People buy from people: Stand out from the crowd and become the face in the crowd with the help of your “Why” and your “How”.
Today, you won’t get a foot on the ground in the social network with exclusively knowledge- or fact-based communication. Find out why this is so and how you can give your communication a distinctive personality.
The longing for meaning
Showing up in person in communication has long been considered a good tip. Proximity creates trust and a connection. In the meantime, the recommendation has received a further boost, because our present is changeable and uncertain as never before. Many people are looking for guidance and wondering who they can lean on: Who holds promising ideas and solutions?
Politics comes first. Of course. But companies are also shaping our future and driving the necessary transformation. If you look around in the marketing and positioning literature these days, you will come across phrases like: “What good do you bring into the world? ” or even “what value do you create for others.” I think the questions sum it up beautifully. What are you doing or what is your company doing for a future worth living? How do you accompany your clients there? What transformation do your clients create thanks to your support?
That’s exactly what customers want to know today. What answers do we as self-employed people and entrepreneurs give to the questions of our time. Nothing less is in demand.
Two levers for a strong content persona
A strong personality is someone who can be recognized by his or her opinions and actions. Transferred to the world of corporate communication, this means: How does your company act and why does it do one thing or not do another, and does it reliably? Marketing people talk about “why” and “how”.
The “Why”
Simon Sinek has attracted a lot of attention in the marketing world with his book “Start with Why“. His thesis is: “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.”
However, most companies and self-employed people communicate exactly the opposite: they talk first about what they do, and least of all about what they do it for and how they do it. The opposite approach would be the right one.
How you determine the “why” depends not least on the size of the company. For solo self-employed, the case is clear: the solution lies in the person of the self-employed himself. Trainers, consultants and coaches find phrases like:
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Gaining courage to show yourself.
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Guide introverts to communicate in a way that wins them the recognition they deserve.
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Helping women in STEM professions achieve a stable and confident position.
Manageable (founding) teams usually develop their joint “why” in a process moderated by an external party. In large and established companies, it is worth taking a look back at the founding history.
Your Why has nothing to do with an unusual or elaborate slogan. A provider of outdoor events, for example, wants to give its customers unforgettable outdoor experiences. This is not something that leaves the reader amazed and speechless. The task of the Why is to focus the communication and give it a direction. That’s why it’s less about originality than it is about the Why actually having an identity-building effect for the team or company and being lived.
Connecting your Why to a trending topic of the moment has the potential to develop a lot of power. We talked about this in the beginning. If you succeed in making this connection in a credible and meaningful way – congratulations! But trying to force something that is not, serves no purpose. The world has already seen enough bloodless “mission statements” and “value propositions”.
In Central European culture, the question of “why” is connoted with something meaningful or even metaphysical. In Anglo-American culture, on the other hand, the term is understood more pragmatically. It is more purpose-oriented and asks about usefulness. Diligence is commendable. However, you should not make it too difficult for yourself.
Tip. Please ask yourself: What will be different in your client’s life after he has used your service or offer? What development will he have taken? Can your actions possibly be connected with one of the big trend topics of the present? Make this “why” the core of your communication.
Your “How”
To delineate your “how”, you can resort to business storytelling. You are the companion. As such, you give your customer something important to take with them on their way and thus enable them to achieve their goal.
What kind of companion are you? Marketing people often resort to the “Twelve Archetypes of Marketing” – a concept that goes back to C.G. Jung. In doing so, they try to assign an archetype to a company. An archetype is understood here as an ideal representative of an idea.
Critics object that the diversity of real companies can hardly be reduced to twelve types. They are certainly right. I use the model to get into conversation with customers: Which type do they feel they are talking about? With whom do they have something in common? How does this common ground manifest itself in practice? At the end of the conversation, there are usually mixed forms.
The 12 archetypes in marketing
- Hero
drive. Courage. Discipline.
The hero is committed to a good cause. - Rebel
openness. The willingness to break the rules. Truthfulness.
The rebel wants people to wake up and do something different. - Magician
visionary. Fascination. Future orientation.
It is possible for the magician to imagine a new future and initiate profound transformations. - Creator of
innovation. Creativity. Uniqueness.
The Creator wants to know what is in you and what should be expressed. - Protector
helpfulness. Generosity. Care.
The protector helps with no ifs or buts. Even if others have long since dropped out. And he helps those who cannot speak for themselves. - Rulers
authority. Reason. Justice.
The ruler places himself in the service of the right cause and sets a good example. - Innocent
optimism. Naturalness. Balance.
