that are almost always completely phony. Sincere content clearly articulates the organization’s own identity. It reveals the firm’s goals, and actions. Let customers decide if your values are their values.
Talk about what you can do for people. Don’t hide behind stories to imply you offer something that you don’t. Are your testimonials a commitment of what your brand can do for anyone, or is it a micro-celebrity endorsement? Products don’t make people successful. Products merely solve specific problems. Content needs to focus on how the products help solve those specific problems, instead of promising to transform a situation. Sincere content is real empowerment for your customers.
