Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Tomorrow is Look A Like Day. Which is a day I’m going to encourage you not to be involved in.
Oh, ok, you could produce fun photos of you looking like the Queen, or Freddie Mercury, or whoever you like. What you shouldn’t do is do what anyone else is doing. Or trying to be or sound like anyone else.
You know how the saying goes: Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.
The same is true with your content. I know when I wrote about how not to run out of ideas for your blog I suggested looking at what your competitors are writing about. I didn’t suggest you go ahead and copy what they are doing.
When I was doing my background research on content marketing myths, I found there were 1 million articles on the subject. Having read a few of them, there were more than a few similarities. While some key points need to be covered, I had to find my own way of talking about the subject.
Which is probably where the unicorns came into it.
What are you about?
Do you remember when Innocent launched? Do you remember the first time you read one of their labels? It was so different to how brands normally talked to us. And everything they did felt like they were just having a chat with you, a bit of a laugh.
It didn’t feel forced; it had that all-important thing: authenticity.
Which is why the hundreds of imitators that followed rarely got it right. The chatty tone of voice was deployed as a strategy, with a brief just to copy what Innocent did. But it was lacking in heart, so it felt fake.
So the question is, what are you and your business about?
Tell your story, your way
I wrote a post about a fabulous men’s grooming brand that had lost its voice. My plea is for brands to always have their own voice, and use it. Don’t go polite and “business” like if that’s not who you are. Tell it how it is from your perspective.
People buy from people, so let people get to understand you. Don’t be beige. Do not expect everyone to like you. Stop worrying about the ones who don’t.
Don’t be a look a like, or sound a like.
Thanks Helen – sometimes I worry about what people may think, or get caught up in the vast array of ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts’ that come up in the array of information – sometimes I really deliberate and then other times I just hit ‘publish’!
It can be hard to expose a silly side when often running a business is so serious, but it doesn’t have to be!
Wise words, as ever. You’re a blog writing Jedi Helen. 🙂
Thank you Simon. I think that’s the first time I’ve been a Jedi writer, my nephew will be very impressed.
I do understand that, and I think it’s a question of authenticity and balance, and about letting people see the human behind the business. For small businesses this is a huge advantage they have over faceless corporations. And as humans, we are silly, fallible, scared, disorganised…all of these things plus the things that we’re brilliant at which is why we’re in the business we’re in. I think the test with any of this would be does it make you feel uncomfortable, which is probably a good indicator not to do it. Just be sure you’re not living in a complete comfort zone though. Sometimes it takes a little discomfort to extend and grow.
I hear you on that one! I know that ought and should are not your usual guiding lights, but we all have those kind of days.
Thanks Helen. A reminder to us to always be unique.