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Use Audience-Focused Messaging Not Company-Focused Messaging

Picture of Bruce McDuffee

The key lesson for successful marketers is to shift the focus away from themselves. Effective messaging revolves around the needs and desires of the target audience, rather than highlighting the company, CEO, sales team, or marketing team. Skilled marketers understand that the content they create should address the pain points or passions of their audience, not the internal concerns of the executive, sales, or marketing teams.

While it's essential to incorporate product-focused content in your content library, the key is to ensure that even descriptions of your offerings are centered around your audience. Every piece of content should address the question that potential customers are silently asking: "How does this benefit me?"

To determine if your content is self-centered, take a moment to review your website pages, brochures, or webinar invitations. Are you focused on showcasing your company and offerings, or are you engaging your audience by offering them valuable insights and opportunities for growth? Keep an eye out for common phrases that indicate a 'me first' mindset, as these can hinder audience engagement and connection.

Here are a few examples of self-centered (highlighted in purple) versus target audience-focused statements:

  • "Our [insert offering] is better, faster, cheaper, etc." Instead, say ‘[offering] helps you [insert value]'
  • "Sign up for our newsletter. Instead, say "Sign up to receive your weekly newsletter helping you ….."
  • "We are the global leader in [insert offering]." Remove this type of language completely. Half the readers don’t care and the other half don’t believe you.
  • "We do this. We are the best. We have this certification. We got this award." Again, nobody cares. Rephrase the statement so you tell your audience why it matters to them. In the process, you might realize "oh no it doesn’t to our audience" and need to convey a better, audience-focused message.
  • "Sign up for our webinar." Instead, say "Reserve your spot and learn about……"
  • [company name ] recognized as blah, blah, blah" See above.
  • "Visit us at ABC tradeshow." How often do you see this on LinkedIn? If you don't give them a reason to visit, it's a wasted social media post, time, and resources.
Your target audience is not interested in your company, products, or services. They are focused on themselves, and that's perfectly normal. As marketers, it's easy to fall into the trap of self-promotion, wanting to showcase our offerings and achievements. However, effective marketing requires shifting the spotlight from "we" to "you" - addressing the needs and desires of your audience.

Successful strategists understand that effective marketing strategies and tactics focus on enhancing the lives of their target audience. By offering valuable assistance related to their expertise, marketers create a sense of reciprocity that drives potential customers to choose their offerings when the time comes. This approach, known as top-of-mind awareness (TOMA), is a powerful way to build lasting connections and drive sales.

Why is this concept so important? Think about yourself as you ponder a considered purchase. Let’s use the automobile as an example. Do you really care if Toyota is the global leader in factory efficiency? No. You care if it means you get a lower price because of the efficiency. BMW doesn’t talk about its engine, or its braking system, or its ISO 9001 certification. BMW talks about ‘the ultimate driving machine’ because it’s about your driving experience, not about their car. Note, BMW never says “Buy our ultimate driving machine” or "we're the leader in luxury cars".

The story you tell must be about how the product or service your firm offers serves the needs, wants, pains or passions of the people in your target audience. If your story is about your product, your company, your CEO, etc. you will not be able to gain meaningful engagement with your audience, again, because they don’t care.  The marketers and the companies that understand this concept and build their marketing strategy around this concept will win in their market space.

Back in the Industrial Age, we-weing all over yourself worked. In those ancient times of the last half of the 20th century, we buyers didn’t have much choice but to listen to companies pontificate, brag and boast about themselves and their products. The messages were few and far between compared to the modern age. Now, we do have a lot of choice about what we listen to and what we filter out. And, guess what, all of the companies still talking about themselves and their products all sound the same. It’s boring. We, the people in the target audience, don’t care. When they all sound the same and we’re bored with their self-centered, egotistical messages, we go to lowest price. Boom. Lowest price means lower profit, fewer employees and a minimal or negative growth trajectory. However, if one of the myriad companies provides me with some information or some content that helps me solve my problem whether I buy from them or not, I consciously or subconsciously place them ahead of the rest because they care about me, the potential customer. I’m even willing to pay a little more because I want to reciprocate.

86% of B2B marketers claim they use content marketing in their marketing mix according to the recently published research at Content Marketing Institute. If you’re one of those 86%, take a moment and look at one of your white papers, infographics, webinars, blog posts, etc. Count the first-person pronouns and the company name used in the possessive. Count the second-person pronouns. If the first-person pronouns outnumber the second-person pronouns, chances are good that you are we-weing all over yourself and your content is not engaging with your audience. This is a huge opportunity!

Treat the people in your target audience as the egocentric humans that we all personify. Give them something that matters to their lives. As a marketer, when you create ads, papers, webinars, web pages, etc. check your own self-centered tendencies, thoughts, and actions at the door as you enter your workspace. Effective content focuses on the pain or passion of the people in your target audience and helps them to relieve the pain or fan the passion. Change your content from we-we to you-you.

Looking for help in developing an audience-focused marketing strategy? Let KMI help you get on track to seize the opportunity for high-level audience engagement.