The innocent wants to reduce the complex to a natural level. - Explorer thirst for
adventure. Curiosity. Motivation.
What has not been researched so far? What is there to discover? The explorer is on his way. - Wise
curiosity. Analytical ability. Diligence.
The sage finds out what is right or who is right. - Loving
passion. Love. Seduction.
The lover allows us to confess what we long for. - Prankster
humor. Happiness. Freedom.
The prankster helps to get rid of petty thinking. - Friend
friendliness. Humility. Down to earth.
The friend is in the same boat with his customers. He wants us to support each other.
Are you more the type of “friend” who brings kindness and helpfulness into the world? Or do you feel called to be a rebel who breaks up traditional structures? No matter which archetype you declare to be yours: Becoming aware of your type helps you to regularly shape your communication the way you want it to be.
This is how your “why” and your “how” find their way into your content
Personality shows in many things, for example in the style of language or in the corporate design. This article, however, is about the “why” and the “how” and how it can be experienced in your content.
The task is not difficult. But in the heat of the moment, some things get lost. The biggest enemies of a personal communication style, in my observation, are time constraints and habit.
Therefore, I present you a simple text model. Perhaps you might like to hang it up as a thought aid.
The template is suitable for social media posts as well as larger pieces of content such as blog articles. Just write a few sentences more or less for each post, as needed.
One statement, five glasses
Please choose a topic that you would like to write or talk about. Then look at it from five angles (= five glasses).
The five glasses are:
- The experience of your customers
- What you need to know
- The consequences
- Your attitude
- Your tip / conclusion.
- The experience of your customers
Get your customers or readers up by creating a reference to their everyday life, for example with this formulation:
“[Statement from a customer]: I’ve heard this sentence countless times from my customers.
Where and in what form do your customers come into contact with the topic you are currently working on? Add one or more sentences. - The factual glasses
Your topic may need some background information: What do your customers and readers need to know or understand? Provide background information as well as figures, data or facts. If there is nothing to explain, this point is omitted.
“You have to know that …” - The consequences for those affected
Let’s get to the crux of your topic: What is it really about? What is the consequence of your statement – for your customers, for their environment, for companies, society, the world?
“It is important to me to record that, because …”: Find a statement or a question for reflection. - The personal statement / your assessment
“So really:…”
If you have made yourself aware of your Why, this is the right place to use it: What needs to be said urgently? How does your topic collide with your Why? What are you concerned with about your topic?
Find a statement in which your Why is recognizable. - The tip / your conclusion
If you are aware of your “how”, let it come up here: What advice would your archetype give? How would he comment on your topic?
Give your customers advice or alternatively draw a conclusion.
Example
You think mindfulness is a valuable concept. However, the boom is scary for you.
This is how you build your post:
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Picking up your fans & followers Whether it’s
bookselling, social media or corporate training. You can’t get around mindfulness these days. Everyone is talking about it, everyone has an opinion. As with all trends, mindfulness is a good business to be in. -
The objective
glasses Mind fulness, as it was originally formulated and taught by Buddha, is part of a comprehensive philosophy of life. It seeks to redeem man from suffering. Part of this philosophy is to distance oneself from that which harms. -
The consequences When
mindfulness is now taught in companies, the question arises as to what triggers the stress: Is it solely due to the behavior or thinking of the employees or are there additional external causes that are rooted in the company? If external causes are left out, it can happen that the employees meditate and breathe in order to adapt to the company conditions. However, the grievance remains as it has always been. To put it bluntly, one could say: the employees are getting fit for madness. -
Your statement / your evaluation That
is of course not the point! Mindfulness in its original sense has much more bite than widespread incense folklore would suggest. -
Your tip / your conclusion Don’t
get fogged in! Mindfulness is a helpful and valuable concept. But operational madness remains operational madness. Tangible systemic failures cannot be meditated away.
Once you’ve drafted your post, take away the auxiliary headings and have continuous body text.
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You only have ideas for two or three pairs of glasses? That’s fine. Then your post will be a little shorter.
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You want to reverse the order? Go for it! The template is a structure and creativity aid, nothing more.
Conclusion
Whether you work in a company or as a solo self-employed person: Your “how” and your “why” have long existed: You and your colleagues get up every day. You get motivated and develop solutions for your customers. If there were no sense and no more or less openly expressed way to accompany your customers, this achievement would be impossible. The discussion about why and how is less about formulating fancy slogans and more about being aware of your own way of working and purpose and carrying both into communication.
