Find The Right Words: Marketing with Resonance
Maybe you’re churning out newsletters, articles, videos or social posts. You're showing up consistently, weekly or more often, sharing educational content and making genuine offers.
Your emails get opened. Sometimes. And your posts get comments. From time to time. You get an email back from a reader thanking you. Every so often.
But, overall there aren’t a ton of people engaging with what you've written. Other coaches, healers or creative entrepreneurs do, though. And that’s a good thing, right?
On one level, yes, that means what you’re putting out there is being noticed. Perhaps it’s impactful, resonant, or inspirational. But you wonder, what’s the deal? Why aren’t other people responding?
When Other Coaches, Healers or Creatives Love Your Content
Of course, it’s lovely to get support from your community. The people you certified with, or trained with, or met in creative circles. It means a lot to get words of encouragement, comments about the beauty of your post, notes of thanks.
Everyone wants that. That’s golden.
And, if you regularly get good engagement from coaches, healers, or other creatives but you’re not getting that from others, it could be a sign of something else. It could mean you’re not using resonant language in your content.
NOTE – what I’m about to delve into does not necessarily apply if the people you help in your business (your Who) are coaches, healers, or creatives. It might though. So, even if your business is for that audience, I invite you to read on.
It might be that your messages aren’t landing with your intended audience on a deep level. And that in turn can negatively impact their ability to see you as someone who can help them. They don’t see it, so they don’t step closer. They don’t hire you.
What’s the Real Problem?
I was talking to a client the other day about her work. I asked her about the problem her clients most experience, and she said, "They're disconnected with their bodies."
Now, I get this. I know what this means.
You probably do too. In many modalities, the body is a compass. It can help us process feelings and emotions. It can help us sort through what we really want, deeply, and what we’re programmed to want by our social systems – families, institutions, culture. It’s everything. And when someone is detached from her body. It IS a problem.
But does everyone else? How about your sister-in-law? Or your neighbor down the hall? Do they know what that means?
When I asked my client, “Is that what your clients would say their biggest problem is?” She paused for a moment, and then agreed, “Probably not.”
Language that Resonates
Let’s look more deeply at this example. Let’s say if the people you help are suffering from overwhelm, or hate their jobs, or are wading in the thick mud of grief, you know part of the solution is to get them in touch with their body. But, the truth is, they aren’t waking up on Monday mornings, dreading the day ahead, and thinking "Oh, I feel awful. What I really need is to be more connected to my body."
They just aren’t.
Most people simply don’t realize how important it is to be present and in their bodies. They don’t get it. They’ve never been taught why it’s important or how to do it. They don’t know what changes and what is possible when you start.
So, if you talk about that being the problem, the people you really need to reach aren’t going to see themselves as someone that you help.
And it might also be the reason your content does resonate with other coaches, healers or other creatives. They see the real problem the way you do. You share the same lens, a similar perspective on solutions.
What They Think They Want
It’s like if you’re a high-end travel booking agency and a family friend, stressed out from his high-pressure job in finance, comes into your office. He asks you to book a full, all expenses paid trip to downtown Chicago. He wants to do everything he can in 48 hours – visit the Art Institute, take the river architectural cruise, enjoy the view at SkyDeck, tour Navy Pier, go to jazz & blues clubs, walk along the Riverwalk, and more. He wants to do it all. He’s looking for variety and to pack in as much non-work stuff as he can that weekend to take his mind off the stress of his job.
But you know what he really needs.
He needs to get out of the city. He needs to lower his heart rate. Get offline. Go forest bathing in the fall foliage. Rest! If he takes the trip he wants, you know he’ll come back, perhaps a little refreshed because it was a change of pace, but ultimately still in the same rushed environment that’s stressing him out in the first place. He needs to book a cabin in Door County.
If you keep talking about how great Door County is and all he wants to do is go to Chicago, he might be intrigued a little. Someday, he might think. But right now, what I need, he thinks, is to get away and do something super fun! And if you keep telling him about Door County and the cabins and the beauty and the peacefulness, you run the real risk of him just assuming your agency books esoteric, nature inspired style retreat trips, and that, he thinks, just isn’t what he needs.
Your ideal clients don’t know what they really need. If they did, they wouldn’t need your help! They’d be able to address their stress, their grief, their stuckness, their eating problems – or any of the things you can help them with – on their own.
Your ideal clients do, however, know what their problems are from their perspective. And, they know those problems make them feel. So that’s what you need to speak to in your content.
Check Your Content
So, how can you tell if you’re using language in your content that doesn’t resonate with your ideal clients? A comprehensive solution is too in-depth for a single article, but here are a few suggestions for starting points to check your content.
Do a Quick Audit
Pull out your last piece of content or look at a random page on your website. Have a read through and consider these questions:
Are there words there that sound buzzy? Like manifest, transformation, or embracing your best self?
Do you frequently use phrases that have a floaty, ephemeral quality? Living in joy or embracing the mystery?
Does your content contain words and concepts industry leaders in your coaching, healing or creative world frequently use?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might need to consider reviewing your language for more resonant ways to talk about what you help people with and how you help them.
Conduct a People Test
Using the same piece of content from above, take a few deep breaths to separate yourself from the content. Then, reread the piece slowly. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Now ask yourself the following:
Would your mom understand what you're talking about in this piece of content? Would your friend from high school or college?
Would a former client see herself in your content before she started working with you?
Would anyone you know now that could benefit from your work recognize her problems in the way that you talk about them in this content piece? Would she say "Oh wow, that's me!"?
If you answered no to any of the questions above, you might also need to review your language in your content, searching for a more relatable way to talk about what you help people with.
As an experienced practitioner, you’re trained to see the problems you help your clients solve in a different way. You know what's really underneath their suffering. And, in order to connect with your potential clients on a deeper level, you need to use language they identify with. Checking your content for particular buzzwords or industry-tired language and reading it through using your ideal clients’ perspective will help you figure out if you need to refine the way you market.
Marketing is about helping people see you as someone who can help them solve their problems. Talking about who you help and what you help them with in language that is simple and relatable and familiar to your ideal clients is key to making that happen.