Who to speak to:
[Part 12 of a 15-part email series on the major points of successful advertising copy and content.]
Did you miss the previous lesson?
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It’s easy to get this wrong.
I did it, too.
When I first started my business, I wanted clients—fast.
I could only WhatsApp so many people in my network. Also, I wasn’t yet skilled in cold outreach so I avoided emailing strangers like the plague. The remaining alternative was social media content. I’d hoped that by posting about my business and the services I hope to offer, that I’d be getting clients in no time.
I didn’t.
Eventually I knew why ‘posting’ didn’t work, and what I had to do instead. And before I tell you what exactly I did, Joe Sugarman’s 12th axiom may give you a hint.
Axiom 12:
Every communication should be a personal one, from the writer to the recipient, regardless of the medium used. (page 92, The Adweek Copywriting Handbook)
My big mistake was this:
By just ‘posting’ I was trying to speak with everyone and their dog to try and attract a client. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that no one responded. Because the simple truth in marketing is this:
When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.
What you want to do in your content (if you hope to generate dream leads) is speak to George in the crowd. Here’s what I mean by that:
Imagine you’re on stage.
1,000 men are listening to you.
You have 5 seconds to sell your 8-week gym and nutrition program.
How do you start your message?
“At MyFitnessBro, we’ve been working hard over the past 2 years to develop a brand new program that will help you get healthy in just…” blah blah blah.
Boring, vague and forgettable.
Compare that with an opening statement like this:
“Is there anyone here named George?”
In 1.5 seconds, we’ve already caught the attention of a specific group. They’re thinking, “I’m George? Is he talking to me?”
You continue.
“We know you’ve been struggling to lose that 5kg of belly fat this year. We could help you do that in 8 weeks, without giving up pizza.”
Do you notice the specifics?
“5kg”
“Belly fat”
“This year”
“In 8 weeks”
“Without giving up pizza.”
George isn’t just listening to you now.
He’s visualising a better version of himself.
George doesn’t care how hard you’ve worked at developing your program. He doesn’t want to ‘get healthy’. He wants to look good at the beach without feeling like he’s on a diet. It’s personal for him. And that’s how we need to be speaking with him.
The knock-on effect of getting personal:
You might be thinking, “but my program isn’t just for George? Won’t I lose all the other customers?”
Quite the opposite.
The more specific you get, the more people lean in.
Because George isn't alone in that crowd. There are 40 other men in that room of 1,000 who also carry 5kg they can't seem to lose, who also love pizza too much to give it up, who also feel like their belly is the one thing standing between them and confidence at the beach.
I was writing content for "business owners." For "entrepreneurs." For anyone who might need a marketer, which meant I was really writing for no one.
There was no George in the room.
Write to George, my friend.
Everyone else in the room will still hear you.
Lesson summary:
- Speaking to "everyone" means speaking to no one.
- Specificity attracts the right audience.
- Picture one real person (with a real specific problem) before you write a single word.
- When copy feels personal, readers stop feeling marketed to.
In the next lesson, I’ll show you the logical fashion in which your copy can ‘flow’ to help you get a prospect to take action.
