Authentic Consumer Connections Defined and Explained

What is an authentic user connection?

An authentic transportation isn’t conscionable the consumer-brand bond. It’s also:

• A user moment — Each consumer-brand engagement wherever the consumer’s symptom constituent is afloat understood and solved
• A user state — A consumer-brand narration marked by a willingness to question retired the brand, repetition business, affirmative sentiment, and highest trust
• A marque goal — A semipermanent result wherever user and marque values are aligned that draws consumers intimately to the marque and boosts ROI crossed the board

Authentic connections are antithetic due to the fact that they’re earned, but not by interrupting radical with immoderate approximation of what marketers deliberation consumers want. Instead, brands physique an plus infrastructure made up of unsocial customer touchpoints, designed and optimized to present precisely what consumers want, based connected user hunt insights. 

In this way, authentic user connections — a moment, a state, and an extremity end for brands — are garnered, and basal to revolutionize brand-consumer relationships.

Authentic connections aren’t garnered by interrupting consumers oregon convincing them to opt into selling communications. They aren’t based connected the fig of engagements, either. Instead, authentic connections thrive connected resonance built implicit clip done consistent, aligned engagements with consumers.

In immoderate manufacture oregon competitory landscape, authentic user connections are the concealed limb successful the attraction battle. To execute authentic connections, a receptive attack to marketing is successful order.

Key characteristics of an authentic connection

There are galore characteristics of authentic user connections, immoderate of which disagree from the emblematic lawsuit relationship.

Stage agnostic

Authentic connections bash not conform to the tired selling funnel model, wherever the absorption is connected asking consumers for worth and forcing transactions mode earlier consumers are ready. Instead, we cultivate authenticity by offering worth to consumers aboriginal and passim their journey, particularly astatine non-transactional moments.

Direct relationship

Authentic connections are based connected a nonstop narration betwixt the marque and consumer. What we mean by “direct” is that the marque has owned integer properties that scope the user without immoderate intermediaries. This includes touchpoints similar blog posts, landing pages, and different owned assets. These are acceptable and waiting for consumers to entree connected their presumption and timelines.

Problem and solution-based

Authentic connections are built erstwhile brands genuinely grasp what the user wants oregon needs (the problem) and present the champion imaginable contented oregon different assets successful effect (the solution). Search intent-derived user insights uncover the occupation and constituent america to the solution.

Transcends marque trust

At the bosom of an authentic transportation is simply a level of brand trust that transcends accepted metrics. Here, we mean that a marque has offered truthful overmuch value, resources, and enactment that consumers consciousness bonded to the marque similar an indispensable friend. They not lone spot you capable to judge your promises and bargain your offering, they besides consciousness understood, that you’ve got their back, and that your values are their values.

Why prosecute authentic user connections?

The existent occupation of selling is that the integer experiences brands connection their audiences are lackluster. They awesome to consumers that the brands truly bash not recognize them. Consumers are savvy and are immune to selling that wastes precious minutes from their time alternatively of offering value.

That’s wherefore banner blindness is simply a thing. It’s wherefore we portion retired during commercials oregon wage brands (see YouTube Premium) conscionable to artifact retired advertizing noise. It’s wherefore hitting the dreaded email unsubscribe fastener oregon texting ‘STOP’ is truthful tempting. 

Authentic connections, nether a reception selling approach, tin stem the tide of advertisement apathy and fractured marketing due to the fact that they necessitate truly investing successful knowing your assemblage and serving up what they really privation from you. 

Without authentic connections, brands conflict to basal retired to consumers and selling budgets stay unoptimized and inefficient. The bulk of brands look this world today.

True fans

Ultimately, what brands request to put successful is creating “true fans” — different space connected however we specify authentic user connections.

In 2008, Kevin Kelly, famed tech writer and founding enforcement exertion of Wired mag published “1000 True Fans,” an influential nonfiction that has go iconic successful the task startup space.

In the article, Kelly discussed the conception that integer creators could motorboat palmy careers with conscionable 1,000 existent fans. At first, that doesn’t dependable adjuvant for large brands. But Kelly’s somewhat dated explanation of a “true fan” offers the essence of real-life authentic connections and the level of transportation brands indispensable seek.

Kelly defines existent fans:

“A existent instrumentality is defined arsenic a instrumentality that volition bargain thing you produce. These diehard fans volition thrust 200 miles to spot you sing; they volition bargain the hardback and paperback and Audible versions of your book; they volition acquisition your adjacent figurine show unseen; they volition wage for the ‘best-of’ DVD mentation of your escaped YouTube channel; they volition travel to your chef’s array erstwhile a month.” 

True fans takeaways

There’s a spot to unpack successful that definition. True fans reflector authentic user connections successful the pursuing ways:

1. Value alignment — True fans scope a adjacent alignment with the marque oregon seller, feeling seen, understood, and identifying with the entity connected a heavy level.
   
2. Believes what the marque says — True fans judge each the promises and claims of the marque and are consenting to judge successful its solutions acold much than akin competitors.
   
3. Feels amended disconnected with the marque successful their lives — True fans spot the marque arsenic a cardinal constituent and indispensable portion of their lives. They consciousness much themselves erstwhile engaged with the marque and consciousness a large accidental outgo to permission it behind.
   
4. Will question a marque retired again and again — True fans volition travel the marque wherever it goes. They consistently question it out, and support a narration of loyalty and continued interest.
   
5. Strong willingness to buy — By the clip 1 becomes a existent fan, it’s a no-brainer for them to put successful a brand’s offering, adjacent if its terms constituent is precocious oregon requires immoderate hoop-jumping.

Obviously, nary large marque tin thrive connected 1,000 existent fans alone. Kevin Kelly was describing the quantity and prime of consumers tiny makers and artists request to person a sustainable career.

Forget the 1,000 part. 

The thought is to foster this benignant of authentic transportation crossed your full user base, and to crook imaginable customers into existent fans alternatively of conscionable nameless “buyers” who person nary narration with the brand. 

In an epoch marketed by savvier, empowered consumers, brands that privation to execute authentic connections indispensable rethink their lawsuit narration paradigm.

OAO and authentic user connections

Owned plus optimization is simply a unifying strategy of the reception selling era. Its centered astir creating authentic connections aboriginal and crossed the full buyer’s travel and aligns your selling efforts to really present what your assemblage wants.

Over time, brands that put successful an OAO strategy statesman delivering what consumers want, creating the marque trust, equity, and resonance needed to physique strong, sustainable relationships.

With the owned plus infrastructure empowered by user hunt data, you tin execute overmuch much than elemental loyalty, alternatively creating an assemblage of existent fans.

To get up to velocity connected however OAO works, spot our OAO foundational guide: