CONNECT! With Your Audiences: Think Like a Reader

Use the bait the reader likes, not the bait you like.

Back in the day, Grandpa Wylie was a famous fisherman. Not only did he catch more fish than anyone else in his tiny town of Clay Center, Kansas, but he also published a popular guide called “Wylie’s Fishing Calculator.”

Even during the Great Depression, fishermen from across North America would send their dimes to Clay Center to get Grandpa’s advice on catching fish.

Once, while we were frying up platters of catfish for a houseful of guests, I asked Grandpa his secret. He said, “Ann, if you want to catch a fish, you need to think like a fish. Then you need to use the bait your fish like, and not the bait you like.”

As communicators, we’re all fishing.

We’re fishing for our readers’ time and attention, for their compassion and conviction. We’re fishing for checks and registrations and clicks.

If we want to connect with our readers, we can use my grandpa’s advice: If you want to catch a reader, you need to think like a reader. Then you need to use the bait your reader likes, and not the bait you like.

The problem is most of the bait we’ve institutionalized in business communications is not the bait the reader likes. How can we think like a reader to find the bait they like?

Here are three places to start.

1. Find What’s in It for Me (WIIFM)

Communication professionals talk a lot about finding the WIIFM, yet we never seem to actually find it. In my highly unscientific review of tens of thousands of client messages over 30 years as a writing trainer, I’d estimate that we do this 0.3% of the time.

What’s the WIIFM in your content? Why does the reader care? Here’s a tip:

👍  Don’t write:

ABC’s Certificate of Municipal Leadership (CML) program recognizes mayors and council members for accomplishing training in five core areas. The trainings offered by ABC provide city elected officials with the knowledge they need to effectively operate within the law, plan for the future, secure and manage funds, foster strong relationships, and work to build more equitable communities.

👎 Do write:

Mayors and council members: Learn new ways to lead more effectively within the law, build stronger relationships, and support more equitable communities. With ABC’s Certificate of Municipal Leadership (CML), you’ll be able to…

Stop writing the message you wish your readers wanted to read and start writing the message they actually want to read.

Answer the reader’s top question — “What’s in it for me?” — early and often.

2. Write to and About the Reader

It’s sad, but it’s true — readers aren’t that into you. They’re into themselves. If you want to connect, write to your readers and about what matters to them. That’s what high-performing organizations do. According to IABC UK’s research into how top organizations communicate:

• 71% of high-performing organizations focus on the audience’s point of view in their messaging, compared to just 45% of average organizations.
• Top organizations are 60% more likely to focus on the audience’s point of view in their communications than average organizations.
• While 88% of average organizations enjoy talking about themselves, only 63% of top organizations do.

Here’s how to help your company perform better.

👎  Instead of:

ITT Hartford announces a new disability insurance program.

👍 Write:

You’ll get back to work faster, thanks to ITT Hartford’s new Ability Assurance program.

3. Lead With the Benefits

I once reviewed an article for a company’s sales force with the headline: “Extraordinary Customer Experience: Be a Customer Advocate. Be Extraordinary.”

What followed was a reminder of the company’s guiding principles, an announcement of a new program, a bullet list of tasks for participating in the program, and a reference to a handout with all the rules. Then, 228 words in, I found this:

“Here’s the best part: Winners are treated to an amazing, all-expenses paid trip for two for four days in Las Vegas.”

Here’s a simple tip for boosting engagement with your programs, products, and promotions: Stop focusing on what you offer. Start highlighting what people can do with what you offer. If they might win a trip to Vegas, that’s your headline and your lead.

It’s the easiest way to connect with your audience — to draw them in and move them to act: Lead with the benefits and substantiate with the features.

Connect With Your Readers

If you want to catch your readers, focus on the WIIFM, write to and about the reader, lead with the benefits and substantiate with the features.

Because that’s the bait the reader likes.

Want to connect more effectively with your audience and drive meaningful action? Don’t miss Ann Wylie’s World Conference session on 9 June, Connect With Your Audiences: Think Like a Reader. Register now to secure your spot!