Issue #5 - This “Stupid Audience” Myth
Thinking your audience is stupid makes you stupid
“I have an apology to make
I'm afraid I've made a big mistake”
If you’ve read the latest issue of B00ls, you know what song I’m talking about.
Well, anyway, I do have to apologise before we get things rolling with this issue. I kinda, sorta lied to you. More and more studies, like this one attest to the fact that people are indeed getting dumber. Not from genes, but from the environment (keep this in mind).
It’s almost a fact. One that I really don’t like. But it’s true. So, as a marketer/writer/founder, does that mean I should create dumbed down content? No sirree. Because if I do, I’m part of the problem. I feed it. I don’t want to do that.
And, as Tommy Lee Jones beautifully puts it in the MIB movie:
“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it”
My solution? Never write for people. Write for a person. If that person is YOU, even better.
And remember, your audience is not stupid. We’re not in a Jordan Peterson book. Yes, he’s right about making your bed every morning (‘though I certainly don’t do that every morning) but he’s wrong about other very important matters:
Humanity is not a lobster hierarchy. We should not group people in social classes. Sure, some are less educated, maybe even indoctrinated, but at their core they are still people. You know who wanted to classify people according to superior races and inferior ones?
Our pal Hitler.
Yes, I believe some dangerous elements are toxic for a society, but we should diminish their influence via education, not by marginalising them in ghettos. I’m not a maniac.
One last consideration before we start: If you really think your audience is stupid, you have a problem. Change the audience, don’t change yourself to cater to their needs. Otherwise… you’ll end up as stupid as they “supposedly” are.
Actors on Acting… But it’s really Marketing
Like any self respectable self-taught marketer, I’ve read almost close to zero marketing books. Why, you ask?
Marketing, in general, is about taking insights from real life and applying them in a separate context. You learn from people about people and then apply it when you’re communicating to other people.
Marketing books are basically a collection of life insights which you can apply.
One of the most important traits of my writing and marketing craft is that I cut out the middle man. Instead of reading marketing books based on other people’s insights, insights that are definitely biased, because they want to sell something, I prefer to take my insights about humanity from sources that seem totally unrelated to marketing.
But, as my future tattoo and the rest of this newsletter will prove: EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.
So, for some totally unrelated (definitely related perspectives from actors)
Ethan Hawke
According to Mister Hawke in this interview:
“Audiences are smart”
He argues that a great skill for a director is to think like an actor and ask yourself questions. I apply that when it comes to writing.
Whenever I publish something, I first ask myself:
Would I like that?
Does that make sense to me?
Is this piece collaborative?
By “collaborative” I mean: can someone else take part in this experience?
The quickest way to respond to that question is to think like your audience. A lot easier when YOU are the audience, isn’t it?
Michael Caine
OK, maybe that was a little bit philosophical, but check out this Michael Caine piece of brilliance. Jump to 02.45 to 3.54 for the relevant bit.
His point is the following: If you portray a drunk man, don’t act drunk!
A bad performance will show that: “You’re not drunk, you’re an actor trying to be drunk.
Wrong: You’re an actor trying to walk crooked and talk slurred.
Right: A drunk is a man trying to walk straight and talk properly.”
Do you see the COLOSSAL difference?
If not, let me explain. When you want to resonate, don’t think like YOU think your audience thinks. Think like your audience thinks.
It’s a subtle nuance, sure, but at the end of the day it makes a world of difference.
That’s why I come at writing from a different angle. I never think about what my audience thinks, because sometimes I really can’t relate to them. Different background and everything.
Instead, I focus on what my audience FEELS. That’s universal. That’s our common point. And the fastest way to get at what another person feels, is to look at what you FEEL about a particular topic. But more on that later.
Fact of the matter is this: if, even for a moment, you think that your audience is stupid, you just established yourself as somewhat above them. At that moment, empathy is gone. And whatever you create will be inevitably tainted by a feeling of superiority.
Trust me, they’ll pick up on it and you’ll be the actual fool. OK, some people won’t pick up on it.
