????? Creating Intimacy With Words

Creating Intimacy with Words: How to Connect with Your Audience on a Personal Level

Welcome to Episode 08 of the "Brand to fANN" Show!

This week I renamed the show in honor of the incomparable Ann Handley of MarketingProfs . Trust me, this episode is worth relinquishing the naming rights to.

The opportunity to ask "fAnn" questions about creating a personal connection with your audience couldn't have come at a better time for me. With a handful of podcast episodes recorded and released, I'm starting to see growth in my own subscribers and listeners. My conversation with Ann reminded me of the importance of creating content for a singular person (YOU!) no matter how many downloads and page views are tallied.

We discussed the ever-evolving landscape of marketing (AI! Channels! Metrics!) and how to effectively connect with your audience on a personal level.

Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect to learn in this episode:

• The impact of generative A.I. on writing and how to approach using AI tools to serve your audience best
• Using subtitles as a marketing medium to enhance audience engagement, ( Netflix gets major props for this!)
• How to create intimacy with your audience through words. Ann shares her experience of writing her newsletter, Total Ann-archy with a single person in mind while growing to over 50,000 subscribers.
• The importance of uncovering your brand voice and giving yourself grace on letting your voice grow and evolve.
• Tips for amplifying the relationship with your audience by getting personal with your community, even by naming them (a la Lady Gaga and her "Little Monsters")
• The non-conventional metrics Ann uses to measure the impact of her audience relationships

TL;DL (Too Long Didn't Listen)

Want to skip to the good parts? I summarized the highlights of our conversation in the TL;DL at the end of the show. Watch to the end and you might see me blush when Ann compliments me on how 45 minutes of conversation come together so succinctly!

What to Call Y'all?

Ann's point about naming your community or audience has stuck with me. I dole out nicknames all of the time, probably because I have never had one that stuck. Lauren isn't exactly an easy name to shorten or make fun of (until my children's 3-year old BFF called me "Laurney" for a year, which I loved).

We're a small and mighty bunch today growing every week. It feels right to collectively name us, although I'll admit that my personal nickname for y'all is "the Fanzies," which probably isn't (or shouldn't) be the name of all time.

I asked GPT-4 to give suggestions to start with since I'm not great at this admittedly (see above). The two I liked enough to share with you as a starting point are "FanMakers" and "BrandChamps". Neither are instant winners, but it gives us something to noodle on. If you have an idea, drop me a note and we'll brainstorm!

fANN, WHAT ARE YOU A FAN OF?

"I'm a fan of this little nugget right next to me, who is my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. His name is Auggie and he's 2 years old. I'm a massive fan of his.?

I love almost any kind of writing. People will ask me often, “what's your favorite book?” My favorite book is the one I'm reading right now, because if I don't like it, then I just abandon it.?

I love being outdoors. I have a rule where I'm outdoors for 1 hour every day, no matter the weather, no matter what's going on. It's my 1 hour of just rebalancing and connecting to myself because we live in such an online world."

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF FANWEAR YOU OWN?

"I do love a good Boston Red Sox game, just because I love the experience of going to a Red Sox game.?I have a Red Sox jersey that I wear to games, so I think that would have to be it."??

Enjoying the?Brand to Fan Show? Please give a Rating & Review on?Apple Podcasts?and share an episode with a colleague!

Catch up with past episodes on?Apple,?Spotify,?Amazon,?Google?and?YouTube.

Huge thanks to my team!

Audio production by?Bryan Griggs?of?Griggs Production

Producers:?Kimberly Voorhis,?Ashley Ruiz, and?Carrie Hellbusch

Video Editing by?Garrett Teague