Who cares?
It’s two little words. But with a vast meaning.
Different interpretations and intonations can make those two little words feel very different – from ambivalence to misunderstanding.
However, when it comes to copywriting and PR, those two words could be the difference between success and failure.
Why?
Well, simply put, for too long, brands have focused their copywriting and their content marketing plans on what matters to them. Not what matters to their customers.
Your customers don’t really care that you’ve had an award win. Nor do they care that you’ve invested heavily into the latest technology or created a new system or way of working.
Because, ultimately, your potential client base only cares about what you can do for them.
They want to know that you understand their pressures and their pain points. And that your work will help their business to thrive.
This year, we are challenging you to ask yourself, “Who cares?”
We live in a digital scrolling age.
As consumers, we’ll naturally give a brand just 2.5 seconds of our time before logging off. We want our attention to be captured immediately; if not, we’ll happily walk away and forget about you entirely.
So, as you begin to plan your marketing strategies for 2024, you should be putting the “Who cares?” question at the centre of everything you do.
Let’s find out how.
Who cares…about content marketing
From a marketing perspective, your “who cares?” should be focused on your core customers.
It’s no longer enough to have targeted messages to a mass audience. Instead, you must tailor your marketing plans to niche demographics, getting to the nitty gritty of what matters to each customer.
Personalisation will be a massive part of your marketing strategy. Everything comes back to knowing who your audience is and what they are looking for.
Your content marketing plan needs to understand that different people will have other priorities – even if you are delivering the same services. It’s essential that you use your marketing to prioritise those needs.
For example, if you are an IT provider, you may be focusing heavily on large businesses. In this case, your messaging will be heavily reliant upon cybersecurity, seamless communications or cabling infrastructures.
But suppose you’re also targeting SMEs, sole traders or charity groups. In that case, your messaging should allow you to prioritise budgets, affordability and ongoing or ad hoc support.
From a content marketing perspective, questioning what your audience demographics really care about is essential to making sure you’re preparing the right content for the right people.
Who cares….about copywriting
Within copywriting, there are some quick and easy techniques you can use.
First – remove any reference to “we can do this…” or “we can do that…”
Instead, replace them with “You’re looking for xxx” or “You need help to solve this problem.”
It’s a simple technique, but it’s one that immediately draws the reader away from you and re-emphasises that you care about them and their needs.
Another tip is to constantly review any copy with a critical eye.
With every sentence, you should ask yourself – does the reader care? Is it something they actively want to know, or is it something that you’re telling them because it makes you look good?
Sometimes, it’s a slight distinction, but it’s a valuable technique to make sure that you’re focusing your copy on the information that your reader wants or needs to know.
Who cares…about PR
Finally, within PR, your “who cares” needs to be two-fold.
Within your press release, why should a journalist care? Are you giving enough information within your pitch to explain why your journalist should be interested in your story? Can you explain the newsworthiness of your press release and explain why it should be published?
But beyond that – you also need to think about why the readers of that publication will care about your story.
As part of your PR activities, you need to ensure that you’re targeting the right publications and reaching the right audiences.
If you’ve done your due diligence into your target customer base, you’ll be more likely to know what your audience is reading. From there, you can cross-reference your audience with individual publications to see if they are writing about your specific topic or area of business.
I like to visualise this as a neat little Venn diagram – where there is a nice overlap, that’s when you know you’re targeting the right publications and the right journalists. By doing this, you can check that you’re efficiently meeting your “who cares” requirements.
Who cares? We care!
You may not have the time or in-house resources to cope with an ongoing PR campaign, but that’s where our support can come in.
You can benefit from ongoing or ad-hoc support that promises to meet your budget as well as your expectations. Our independent eye means that we can always question “who cares” when it comes to your content or your copy.
Gatekeeper Communications provides PR, Copywriting, and Content Marketing support to businesses across a variety of sectors throughout the UK. From our Ipswich headquarters, we can help you improve your reputation, meet new audiences, and achieve ongoing business success.
To find out how we can support you and help you maximise your 2024 business goals, simply pick up the phone or send a short message.