But practice stupid content enough and that will be everything you’ll be able to create. Neural pathways and all. No matter how you put it, somebody’s getting screwed: you, your audience or maybe both.
How to find out what your audience thinks?
Why, that’s the easiest part!
After you establish how they feel, you need to find out what they think. You’ll have to get your hands dirty. There’s only one way to do it:
INTERACT, INTERACT, INTERACT
Ask questions and try to be around them. Marinate in the sauce that is their lives. Whenever I interview founders in order to get a better feeling for their brand, I focus on what their clients are actually saying about their brands.
Testimonials are not proof of how good you are. They are the lifeblood of what your business really is about. As I was arguing in the Personal Branding issue of B00ls:
Your business/brand is not what you think, it’s what other people think about it.
What happens when dumb content goes wrong
What are the consequences of dumb content? Let’s see about a couple of stories.
Some while ago, my GF published a post about hooks. Of course, some would be marketer said that we only have 5 seconds to hook the person.
A random guy showed up and shamed the would be marketer. He said that his mentality is wrong, and that all these hooking tactics are purely begging. He also said that marketing nowadays is stupid. And based on the assumption that the marketer KNOWS better than the person to whom he is trying to peddle his stuff.
No, the marketer does not know best. He can assume. And he’d be better off actually checking his assumptions with the audience. Sadly, marketers think they are smarter (living in a bubble), they think their audience is not smart enough to know what they want and need.
And it turns out marketers are stupid.
Thinking your audience is dumb, and you won’t get found out.
This is a sensible topic because I’m the one who was duped. I was a big fan of Doru Șupeală and Hacking Work. It really felt like they were trying to change something on the Romanian market.
To my surprise, when I wanted to actually collaborate with them, they asked for an unpaid test. I refused, they said they appreciate my point of view, but they don’t want to work together. Afterwards, I found out from another person that he had been writing unpaid articles for them.
Now, it’s a personal choice to work for free. But for a person/brand/business that holds the employee’s rights as sacred, asking for unpaid labour is kind of a dick move.
And thinking that people won’t eventually find out? Kinda dumb if you ask me. If you’re interested in more context, you may find it in my article.
I saved the best (funniest) for last :))
I almost worked with a guy who wanted to get more awareness. We didn’t end up working together. I choose to believe it’s due to my prices, but it’s more likely that the problem consisted in a difference of mentality.
For example, he wanted to write a book, but check this:
“I don’t want people to read it. I just want to have a bestseller and be known for it.”
Leaving aside the immense ego trip, what kind of content would that book entail? How smart does he think his audience is?
Batman
These little stories actually remind me of a Batman: The Animated Series episode. In it, Batman had to fight Mister Freeze, a guy who lost his wife and was on an icy rampage in Gotham City. Yeah, he had a cryogenic gun, roll with it.
You see, Doctor Fries was working for The People Company. Apart from his experiments, he was toiling on a treatment for his wife Nora. Her cancer was aggressive, and the only way to save her was to freeze her in a tank.
At some point, his experiments on the cryo tank become too expensive, and the CEO of The People Company cuts the funding. He personally sees to it that the plug is pulled. Nora dies and Fries is out for revenge. Classic cartoon plot.
But is it?
Let me rephrase this: The CEO of The People Company actually kills a person because it’s not cost-effective.
Children’s cartoon? I think not.
I mean, if somebody killed my GF because she wasn’t cost-effective… don’t let me get my hands on a cryogenic gun, people.
Why are there no more good commercials?
I asked my friend Mike this question. He’s a guy’s guy. He eats, he works out, he has a girlfriend, he wants to get married, have a kid, buy a house and get settled. He didn’t go to college, but he’s smart.
In a lot less words, he’s the “average Romanian guy”.
His response to my question?
“Because idiots are creating them for other idiots. Smart people would never do that. So smart people don’t watch them.”
Next time you create a piece of content, really ask yourself:
“Would I really fall for that shitty hook? Would I really click on clickbait again?”
If this makes you uncomfortable, you’re doing something wrong.
