But What About the Cat?
photo credit: yam.com
I was listening to a presentation the other day, and the speaker asked his audience this question:
Which sentence is more clear:
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙜 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙩.
Or
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙜.
He said that when he asks that question, the answer he overwhelmingly receives is the first sentence.
But the answer 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 depends on what the reader’s value most.
If they care about the dog, they’re going to choose the first sentence.
But if they care about the cat, they’re going to choose the second.
Now, he went on to talk about the use of active and passive verbs and the Gettysburg Address, but this portion of the presentation stuck with me.
When I begin working with a small business or organization, especially one with an incredible mission or service, I tend to see people approach their marketing from the “correct” angle.
They choose the first sentence.
They talk about their business or organization and all the wonderful things they do for their community.
Because how else are you supposed to talk about your business, right?
And they struggle to grow.
Here’s why:
Your audience cares about the cat.
You are the dog.
𝙀𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧: 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙈𝙚𝙩 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮.
It’s easy to fall into this trap when talking about your business…
𝙒𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨!
𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣!
𝙒𝙚
𝙒𝙚
𝙒𝙚
Don't get me wrong, your business is incredible, and so is your mission.
There 𝙞𝙨 a time to talk about both!
But your audience cares about the cat.
The trick is to get tell your audience a story about the cat, and allow the dog to be a player in the story, not the main character.
Your audience is the 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤 of the story.
As a food bank, your primary audience cares about making sure they can feed their family.
Your job is to provide information and break down stigmas in order to help them do that.
Your second, but just as important, audience is current and future donors. They care about the impact their support is making.
In this instance, your role is to show them you’re a good steward of their donations and help them feel good about the difference they’re making with their contribution.
If you’re a drowning prevention advocate, your audience cares about the safety of their child or their grandchild.
Use your story to show how your values align, and how your “why” drives you to make sure their child is safe.
By all means, talk about your mission and your organization!
But you have to let them know you care about the cat first.
If you haven’t done that, you’re going to lose them.
Your job is to be a powerful force of change in your community.
You can't accomplish that without connecting with the people who benefit from your organization, and those who help keep the doors open.
So, take a look at your posts, your emails, your flyers, and your thank you letters that you send to donors.
Are you talking about the cat?
If not, let’s find a way to help you make your audience the hero of the story!
PS—Check out Larry McEnerney—this talk is incredible and he does an amazing job of articulating his point!
