Yo, Are You Speaking the Same Language as Your Customers?

I’d like to go on record in saying that I’m completely addicted to AMC’s Breaking Bad–and I’ll tell you why.

What sets “Breaking Bad” apart is the originality, cinematography, the acting–and the [smart] writing. I was hooked from the very first episode, and spent much of my Christmas holiday watching the misadventures of Walter White– the perfect anti-hero. (I watched 4 full seasons, which my son calculated to be 2340 minutes, give or take)

One of the things I find most interesting is the relationship between Walter White, the science teacher-turned-meth-cook, and his former student, Jesse. It’s clear that Jesse was not one of Mr. White’s most learned students, but when they are cooking meth in the broken-down RV, in early episodes–and Mr. White is explaining the “science” in the process–you can see a light go on in Jesse.

Even though it’s still science, Mr. White is talking Jesse’s language. And by the end of the second season, Jesse is as knowledgeable about the science of creating meth as he is in how to sell it on the street.

Concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, Mr. White-the-science-teacher’s approach to teaching science didn’t do a thing for Jesse-the-high-school-student. But, Jesse-the-meth-cook-apprentice was more than eager to learn the science of creating the highest quality crystal meth around, hands-on.

I think it’s something we forget when we write blogs and share content on social networks. We forget WHO we’re trying to engage with. We don’t know our audience. And we don’t think about the kind of content — and the voice — that resonates with them.

Know your customer and learn their industry. Learn how to speak their language.

Monitoring the kind of content that resonates with your customers will help you develop a content strategy that meets their needs, and creates an opportunity for a two-way conversation.

It’s a good question to ask yourself. Yo, are you speaking the language of your customer?

Now, I gotta bounce. Catcha later.