You’re so excited about your business, story, and achievements that you could talk about them for ages.
As a fellow entrepreneur, I get it. As a copywriter, though, I have to be honest: this is harming your brand and alienating your audience!
Some examples?
- “We’re delighted to announce that…”
- “At [company name], we pride ourselves in…”
- “I’m excited to tell you that I’ve been nominated for…”
From your website copy to blogs and social media posts: do these types of sentences sound familiar?
Then let me help you reframe them so that you can really connect with your audience and stand out against your competitors.
Your target audience is the actual hero…
Ready for the truth bomb? People don’t buy from your business because they care about you (#sorry).
In fact, they don’t even care about your products or services per se!
What they’re actually interested in is having their current pain points solved.
Can you help? Can you position your offer as THE logical solution? Then you’ve got their attention.
Basically, your target customer is the real hero. They’re the protagonist of the story with an initial problem that needs solving.
… which makes you (drum roll) the trusted and helpful guide
While it’s tempting to position your business as the hero, if you want to succeed—and I know you do—you must work on becoming their trusted guide.
The one who helps the hero (=your target customer) overcome their initial problem (=through your products or services).
If you want to learn more about the psychology and power behind this approach, I recommend Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller.
How to fix your marketing copy accordingly
So far, have you been positioning your brand as the hero and blowing your own trumpet?
First of all, relax: it’s a common mistake!
And here’s how to shift your marketing focus and start grabbing your audience’s attention.
1. Put your target customers at the core of your marketing materials
Instead of an abundance of ‘I’ and ‘we’, your copy should involve more ‘you’!
Talk to your target customers directly and focus on their pain points: what’s their current problem that your products or services can solve? How is it making them feel?
Before posting something or writing new copy, you can try my ‘so what?’ test, too. Pretend you’re your target customer, read the blog or social media post that you were planning on publishing, and think ‘so what?’ (as in “Why are you telling me that? What’s in it for me?”).
If you can’t answer that, the chances are that your initial copy was too focused on yourself or your brand to actually appeal to your audience.
2. Position your brand as the guide and your offer as the solution to the hero’s problem
Whenever you talk about your audience’s pain points, show empathy: you get it, it’s annoying, and that’s exactly why you’re there to help.
At the same time, showcase your expertise (e.g. results, testimonials, social proof…) not to brag but to build trust.
3. Show them their happy ending
Every hero deserves a glorious ending, and your target customer is no exception!
You also want to paint a picture of how much better their life (for B2C brands) or business (B2B) will feel once they’ve solved their initial problem by investing in your products or services.
If you keep following this approach for your website copy, blog posts, and social media, you’ll become the name that immediately pops into your target audience’s mind when they’re finally ready to buy.
The hero might be the one in the spotlight, but I promise: it pays off to become the trusted guide instead!
Giada Nizzoli is a copywriter helping ambitious female entrepreneurs become THE go-to solution in their dream audience’s eyes. She especially focuses on website copy that drives traffic and converts it into sales, blog posts that smoothen the funnel, and LinkedIn summaries that generate actual leads. Oh, and she shares her office with seven house plants. Start receiving her actionable tips and content prompts.
