Imagine being someone who holds the key to the solution of a major problem that your society is facing. You discovered it or created it yourself through many years of experimentation. And now, you are finally holding it. You want everyone to know about it. You want to start helping people immediately. You start to communicate to the world its almost magical, yet untried power. You become an evangelist. How does this happen and in what way is it linked to content creation and writing? That’s what we’ll be talking about today.
Defining ‘Evangelism’
Short introductions, feel free to skip if you are in the know
If it’s the first time you hear about the term, one thing needs to be clarified from the start: we’re not going to be talking about Jesus. It’s actually a concept, invented by Guy Kawasaki, a former evangelist of Mac computers. In a marketing context, it’s about finding a great cause, service or a product and telling everyone about its benefits and becoming its advocate without unnecessary boasting or hypocrisy, out of pure desire to make the world a better place.
It’s an approach, especially beneficial in the first stages of launching a new business.
Preach, Preach, Preach
But don’t bark at the wrong tree
Blow your trumpet to the right people. That’s essential. Don’t be creating copy for the non-believers or the ones that already love your brand with all their hearts. The first kind won’t be approaching your product in an open-minded and receiving way. Hence, your efforts might end up with minimal results. Don’t focus on your biggest fans either. You already won their loyalty.
Target the people on the fence.
They need to see your own faith in the importance of your product or service. You need to focus primarily on the greater benefits that it will bring whoever has it or consumes it. The notion of helping people in a unique way is your driving force. And all of this should transpire in the messages you send to your audience.
Forget about the people who already have a strong love or hate about your product and focus on the ones who are still indifferent.
Those are the people you need to target and make listen to you.
The Pitch
Don’t confuse it with a sales pitch
You can say it in a sentence or you can switch up the format but the most important thing is, according to Guy himself, is to have a clear idea of how your brand, what you do or your product, is changing the world. This is crucial. I know it sounds a bit of a heavyweight thing for a business to do. Not all brands or causes will have the confidence to say they are changing the world.
But in some way or another, you are reshaping the reality for someone who needs just what you offer.
I recently listened to a podcast by Copyblogger, in which was mentioned a tactic that some writers use: “Problem-Agitate-Solve”. It’s based on a pain that someone has and your product as the ultimate savior. The problem with this is that it can get manipulative and instill negative feelings in your customers towards their current situation.
That’s exactly what evangelism should not be about.
Yes, you are solving a problem, but you need to think about the whole picture and how your copy will make your customers feel – helped or demoralized.
Linking It Back to Content Creation
Making others evangelists of your brand
The simple truth is that if you do something to help other people, it will at some point speak for itself. But there will always be the need for quality content to back this up. Although we are used to talking about content in terms of what you publish on your website and social media platforms, this time it’s about branching even further.
Don’t separate your staff from your audience. Everyone should feel a part of something great.
To be honest, I never thought in great depth about the role content creation plays in company culture. But I came to realize its importance in building my loyalty towards an employer after I landed “a role” in the Walt Disney World park in Orlando, FL.
I’ve mentioned this in the past, but storytelling is one of their most unique assets as a company and they manage to interweave it into every aspect of their business. They do an incredible job in evangelizing their brand not just for their customers, but for their staff, or as they called us ‘cast members’. The first thing we learned in Traditions classes, an employee training provided at the park, was the mantra “I personally create happiness”, which we repeated out loud.
Say it a few times out loud and you’ll probably feel the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with the power to make someone happy.
The biggest challenge is to make a good evangelist of everyone in your team.
Which means even the content that reaches your internal audiences needs to be persuasive of the change your business is making in the world.
Don’t Miss a Chance to Evangelize Your Content
The great thing about evangelism – it’s a thread that can be woven into the tapestry of your strategy with such ease. Whether it’s a landing page or product reviews, you can use evangelism to make people understand just how important it is what you can do for them.
Can you think of great content from the evangelism marketing standpoint you’ve seen in the digital space lately? I’d love it if you share one with me!
