Our hope is to communicate something so compelling that it creates a bond with those we wish to become our advocates. This is when our brand gains real significance with these folks. The problem is, we can’t get out of our own way. It can be difficult to get past our compulsion to talk about ourselves. We can get so wrapped up in trying to tell our story that we fail to develop our language to its full potential.
2 words
I have a useful technique for getting past what we want to say and getting to what those we hope to serve want to hear. It takes just 2 words.
“So that”
Look at the language around your brand. If you feel like it’s a little too much about you, then take one of the statements and add “so that” to the end of it. “So that” takes a self-serving statement and creates a bridge to the relevant meaning that statement has in the lives of your prospects.
I wrote about a billboard that pissed me off recently. It read “We want to be your local favorite.” It’s self-focused and self-serving. So let’s give it a rework using “So that”.
GET A FREE CHAPTER OF THE BOOK — BIG AUDACIOUS MEANING
When we add “So that” to the end of the statement, it now reads: “We want to be your local favorite so that…”
