Why Your Marketing Might be a Cliche

A few months ago, I met with an employment coach who helps unhappy workers find a job to fit their passions and skills.

When they come to her, they’re scared. They’re frustrated. They’re anxious. They’re unfocused. They’re unsure of themselves.

She works with clients to TRANSFORM…

From scared to courageous.

Frustrated to satisfied.

Anxious to calm.

Blurry to focused.

Shaky to confident.

Soon after meeting with that coach, I came across a post on LinkedIn by a guy who hates the word “transform.”

He thinks it’s overused, a meaningless cliche.

“…Everyone says it, no matter how misleading it may be,” he wrote.

I understand where he’s coming from.

Marketers sprinkle “transform” all over their copy. They say our product “will transform your life” or “transform the way you do such-and-such” or “transform your business.”

The problem: Most marketers stop there. They don’t dig deeply enough to understand and describe the transformation their clients experience.

When used without any specificity, “transform” IS meaningless and cliched.

We’re left wondering: Transformed from what to what?

But when marketers describe the journey their prospects will take, they describe a transformation — from frustrated to satisfied, shaky to confident, and so on.

Story-powered marketing is all about discovering and describing the transformation, the journey prospects and clients take from before to after.

If you simply say, “We transform your life,” you’ve said nothing.

If you tell a story that evokes the before-to-after journey, you paint a picture of meaningful transformation — the kind of transformation your prospects wish to experience.

That will captivate them and lead them to say, “Tell me more.” That will inspire them to act.