Never underestimate the power of your content...

You do don’t you? Care about your audience that is? You want what is best for them? You want to get to know them? You want them to understand you? You want them to be loyal to you, your business and brand - don’t you?

I mean without them – what are we? So how do you make it all about them in your copy and content I hear you ask? Well, read on and see….

Firstly: Never underestimate the power of emotions

We all want to be able to relate to one another. At this point in our online social boom, we have found more than ever that we want to connect with one another. We want to engage. We want to see ourselves in the content we see. We want to be able to visualise ourselves on the page.

We all want to feel understood and we want to be able to relate to one another. So, by getting to know your audience and by using language that speaks to your audience, you can really get to know them. You get to see what they see. You get to solve their pain points. You get to move them from one emotion to another.

Not manipulation. That’s not what I mean. And that’s a very different thing. But by knowing what worries your customer, what troubles them and what bothers them; you can look to fix it for them. You can be their hero.

Neil Patel details the importance of emotions and psychology in an article he wrote and published called, ‘how to incorporate psychology and emotions into your copywriting’. In it he looks at and describes what we look for as buyers and what factors we may think of before we purchase.

He also goes on to address the well-known book by Robert Cialdini called, ‘Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion’. In which Cialdini talks of the 6 key principle human behaviours in varying situations; ‘Cialdini mentions the six keys of influence as follows:

1. Reciprocity
2. Scarcity
3. Authority
4. Liking
5. Consistency
6. Consensus

These six principles are the key to understanding human behaviour in a range of situations. You as a writer and marketer can use them effectively in your copy to reach your audience in a unique way.’

So you see, emotions really do play a vital role in understanding your audience. By seeing your customer’s real-life situations and providing a valuable solution; you get to address your audience. You get to offer them insight, inspiration and to create a channel of communication.

Not only can you do this through your product or service, but in the copy and content that you produce too. By having your ear to the ground, you can offer very practical solutions to very real problems that your audience has.

How you make your customer feel, creates a customer experience like no other. Of course, don’t force emotion within your copy and content. Keep it natural and align it to your business and brand.

Secondly: Feedback is like an unpolished diamond

Don’t throw it away. This is where the gold lies. It’s like an unpolished diamond. By listening to feedback and absorbing what is said, you have the opportunity to adjust and to make sure you are always adapting to the wants and needs of your audience.

Just as it is described in an article by Vision Critical; you can use feedback to build a better picture of who your audience actually is, ‘rather than make assumptions on your audience based on a loose idea of who your buyer personas are, what if you could ask them directly?

By gathering customer feedback over-time, it becomes easier to separate your readers from your non-readers, and find similarities and differences between the two. By asking them about their content preferences and habits, you can build more accurate audience personas and improve your content marketing efforts as a result.’

Feedback gives you clues about your customer and how you might then be able to relate to them. Feedback gives you insight and it allows you to measure satisfaction, plus it helps you to retain your audience and clients.

Feedback can be left in all manner of places. For instance, it could be within comments on your website, through testimonials, through phone calls, emails and through comments on your social media posts.

You have the sparkling crown jewels within your grasp. You have untapped value in feedback that you can use to speak back to your audience. But also, that speaks to your business too, as it says how aligned you are with being able to meet with your customer’s wants and needs.

Your audience feedback may give you ideas for posts, blogs and videos. Undoubtedly it will give you the language that your audience and clients use. This will give you the ability to truly communicate on a human level with your audience.

Thirdly: Empathy has unknown super-reach

According to a Forbes article by Josh Ritchie, ‘Merriam-Webster describes empathy as the, ‘ability to understand and have empathy with others.’ Brené Brown describes it as, ‘feeling with people.’

So, what does that mean to you and why should you care about empathy and its unknown super-reach?

Well…to feel is to empathise. To create empathetic content for your audience, you need to showcase a degree of empathy towards them. You need to understand and share the highs and the lows with your audience. You can do this by putting their pain into words, and by then offering them your solution.

Offer them value, offer them an escape. This enables them to connect to you. They want to have a relationship with you, your business and your brand.

Be the star of the show by offering your audience a pain that is less than what they are feeling. A remedy or a welcome distraction to their thoughts and pains. By empathising, it allows you to truly get underneath the surface and to know how your audience feels.

Naturally with empathetic content you increase your engagement levels with your audience. Which then in time may create customers from your audience. Whilst also widening the reach of your content to new members of your audience.

Think about how you will address your audience with empathy? How does that convert into your content? Who are you talking to? Be specific. If you’re talking to everyone, then you’re talking to no-one.

Also, think about what your audience is interested in and where do they go? What can you then do with your content that will fit into those things.

Josh Ritchie, CEO/Co-Founder of Column five says, “Decrease the amount of selling in your content and increase the amount of time listening to and thinking about your customers.”

Lastly: Woo-them by telling them a story

Did you know that 81.7 million people follow National Geographic on Instagram? They have the strong ability to stop the scroller in their tracks. Why? Not only do they use great and captivating images to stop their audience. But they also have the unique ability to tell a powerful story with the accompanying text.

Now it may not be a part of your strategy to add photos. Perhaps it’s video. Or perhaps you weave a tale with words. National Geographic uses value-based content with purpose. What you want to do is to tell a story to your audience.

Storytelling in business makes it compelling for people to engage with you. It forms trust, it builds rapport and it helps to create valuable relationships with your audience. But it must also contain a focus to retain the attention of the reader.

When storytelling with your copy and content you should be able to understand and identify the following;

• To always know why you’re telling your story?
• Who is telling your story?
• Know why it should be important to your reader?
• Know what challenge is being overcome?
• What message is behind your story?

Storytelling takes your audience on a journey with you. It builds loyalty in following, and it gives an insight into your world and for you to get a glimpse into theirs.

You can make your audience a part of your story by helping them to see themselves on the page, or in your blogs, or on your website and in your videos.

Share your learning with your audience from things that you have achieved, the things that you’ve done and maybe events that you have been to. Use the day to day ordinary things to form a part of your story. Look to choose things that your audience will want to share with others, where they’ll want to comment and where they’re likely to get involved.

Keep the process of storytelling going and make it a part of your content strategy. To increase your chance of success always see it through the eyes of your audience.

Don’t make your copy and content hard to read. Make it an insightful read. Ensure it uses language that your intended audience can and will want to engage with. Make your content accessible for your audience. Make your audience feel like they matter to you.

Are you making it all about your audience? Do you think about your audience when you produce content for them? Do you make them feel like they can relate to you, your business and your brand?

Let’s summarise;

• Never underestimate the power of emotions when reaching out to your audience.
• Treat feedback like a priceless jewel.
• Know the value of natural empathy in your copy and content.
• Understand the journey you take your audience on with storytelling in business.

Never underestimate the power of your content.

 Let’s keep the conversation going…

?Come and chat to me about how your copy and content should talk to your audience. You can find me on LinkedIn: @Amber L Smith and you can send me an email at: [email protected].