It’s Monday again and your job this week before the crazy begins is to think about your company voice. When you create materials, who exactly are you talking to? Do you have a person in mind?
If you want to get fancy, this is called persona-driven marketing and you can create a lot of charts and messaging documents about it. But the quick and dirty way to do it is to get a really detailed image of your ideal client in your mind. This person could be a current client, sometimes that helps to get the details right. I also like to make up a backstory about the person to make them more real to me–where did she go to school, what did she eat for breakfast and any other juicy details to make it more fun. This doesn’t have to be all work and no play!
Then when you’re writing materials like brochures, web copy, your company blog or social media posts, think about this person reading it. Does it resonate with her? Are you convincing her? Are you boring her to death? She’s a real person so you can’t talk to her with jargon or really long sentences that have all the keywords under the sun.
Sometimes you need more than one person if you have different target markets. And yes, sometimes it is helpful to write it down and create some charts with pictures etc–especially if you have a larger team and need everyone on the same page. The important thing through all of it though, is to know your ideal client inside and out and speak their language.
Hat tip to Parker White for their more detailed blog post on this topic: Want Social Media ROI? Build Persona-Driven Content to Build Your Community.
About Monday Matters: Monday morning is a great time to think about some big picture strategy. You’re hopefully rested from the weekend and ready to come out swinging. Don’t waste this glorious freshness on your in-box. Before you get into your tactical to-do list for the week, take this moment to pause and think about strategy. I will post a thought to get you started each Monday.