I say this a lot. Particularly to clients. Marketing isn’t what it was 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago.

The “marketing voice” of decades past was more corporate, and less personal.

The “marketing voice” of today is less corporate, and more personal.

What does that translate into, exactly?

Less corporate, more personal

While in the past, CEOs and founders hid behind the company blanket and relied on large marketing teams to professionally promote their products or services, today we see a lot more of what, and more importantly, who is behind a business.

For example, founders and CEOs’ stories accompanied by headshots on their website. Individualized social media profiles. Info of entire teams in marketing materials so consumers get to know them.

Everyday language

Gone are the days of jargon-speak and overly corporate tones. Consumers want to be spoken to like a friend, not a student in a classroom. This also ties right into the “more personal” approach. By using language that is conversational, friendly and accessible, consumers can better connect to a company and a brand.

You want the audience reading your content to say, “huh, I get it” or “I love this – it’s speaks to my precise needs” or “yes! this is totally relevant to me and my life right now”. Your readers won’t get any of these feelings if you write using language that is overly sophisticated, far removed, unnecessarily cold, too “salesy”, and in general, unexciting and over their heads.

Tell your story

One of the things I love most about marketing in today’s world is that everyone has a story. And every consumer wants to hear that story. They want to know who you are, what you care about, where you came from, when you started your business, how you came to be in this line of work, and (my personal favourite) why you do what you do.

The more you tell your audience about yourself and your company, the more connected and trusting they become. When a consumer relates to you and knows they can depend on you, they buy.

Authenticity

The most important cardinal rule: be real.

Be yourself. Share information. Remain open, honest and transparent. Talk directly to your audience. Get feedback. Listen. Build a relationship with your prospective and existing customer base.

Consumers want authenticity and can sense an untrustworthy business from a mile away.

So don’t worry about figuring out the best, most clever ad to get people to buy from you. Instead, focus your time and attention on how best you can be you so that you ooze that authenticity people look for and stick to like glue when they find it.

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