5 Ways to be Authentic and Connect with Your Audience

Discover 5 ways to build authentic connections with your audience and grow your subscription box business.

As a subscription box owner and small business owner, you have an incredible opportunity to connect with your audience. 

Consumers want to buy from companies and people with whom they feel connected. When they feel connected to a brand or a business owner, consumers will choose it over its competitors. Connection matters. 

Small business owners have a superpower big box businesses simply don’t have. The ability to make real, authentic connections with their customers.

This superpower is your competitive advantage - the thing that sets you apart. The thing that can not only bring people into your world, but turn them into buyers and then raving fans. 

As a subscription box owner, building authentic connections is even more important. When you invite someone to become a subscriber, you’re not asking them to make a one-time purchase. You’re asking them to enter into a long-term relationship with you and your business. 

So how can you build these authentic connections? The kind that inspires brand loyalty and long-term customer relationships.

1. Embrace who you are. 

I mean it.

You are who you are and that’s it. Embrace all of it - the good, the bad, the ugly. We’re all human. And being human means having flaws. We all have things we don’t love about ourselves.  

For so long, I was afraid to be myself on camera. I worried if I said “y’all,” people wouldn’t think I was professional. So I tried to be proper. But, guess what? Being proper wasn’t connecting with my audience!

My audience is mostly southern women. They all say “y’all!” Why was I trying to hide that? So I let my “y’all”s fly and instantly felt more like me. My audience felt that and my connection with them grew. 

I worried I wasn’t young enough, thin enough, tan enough, or pretty enough. I thought about hiring an influencer to be the face of my business who was all of those things. 

The truth was, my audience didn’t want someone young, thin, tan, and model-beautiful. They wanted someone to relate to. They wanted me - just as I was. 

Once I embraced who I was, my audience responded. They related to me because I wasn’t hiding who I was. Read more about how I overcame my fear of going LIVE. 

It might take time, but making authentic connections with your audience means getting comfortable with being the face of your business. Let them get to know you. Let them hear your “why.” Let them feel the excitement you have for what you do and what you can do for them. The right people - your people - will love you for it!

2. It’s about THEM, not YOU.        

When you share online, it’s important to make it about your audience, not you. 

But wait? Didn’t I just tell you to share yourself, flaws and all? 

I did. And you should. But… think about how to do that in a way that includes your audience. 

Can you help your audience see themselves in you? Maybe you’re a busy mom of busy teenagers like me. How can you share your struggles to balance it all in a way that makes your audience feel like they’re working hard to figure it all out right alongside you?  

How does what you’re sharing apply to your audience? You are in business for a reason. You’ve created a subscription box for a reason. You want to serve. This is a great way to serve your audience. Help them see how what you’re sharing might apply to their lives and the problems they’re trying to solve.  

Check out this blog to learn what’s possible when you focus on serving your audience. 

Can your audience relate to what you share? When my then 16-year-old, newly licensed, teenage driver son drove himself to school for the first time, I shared the milestone with my audience. Not just the fact of it, but the combination of excitement and terror I felt. This allowed any parent who has ever celebrated a milestone while battling a serious case of the worries to relate to me. In other words, every parent ever. 

Look for opportunities to connect with your audience in ways that make them feel part of the story. It’s amazing how powerful those everyday moments can be!

3. Being transparent builds trust.   

Being transparent means sharing the good and the bad. Life and business aren’t going to be all sunshine and roses for you. And you shouldn’t pretend they are. Letting your audience see that sometimes things go wrong makes you relatable. 

Shipments are going to be delayed and products are going to get damaged. I’ve shared mishaps and missteps with my audience over the years. The time an item I had planned for a box was larger than I thought and it didn’t fit in the box. The time an item I ordered got lost somewhere in the middle of the ocean and I had to pivot. The time I designed a t-shirt I thought was funny and sassy that didn’t go over well with some of my customers. I shared these challenges and mishaps with my audience - and they loved it. 

By only sharing the good, you project an image of perfection. And believe me, no one can relate to a perfect person.

4. Realize you aren’t for everyone.  

You aren’t for everyone. 

I’m going to say that again. You aren’t for everyone and you shouldn’t try to be. Never apologize for who you are or what you stand for. 

I know it’s hard. It’s natural to want to be liked by everyone. But think about it for a minute. Think about all the people you “meet” on social media or through blogs or podcasts. Think about all the people you meet in real life. Are all of them for you? Nope. And that’s okay. 

Some people will decide you are not for them. That’s a good thing because that makes more room for those people who are looking for exactly what you have to offer. Those are the people you’re here for. Those are the people you can build authentic connections with. The people who will become repeat customers, subscribers, and raving fans. 

5. In all things, be genuine.  

If what you do on camera isn’t what you would do in real life, it’s not genuine. Your audience will see right through that and you’ll come across as phony. And phony will not help you build know, like, and trust with your audience! 

I’ve been told by some of my team that being genuine is a kind of superpower of mine. My audience comes in order to learn from me and sticks around because they come to understand pretty quickly just how much I care. I don’t pretend to be super tech-savvy, because I’m not. I let them see how I get all up in my feelings sometimes. It shows them I care.   

I challenge you to be genuine with your audience. Share your true self with them and keep the focus on them. Let them get to know you and the like and trust will follow. 

Lean into your superpower as a small business owner. Take the time to make authentic connections with your audience. Let them get to know you and take the time to get to know them. Show them you understand who they are and that you’re in this together.