Okay. I’m not going to keep you in suspense. The one word that’ll help your content marketing is this: YOU!
That’s it. It really is that simple. There should be more “YOU” on every page of your website, every landing page, every brochure, every email, and every EVERYTHING you use for content marketing. But a lot of businesses are missing the proverbial boat on this. And, as a result, they’re missing TONS of opportunities to connect with customers.
If you're using "us", "we", "me", "our" or "I" in your marketing content more than you're using "YOU"—then YOU'RE missing out on an easy way to connect with customers.
STOP Reading This Right Now!
What I want you to do right now is STOP reading this post and go look at any of your content marketing copy. It could be your home page, a landing page, a brochure—anything that your customers might read.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Count how many times you find “you” or “yours”.
2. Count how many times you find “us”, “we”, “me”, “our” or “I.”
3. If the count for “you” and “your” (or “you’ve”, “you’re”, or “you’ll” is higher than the one for “us”, “we”, “me”, “our” or “I,” give yourself the day off! You’ve got this whole “you” thing nailed!
4. If the count for “us”, “we”, “me”, “our” or “I” is higher than the one for “you” and “your” (or “you’ve”, “you’re”, or “you’ll”), then you’ve got some work to do, my friend. So, move along to #5.
5. For every sentence that uses “us”, “we”, “me”, “our” or “I,” try rewriting it so that the focus is on “you.” (Meaning the customer—not you.)
Here's What a Rewrite from You to "You" Looks Like
Focus on the Business (You): BAD
I can help you organize your closet with my attention to detail and my fearlessness in taking anything out that you no longer wear.
With a bit of editing hocus pocus, we can quickly change this no-good-very-bad sentence to this:
Focus on the Customer ("You"):
AWESOME!
Your closet is a MESS. It takes you forever to find anything. You’re sure there are clothes in there that you work back in the 80s. (HINT: That look is not coming back.) And, now, you want to Marie Kondo the whole thing. But where do you start? That’s where I come in!
Your Customers are Listening to WII—FM Radio. So, Tune In.
If you think customers care about your company’s mission statement or purpose, you need to change the channel. Why? Because customers are listening to WII-FM radio— or “What’s in it for me?”
This is why when you say things like “we believe” or “I work hard to [fill in the blank]”, or “our goal” gets tuned out. The bottom line is that customers don’t care about you or your company. They care about what you can do to make their lives better or easier or more fulfulling. Anything else is just static in the background.
I’m not saying that customers who eventually form a relationship with you or who—particularly with nonprofits—feel aligned with you cause don’t care. Of course they do. But that happens over time as you provide value.
This is why it’s SO IMPORTANT to start out in your content marketing by acknowledging your customers’ challenges, goals, pain points, dreams, etc. It’s like being a good listener at a party instead of being the blowhard that only talks about himself. Which one do you want to hang out with?
Let's Talk About "You"!
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
