Language is Power: Use Their Words, Not Yours

The marketing world has changed.

What was once a top-down system has become a far more interactive dialog. High pressure sales no longer work. Successful marketers listen to their potential customers and answer them in the language that they understand.

Often, this will mean changing the verbiage you use, and the ideas that you lead with depending on which customers you are talking to. When generating blog post ideas, always remember the points below:

What Do Buyers Want?

When you read your marketing materials, does the language sound manufactured and sales-y? Do you talk about the company's products, history and ideals, or do you talk about customers and their needs?

Listen Before You Talk

By now, most marketers know that content is king. Sponsored blogs, infographics, articles and social media posts are central to modern marketing campaigns. But, if you enter a digital market with old media attitudes, you risk failing spectacularly. At best, your messages will be ignored. At worst, you can become the next corporate social media cautionary tale.

A better way? Spend time listening on Facebook, Twitter and other sites. Read about what specific demographics want. Respond with interest when they post on your page. Over time, you will get to know your various buyer personas and learn how to connect with them on their levels.

This allows you to create blog post ideas that truly address your customers' concerns. Identify their wants and needs and find ways to fulfill them. Answer their questions. Provide tips that are relevant to both your product and your customers' lives. Through this, you can attract their attention and win their business and their trust.

Breaking It Down By Age

Look at both your current buyers and the ones you want to court. What is their age group? This knowledge can help you begin to draw a picture of the ideal client, known as a buyer persona. When it comes to age groups, there are four basic ones you'll be dealing with:

• Matures. These customers are those born between 1909 and 1945. They are more used to traditional advertising and marketing.
• Baby Boomers. Born between 1946 and 1964, they can be traditional, but are also more suspicious of obvious hard sales.
• Generation X. These buyers, born between 1965 and 1980, prefer honesty and authenticity in marketing. Use direct everyday language.
• Millennials/Generation Y. These are young buyers born after 1980. They have lived with a digital environment their entire lives and are web, mobile and social media savvy. They value authentic language and easy-to-find information.

Talk to Each Buyer On Their Own Level

Each generational buyer persona will have a different way of communicating. They'll have different wording and a different rhythm. Where you may use more formal language with a Baby Boomer or a Mature buyer, you can be more casual with a Generation X or Y. With those groups, use everyday language and even fragments to get straight to the point and avoid a tl;dr response. (Too long, didn't read.)

It's a new digital world. As communications methods continue to evolve and buyers get more savvy, marketers' jobs will continue to change, as well. Always keep this in mind when coming up with blog post ideas. By doing your best to understand your buyers and speaking in language that lets them understand you, you can better prepare yourself for the changes. Listen and learn, and you will form better, loyal and profitable customer relationships with buyers of any age.