If we were to meet at a conference, and I asked you what you do, what would you say?
“I am a leading single-source provider of world-class insurance package products.”
Probably not.
But, hey, I’ve heard people utter totally incomprehensible things when answering the “what do you do” question. Somewhere along the way, someone has apparently told them to stuff their answer with jargon-laden mumbo-jumbo, which is ultimately meaningless to the listener.
What if you instead said: “I help people sleep at night.”
I will always remember this statement from an insurance broker at a networking event. Clever, eh? She inspired me to follow up with, “What do you mean?” because I truly wanted to find out more.
Her answer is like the beginning of a story.
And so it goes with the written materials you rely on for your content marketing. If you use plain language and human emotion, you are more likely to capture attention and engage people.
Why is this so difficult for so many of us?
Our business training is partly to blame; many of us were taught to crank up the verbiage when we talk business. Instead, we should be dialing it down, to be human and to sound like a person.
If you want to create fresh content or revise some of your existing content marketing materials, you might think about using simple storytelling methods. If you’re not yet comfortable with this concept, you can start by sharing some of your clients’ stories. Or perhaps you can talk about how some of your employees have helped customers to solve their problems.
Tell the stories in their words, using their language.
Have you tried this? How has it worked for you?
Read these related posts on content marketing.
Read these related posts on storytelling.
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Visit the Trafalgar Communications website for information about how we can help your organization to tell its story through traditional and new media.
