Get Authentic with Your Readers
By Leslie Martel Baer
You know you need to reach your customers (or vendors or the community). And, you’ve decided to use your cool new blog (or print layout or radio spot) this time. Now, you decide what to say.
Well? Are you staring at a blank page?
The number one issue we see stalling message development is that clients fail to tap into what their audience is passionate about: themselves.
Trust me on this: no matter how cool your gizmo is, or how much you’re saving the planet, or how easy your purchasing form is to read, your audience doesn’t give a rat’s patooty unless you can directly relate it them. “How will it improve my life?” “Will saving the planet save me money?” “Will your new form stop Frank in orders from calling me each time he gets one?” Answer these questions before they are even asked.
Even if we do care about cool gizmos or saving the planet, none of us have time (usually) to handle messages that don’t relate to us directly.
So, stop thinking about what a great product/idea/service you have. In fact, just stop. Take a deep breath. Now—write down the one thing that your audience will care about most. Done? Good…because now you’ve started on a message that will actually work.
