Suppose the marketing and communication you do for your business was represented by a drawing. Would it look more like a realistic portrait of you, or a cartoon caricature?
That’s one of the many simple ways I often think about it, as it gets to the heart of the issue fast. A caricature artist doesn’t invent something out of nowhere. They take a real feature, maybe a smile, a chin, or a pair of glasses, and exaggerate it until it becomes the whole story.
That’s fine for a souvenir at a carnival. But it’s a problem in small business marketing.
In the Social Media Marketing for Small Business: The REAL Success System, I talk a lot about how to truly lead and connect by being real. Yet, so many small business owners and professionals end up turning their small business marketing into exaggerated versions of themselves because they think that’s what their industry expects.
The result? They don’t look like a human being anymore. They look like a character in a commercial. And as I’ve said before, when you stop looking like a person, people stop trusting you.
The Comfort of the Sea of Sameness
Why do we do this? Usually, it’s because it feels safe. We look at what everyone else in our industry is doing and we figure, “Well, they must know something I don’t.” So, we adopt the industry uniform. We use the industry jargon. We stand in the industry poses.
Here are three quick, common examples:
First, car dealerships. You know the look: the owner (or sales rep) standing in front of a giant sign, arms crossed or pointing at a row of SUVs, shouting about “inventory” or “zero percent financing” or “employee pricing.” It’s a caricature.
Another: personal injury lawyers. Every billboard and bus ad (they seem to like those) seem to feature a people in darks suit looking stern, almost angry, next to bold text that screams, “WE DON’T GET PAID UNTIL YOU DO!” It’s a caricature.
Third, real estate agents. If you lined up a hundred real estate business cards, ninety-five of them would look almost identical. It’s a template. A stereotype. A caricature.
Heck, I include the space I occupy in this conversation too: coaches and speakers. You’ve seen it online: the coach who only posts inspirational quotes over a mountain or sunset, or the speaker who is always “crushing it,” always “living their best life” and somehow not-so-subtly suggesting that everyone else is not.
And then, when they have an event, good grief: “Get your early bird price! Don’t miss out! Your life depends on this!”
When every social media post is dialed up to eleven, it becomes a caricature of itself. It loses its humanity.
Here’s the irony: when you lean into these caricatures, you aren’t actually branding yourself. You are disappearing into a sea of sameness. Even though some of those attributes might be accurate and may even be appealing, it more often just blends us into looking like one big, bland cartoon.
If the person people see in your marketing is an exaggerated version of who you actually are, you’re creating a gap. And that gap is where trust goes to die.
Even the “Experts” Fall for It (Including Me)
I’ll be the first to admit it: I’ve fallen into this trap. When you’re trying to build a brand strategy, it’s easy to get caught up in the “shoulds.”
- “I should look more authoritative.”
- “I should use more marketing-speak.”
- “I should post more about my wins.”
But every time I’ve leaned into the “speaker persona” rather than just being myself, the results have been flatter. The moments that actually move the needle for me and my clients, the moments that define real success, are the ones where we’re willing to step out from behind the caricature and just be a real person navigating the same challenges everyone else is.
The Caricature Audit: Is It Time to Get Real?
If you want to break out of the caricature and strengthen your small business marketing, you need to do a little bit of detective work. Look at your marketing materials, your website text, your email signatures, your social media posts, and ask yourself these three questions:
1. Does this sound like a person or a script?
Read your website copy out loud. If you wouldn’t say those words to a friend over coffee, why are they on your homepage? Industry jargon is the quickest way to turn yourself into a caricature.
2. Is there a range, or just one note?
Caricatures are one-dimensional. Real humans have a range. If your marketing is only about success, or only about “tough love,” or only about “positivity,” you’re missing the other 90% of your personality. Don’t be afraid to show the process, the learning moments, or even the “ordinary” parts of your business.
3. Would a client recognize you from your ads?
This is the ultimate test. If someone who has worked with you for a year looked at your latest marketing campaign, would they say, “Yeah, that’s totally you,” or would they say, “Who (or what) is that?” If your marketing persona is a performance, it’s a caricature.
Moving Toward REAL Success
At the end of the day, people don’t want to do business with a caricature. They want to do business with a human being they can trust. They want a leader who has the clarity and intention to guide them through change, not someone who is just playing a part.
Breaking the caricature doesn’t mean being less professional. It means being more personal. It means having the courage to stand in front of that car dealership, or that real estate card, and say, “Here is who I actually am, and here is why I care about helping you.”
When you stop performing and start connecting, your small business marketing and your social media marketing for small business stop being a “task” and start becoming a conversation. That’s where real growth happens.
Listen and look for examples of caricatures and playing to stereotypes with other advertisers and listen to your own voice as well. Then ask yourself: Is there some caricature in your marketing?
Your Next Step: Build a Better Small Business Marketing Strategy
If you’ve realized your marketing has started to feel like a cartoon version of yourself, the next step is practical, not performative. You need a clear system for small business marketing that helps you communicate consistently, show up with integrity, and stop relying on gimmicks.
That’s exactly what Social Media Marketing for Small Business: The REAL Success System is designed to do. It’s a practical, proven business development and branding blueprint for small business owners who want to build a social media marketing strategy that attracts ideal clients, strengthens their brand, and drives real results — without the gimmicks.
If you’re looking for a more grounded approach to social media marketing for small business, this course gives you a framework that actually makes sense.
Explore Social Media Marketing for Small Business: The REAL Success System
Recent Comments