A linguistic trick that makes your marketing way more powerful

--> and it's one you play on yourself

When we write or talk it’s easy to get lazy with language.

We simplify. We omit. And most of the time it’s not a problem. It makes communication more efficient.

But sometimes it can trick us and bamboozle us.

And it often does that in marketing.

Read about email subject lines and you’ll often hear “The purpose of the subject line is to get people to open your email”.

But that’s not right.

Or rather, it’s a linguistic simplification.

What we really should be saying is “The purpose of the subject line is to get *your ideal clients* to open your email”.

Not just “people”. Not just anyone. Your ideal clients.

In the same vein, the purpose of a lead magnet isn’t to get people to opt in to get your emails. It’s to get your ideal clients to opt in to get your emails. The purpose of a call to action in an email isn’t to get people to click through to your offer, it’s to get your ideal clients to click through to your offer.

Surely I’m being pedantic. When we say “people” in this context then of course we mean the right people. Right?

The trouble is that when we simplify our language, then over time, we simplify our thinking.

When we repeatedly say “people” instead of “ideal client”, we begin to forget what we should really be focused on.

Instead of asking ourselves “what does my ideal client care about? What would get them to open this email?” we fall back on “what would get people to open this email?”.

We lose the specificity and the focus on *our* people. We start creating clickbait subject lines designed to maximise open rates instead of appealing to our perfect customers.

I’m sure you’ve often heard that a lead magnet needs to be easy to consume and give instant gratification.

But does it?

Maybe it does. After all, we have to compete for attention with a million other things.

But maybe it doesn’t. Maybe that’s not what *your* ideal client is looking for. Maybe it’ll attract exactly the wrong sort of person.

Asking yourself “what can I offer that will get lots of people to sign up for my email list?” could well end up with you getting lots of the wrong people signing up who are never going to turn into paying clients.

But just changing a few words and asking yourself “what can I offer that will get *my ideal clients* to sign up for my email list?” forces you to think a bit deeper. And you’re much more likely to come up with ideas that actually attract the right people for you.

It’s a simple linguistic trick you can play on yourself. But it’s a powerful one.

Whenever you catch yourself using the word “people”, replace it with something more specific like “my ideal clients”.

I guarantee it will give you much better answers.

- Ian