The blooper reel? It’s real. And sometimes it gets aired in public.
This week on the Big Marketing Minute I shared how I had a dream. A nightmare, actually. I dreamt that I accidentally shared a blooper reel my client sent me. Not just any bloopers. I took the file she’d literally titled “The Fuck Up” and published it as a normal piece of content, right there on her socials, for the whole world to see. I woke up in a cold sweat. Click through to get the whole story.
But here’s the thing. Sometimes we really do publish our fuck ups. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes completely by accident. Sometimes we air something we never meant to air. Sometimes a piece of our real life slips onto the internet when we had zero intention of sharing it. The wrong photo. The unmuted mic. The story that was still recording when we thought we’d hit stop.
But isn’t that the whole point of what I’ve been saying? Authenticity means it isn’t all polished and perfect. Sometimes the spilled coffee, the kids making you crazy in the background, the total, complete, unfiltered fuck up.. sometimes that’s the thing that actually lands. The post people stop scrolling for. The one they comment on, because it feels like a real person and not a brand.
So knowing that, why leave it out? Why sand off the exact stuff that makes you human?
My top tips for making the fuck ups work for you:
- Check your page or your Instagram feed. Is every post serious, sales and real business talk? Make your next post REAL and make it fun. Not everything on your business page has to be about your business.
- Search for other brands or people posting about something similar to whatever you just did. Comment on their posts and start building rapport around whatever is relatable.
- That voice in your head that says “get out your camera?” Listen to it. You can post it later after you watch it. But in the midst of craziness in your life, hit record. See what you get.
- Do a straight-up face-to-camera video. You can do it while you’re getting ready or getting unready. You can do it before bed. You don’t have to be polished and perfected. You can do it with no makeup, a scrunchie on your head and your eye cream still soaking in. Once in a while, just be.
Because here’s the truth: Your storytelling about whatever it is you messed up may actually get you in front of more people – people who have never heard of you before. And then you can work on getting your real content in front of them.
Think showing the real you will not do something fantastic for your brand. Get real, and think again.
The more real you let yourself be, the better it all works for your social. Even the bloopers. Especially the bloopers.
Now go read that title again. Did you guess the movie?
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