Authenticity is the new trend: Getting followers that align with your vision
- Oct 13
- 3 min read
By Martha Payan
Scrolling through my Instagram feed, I couldn’t help but notice two trends among the accounts I was going over. I could see beautiful, polished, aesthetic accounts, where the creator was in perfect poses, wearing nothing but amazing clothes, sharing stories about success and how life is wonderful every hour of every day. Contrary to that, I started focusing on the accounts that didn’t look as polished, as aesthetic, but definitely had something shining through them. I could see stories about past mistakes being narrated and how they found a way out of the sticky situation. Others would share from a vulnerable place a moment in their lives that they weren’t extremely proud of, but that’s life, right? I saw myself being pulled more to the latter. Each of these posts resonated with me. I have been there; my life is not perfect. I have been stuck in the mud and had to pull myself out of it because life goes on. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t nice, but it was real. What shone through these posts was authenticity, and I wanted to know more about these people’s lives.
There are not many articles that will tell you this little-known fact: whenever you are creating content, be it a social media post, a story on your feed, or a short article to share, be truly yourself. Your job isn’t to impress others; it is to serve from the highest level. Think about what has helped you the most in your own life, in your own day-to-day, and write from that perspective. You may ask, why would I want to share about my past mistakes, about how I failed in a former business, or how I don’t have the perfect daily routine to be productive? The answer is simple because we have all been there. Your ideal audience, your ideal client, is one of those people, and they want to feel like not having a perfect life is fine, knowing and confirming that not having everything figured out does not make them a failure. They want to learn how to get over the hurdles that are right in front of them, and in the next few steps.
Let me share a framework that helps me achieve this. I call it “Share x3”, so you can easily remember, Share times 3: one moment, one action, who it’s for.
Share a true moment – think about a short story, a detail, or an emotion you experienced. Your audience will appreciate all of the little details and specifics that make you human, and it will help someone decide if what you’re sharing resonates.
Share an action step – help your audience move forward from their struggle or challenge. Tell them what tiny action they could implement to feel better.
Share who this is for – in a quick sentence, or in one line, define who your people are, who you serve, and the result you provide for them. Include this near the end of your content after you have helped them take action.
Authenticity doesn’t mean oversharing every aspect or moment of your life. It means using your unique voice and message to help the right people, the ones who are aligned with your vision and who are looking for the results and transformation only you can provide. When you do that with consistency and persistence, you will start seeing your audience grow, and it will be filled with clients who are ready to start their new season in life with you.
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