What I learned from a bad date.

Before the advent of "online dating," we humans, in the effort to find a meaningful connection, had to rely on friends, family, or random encounters to find a potential "special someone." Think back to your life before the digital age – before Tinder, OurTime.com, and Match.com. Surely in your quest to find a romantic partner, you had been a few really, stinky, bad dates. I think the worst one for me was when the "date" talked about themselves. For hours on end.

Nope. There was not a second date.

Think about your business. What is the narrative used when promoting it? Is your business marketing message the euphemistic "bad date"? A one-way conversation telling your customer how great you are. Sure, your business is "good looking" and potential date material. But how do you reframe that greatness into a benefit?

Here is an exercise I find handy when creating content for my clients. Create a list of the service/product features and then list the benefit of that feature. Once you are done refer to the list of benefits as keys or prompts to your content marketing efforts. The benefits are the sweet spot that makes customers fall in love with what you have to offer. How does this work? Simple. You are appealing to them on an emotional level.

Feature and Benefit Worksheet

Take note of the benefits. Each one is an important part of the overall content marketing message. Consider each point as its own social media post as well.

Get beyond the first date with your content marketing. Don’t just talk about your business features, talk up the benefits of your product or service so that customers will come back for the second date. And be yourself - don't forget to exude your brand personality within the content!