You can’t go anywhere these days – in marketing and communication, anyway – without someone getting all authentic on you. Authenticity is a business imperative.
As such, authenticity needs measuring and tracking – and where better to start that with your communication? After all, if your communication strategies and activities aren’t seen as authentic, then how can you be?
Based on decades of communication and journalism experience, 4TC has developed a self-assessment tool – it’s part of the Authentic8 | Communication Authenticity & Effectiveness Audit.
The Authentic8 Self-Assessment module is based around a simple, thought-provoking questionnaire. It will provide you with a clear indication of where you are on your communication authenticity journey – and the things you might consider to help you go further, faster. Click here or below to give it a go.
It’s probably worth reminding ourselves why authenticity is important, what it means and how it manifests in communication.
- 90% of people use authenticity to decide which brands they like[1]
- 83% of marketers consider authenticity to be important to their brand
- 57% of consumers believe that less than half of brands communicate authenticity
- Authenticity (in leadership) is the strongest single driver of work happiness and job satisfaction – two key factors in employee engagement
Authenticity is a key factor in business success – but (and in case you’re wondering) what is authenticity? We came up with a definition (based on our decades of communication experience) which no-one (so far) has disagreed with.
Authenticity is:
- Honest – representing something as it actually is
- Targeted and Personal – talking to the right people, through the right channels in the right language
- Professional – transparent in response, able to admit fault and apologise
- Inclusive – bringing the team along on the journey
- Not a ‘Tick in the Box’ – false impressions, inconsistency, greenwashing, avoidance
[1] Stackla Research – 2017/19
