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:
๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ.
Or
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐.
He said that when he asks that question, the answer he overwhelmingly receives is the first sentence.
But the answer ๐๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ก๐ก๐ฎ depends on what the readerโs value most.
If they care about the dog, theyโre going to choose the first sentence.
But if they care about the cat, theyโre 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 โcorrectโ 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.
Hereโs why:
Your audience cares about the cat.
You are the dog.
๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง: ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ง๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐ฎ.
Itโs easy to fall into this trap when talking about your businessโฆ
๐๐ ๐๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ!
๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐ข๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ!
๐๐
๐๐
๐๐
Don't get me wrong, your business is incredible, and so is your mission.
There ๐๐จ 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 ๐๐๐ง๐ค 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 youโre a good steward of their donations and help them feel good about the difference theyโre making with their contribution.
If youโre 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 โwhyโ 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 havenโt done that, youโre 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, letโs find a way to help you make your audience the hero of the story!
PSโCheck out Larry McEnerneyโthis talk is incredible and he does an amazing job of articulating his point!
