Taking It Personally
So, finally, you have finished the design of your web site, or
your targeted email ad that is going to blow your counter off of
the page-and a fine piece of work it is! You've got the scripts,
the applets, and the flash animations all ready for their big
debut. You've got graphics that would impress George Lucas, but
does your content have the personality of a storm trooper?
Lately, as I browse the web looking for new information, new
tips, new tricks, new affiliate programs, new books, new success
stories, I run into very cold, impersonal content that gives me
the same feeling as being in math class for the first time in
junior high. I'm, of course, a human, and we humans love to feel
cozy and at home. So when tuning in to a site, an email, an
ezine, I don't want to feel like a fresh college grad on my way
to the first day on the job, wandering down Peachtree Street in
Atlanta. I want to feel like I have just been invited into my
neighbor's home. Well, I guess it might depend on just who the
neighbor is! It's a simple concept: make your audience feel
comfortable, and they will not walk out on you. With comfort,
comes trust, and with trust, comes a relationship. Be direct,
but simplify your message. Talk to your audience; it's okay to
use the words "you" and "your." You know?
All of my successful email marketing campaigns have one thing in
common, and that is that they are all personal. I speak directly
to my reader with simplicity. I don't design an ad that reads
like a geometry book. It reads like the reader is a friend. I
even go as far as using humor, or maybe my ad is so horrible
that some find it to be humorous! So, maybe you are thinking
that your topic is too technical to be discussed in simple terms
and on a personal level. Well, a great success story of "techie
talk" taken down to the "not so techie" personal level is the
series of books For Dummies. I mean you can get almost any
subject, no matter how technical, in these books that talk
directly to you and simplify very technical topics. Why have
these books become so popular? Well, let's face it-most people
are not experts! So, in the future, as you develop and design
your content, for whatever it may be, you might want to consider
making it personal. Talk to your readers. Remember: comfort,
simplicity, trust, relationship, customer!