Whether you personally love them or hate them, Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson are two of the most recognisable and popular politicians in the country today. One of the key reasons is that, somehow, they seem to be “less of a politician” than so many others. In times past, this might well be described as their having the “common touch”.
How this helps you?
What has this to do with the promotion of your business or organisation on social media, through search engine optimised web content, online marketing, and other such activities? Simply that, often, it can be useful to make yourself less of an expert.
How many websites, social media postings, blogs and articles do you find which are written from that expert point of view? Even where this is less obvious, you might come across the occasional word or phrase and simply have no idea what the person is talking about. Pogonophobia is the fear of beards, yet starting an ad for shavers with the headline: “At last! Blessed relief for all pogonophobics!” would surely lose huge proportions of any potential audience.
Keep it Simple.
Unless the person reading your posting, content or social media entry, is actively and eagerly seeking your product or service, their sub-conscious can be looking for switch-off triggers so that they can move on to the next offering. Making it difficult to understand the point being made is one such trigger. Of course, occasionally you will have to use technical terms or obscure brands names. The answer then is to add a simple explanation.
There’s an old saying: “Never underestimate your audience’s intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge”. It’s so easy to forget that everyone doesn’t know what you do about your product or service. They are approaching your content from a different starting point.
A second proverb helps here: “To walk in someone else’s shoes, first take off your own.” Think of the most popular experts on TV, presenting science or wildlife programmes and such. They have this ability, allowing you to understand the complex or surprising by presenting it in ways you can relate to. Being less of an expert allows you to use this skill to make your content more accessible to a wider audience.
