A Guide to Authenticity: 3 Tips for Being Real on Social Media

The following article was cowritten by Chat GPT and Amy Marquis, who provided her expert perspective, prompt engineering, copywriting support and copyediting.

#SocialMedia can be a tricky business. It's natural to want to put your best foot forward, share your life and your accomplishments. At the same time, you don't want to come off as a poser. But have you ever stopped to think about why being authentic is so important on social media, especially when it comes to reaching #GenZ and #Millennials?

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken." - Oscar Wilde

Here are three ways to show up as your true self on social media:

1. Trust and Engagement: Authentic content that is authentic to your brand and your customers is more likely to foster #trust and #engagement with your audience. Gen Z and Millennials have grown up with the internet, and they can sense a "fake" a mile away. A study by Sprout Social found that 80% of Gen Z and 75% of Millennials place a high value on authenticity from brands on social media.

2. Boost Sharing: Authenticity has the power to spread positivity about your brand, making it a critical component of growing a following on social media. According to a survey by Buffer, #authenticity is the number one factor that drives engagement. When people and brands speak with an authentic voice on social media, they are more likely to build trust and engagement with their audience. Authentic content is more likely to be shared and generate positive word-of-mouth. It's the secret ingredient to growing a loyal following on social media. Authenticity is like social media fairy dust.

3. Brand Strength: Using an authentic voice on social media can help build a strong brand, with leaders who are transparent and real. Being real is the key to being perceived as a thought leader and expert in your field. Now that everyone has a movie studio in their pocket and can produce and post a video at will, being real boils down to the opposite of what we've traditionally seen on social media. No more professionally lit videos. No more perfectly done up spokespeople. No more scripted appeals. Being in the moment and showing up as you are has become something audiences expect or even demand.

“CEOs need stand up not just for their shareholders, but their employees, their partners, the environment, schools, everybody.” — Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff

Leaning into being real can lead to more opportunities for your company and your career. A study by Edelman found that 64% of consumers say that authenticity is the most important factor when deciding which brands to follow on social media. 

If you didn't appreciate the urgency already, you can start to see how authenticity is essential when it comes to posting on social media, particularly when it comes to reaching Gen Z and Millennials. Being true to yourself is the key to building trust and engagement. So, let's be real, let's be authentic and let's really connect with our audience, one unpolished post at a time.

This article was originally published on LinkedIn.