Don’t try to sound different, try to sound authentic.
“We don’t want to sound like just another boring service provider.” A small electrical company told me when discussing their website content. “We want to come across unique and appealing to homeowners, not just more corporate talk.”
My first thought was, ‘Are you just another boring service provider?’ I can understand a desire to stand out, but what would I want from an electrician? I want professionalism, collaboration and the ability to get the job done. If you pass that test, perhaps I’ll call for a quote. What’s really important to me is that what you say in your marketing matches what you deliver.
Companies try so hard to sound unique, but it’s more important to sound authentic. Your marketing impression has to match the impression at the front door.
Think about banks. They’re not wasting time trying to be trendy; they focus their marketing on inspiring comfort and confidence. It’s because as consumers we want approachable, down-to-earth, relatable humans that can help us understand finances. More tills, better hours and patient staff all back up the image they’re portraying.
Telling Other People’s Story
With my electrical company I started asking myself how do you make a company stand out? It shouldn’t be a struggle. In fact, the answer was to simply tell their story. What is their personality? What is their inspiration? How do they make me feel as a customer?
If you’re a no-nonsense, let’s get it done and done right type of company; you have to present yourself that way. If you get personal with your customer, make friends and collaborate on their project, we can tell that story. Sounding unique is about sounding genuine. If sounding genuine is either too boring or unappealing, you have bigger issues to fix. What you don’t want is to portray an image that’s a disconnect from your actual customer experience.
For my personal website it’s easy to sound weird and full of personality because that’s who I am. I’m communicating the same experience I provide. When companies come to me with the goal of sounding ‘unique’ and ‘out of the box’, I can only push the image as far as the company backs it up.
If you want some ways to become unique, check my article here about the moments between. These are opportunities to stand out that you can market, but you don’t start telling a story that you can’t back up.
Are you trying to sound unique? Tell your story. If your story isn’t unique, it’s time to start thinking about changing your process, not telling fairy tales.
About the author: Sean Kopen
With a unique, story-based approach to writing, Sean Kopen is an experienced content marketing specialist and instructional designer. Review some of his personal stories and perspectives at his website www.seankopen.com
