In this interview, Jay Acunzo talks about why it's important to create connections with your end reader and focus on creating content that resonates, instead of simply cranking out content with no strategy.
Jay suggests that it all starts with a clear premise and point of view for your brand in order to truly stand out. This helps you truly resonate with your audience instead of blending in with a mass of noise.
Jay’s insights can teach marketers how to craft brands and content that audiences love and relate to on a deeper level.
Let’s get into his 4 step process:
4 Step Process to Hook Your Audience
Connecting to your audience helps you know what they think and what they want.
And from there, you can continue to consistently create content that adds value and addresses their needs.
Because audiences change a lot, it's a good plan to stay in touch with them to have a full feedback cycle.
This helps you stay up to date and change things when you need to, so you stay important to the people you want to reach.
Jay’s process is as follows:
Step 1. Create a Connection with your audience
Step 2. Develop a specific defensible premise for your brand
Step 3. Empower your people to be effective storytellers
Step 4. Leverage AI to assist with your creativity
Step 1. Create a Connection with Your Audience
It's important to focus on creating connections with your audience instead of just making content.
Prioritize resonance over reach.
“Resonance” is when your message aligns closely with your audience's beliefs and experiences. This helps them relate to your brand deeply.
“Reach” just means having a big audience or getting lots of views. But reach alone doesn't build strong bonds with your followers.
True connections happen when your content resonates on a deeper level.
So it's about quality over quantity.
Having a smaller engaged audience that loves your brand is better than a huge passive one.
Step 2. Develop a Specific Defensible Premise for Your Brand
Brands need a clear, unique premise for their content and messaging to resonate.
Just having general expertise doesn't help you stand out anymore.
A premise is the specific point of view or angle you take on topics.
It should only be true for your brand, not competitors. This singular perspective makes your content defensible.
Don't create content about broad topics that anyone could write about.
Find your own distinct way to explore subjects through your expertise and beliefs.
Having a premise gives your brand a special voice that is recognizable. It allows you to own certain ideas that become tied to you. Generic expertise gets lost in the crowd.
A unique premise makes you impossible to ignore.
Step 3. Empower Your People to be Effective Storytellers
Jay believes that brands should empower their people to be storytellers.
This helps bring the company's promise to life. Don't rely only on your logo, content from the brand, or official corporate speak.
People like to buy from people.
And that is why it’s critical to empower your teams to represent your brand on their personal social media channels.
Let your staff share stories that embody your brand perspective.
Enable employees to have public voices aligned with your premise. Don't just make executives the face of the brand.
Your people can communicate your beliefs better than a logo can.
Guide them to create content and speak in ways aligned with the brand premise.
Empowered employees who understand the brand mission become effective storytellers.
They personify the company's point of view.
Relying solely on logos limits how you connect with audiences.
But sharing stories through people makes the premise tangible.
Step 4. Leverage AI to Assist with Your Creativity
AI tools can help generate content, but shouldn't replace human imagination and creativity.
Don't let AI define your perspective for you.
AI can assist with certain creative tasks like writing drafts.
But marketers still need to drive the core ideas and the creativity that underlies that. Don't outsource providing a unique point of view to AI
So use AI to aid your process but not guide it.
Let the tools handle repetitive tasks like optimizing and formatting. But ensure the heart of the content stems from your authentic beliefs and ideas.
Don't just plug a topic into ChatGPT and call it a day. Stay involved to infuse content with your imagination and perspective.
Here are some ways that you can leverage ChatGPT.
Wrapping Up
Jay Acunzo shared great insights about making resonant content. Some key topics included:
The strategy to creating content that resonates is simple:
- Focus on connecting with your audience instead of just creating content.
- Developing a unique premise and point of view for your brand.
- Empowering your staff to tell stories versus relying on your logo.
- Using AI to assist creativity but not replace imagination.
However, making it actually happen is the challenge!
Jay gave extremely helpful tips for building brands that deeply resonate with audiences.
Follow these ideas to enable more creative and effective marketers on your team.
Crafting a strong premise, telling great stories, and properly leveraging AI will make marketing more impactful. Jay's insights provide valuable lessons on marketing that truly connect