You’re creating for the masses. Don’t create for the masses. Create for your audience.
How to find my audience?
OK, Vlad, that all sounds fine and dandy, but how do I find my audience? That’s the neat part, you don’t find them, they find you.
You just have to raise your freak flag high, and they will come. Don’t believe me?
STORYTIME:
My girlfriend loves Jack Savoretti. It’s all I hear around the house. Sometimes I think she wishes I were him. Anyway, he had a concert in Bucharest, and he needed to choose someone to perform the opening act.
He chose Ana Coman, a Romanian singer.
Why?
Because he resonated. The guy does not speak Romanian, for fuck’s sake. But he resonated, that’s exactly the word Ana uses, with her music.
See, resonance is not about language, power words, hacks, marketing tactics and the likes. It’s feeling.
Sing… errrr… write your heart out and the right people will come.
Ouroboros
Ouroboros is a mythological snake who eats his own tail. It represents the cycle of death and rebirth. To me, it stands for two things:
It’s all connected
You shape your audience, and they shape you.
Whatever audience you choose and whatever content you put out, it will end up defining you. Not your business, not your brand, but YOU, as a person. Choose your audience wisely and remember that you also define them.
If you’re helping create more stupid people, you’re part of the problem.
That’s why I hate “Marketing”
Marketing, the way most people perceive it, is a competition. That’s understandable, given the fact that we live in a competitive culture.
So, most marketers think that in order to win, someone else has to lose. Either the competition, or the client.
They think it’s their duty as marketers to “con people”. “Să te facă” would be the Romanian equivalent.
Marketing is not about who wins and who losses. You take their money and they take the product. The best marketing is about winning together.
That’s why I recommend looking at clients as humans. Not prospects. If the only way you make business is by you winning and them losing, there’s something definitely wrong with you.
That’s why I hate all these “authenticity” and “vulnerability” courses. We are, by definition, authentic. Why would you want to appear to be more of something?
Aha, because authenticity sells. Fuck you, marketing people, for ruining authenticity for the rest of us.
Marketing is culture. Art over commerce
One of the best definitions for marketing:
Way I see it, and it’s safe to say Ashley does too, Marketing is culture, art and education.
Next time you publish something, think about how that influences EVERYTHING.
Think about the world you’re leaving behind for your children. Yes, short term, you’re making heaps of money. But are you really creating a better world for them? One where everyone is stupid?
You wouldn’t subject your kid to that content. You wouldn’t subject yourself to that content.
Dude, dudette… where’s your humanity?
What I do differently
I recently stumbled across the concept of cognitive empathy. For that topic, I recommend Try to see it my way.
What I do differently is taking out the cognitive aspect. Cognitive empathy uses this model:
You-me-you.
I think about you, from my perspective (me), to tell you something about you.
Fair enough.
But I prefer the me-you model.
I reach inside of me in order to tell you something about you.
Why does that work better for me?
Because beyond politics, religion, gender, education, culture and so on, we are the same. Part of a whole. I cut out the first step because I don’t think about you. I feel you.
Heck, when you strip all logic from the equation, I am you.
You don’t resonate with my words on a page. You resonate with the humanity you recognise in my experiences. Feelings about the stories we share. Because we’re both human.
That’s why copywriters who’ve never driven a car make perfect ads for cars, and guy copywriters can write kick-ass ads for tampons. It’s not about the features, it’s about the emotion.
And a personal example:
My Newsletters usually have an above 50% open rate. The last one, on Personal Branding, so far has just a 43% open rate.
Now, I could focus on that aspect and ignore the fact that:
It’s also the most viewed issue
It brought three new subscribers
It got the most feedback messages
It was praised by people on LinkedIn
You see, by going deeper, not broader, I resonated more. Sure, fewer people read it, but those who did read it, appreciated it more.
Go deep, not broad.
Going forward
I’m starting to really get worried about the length of these things. But, at the same time, it’s more important for me that they are a collaborative experience, not a short one.
If you loved this issue, you might be interested in
Previously, on B00ls: Issue #4 This Personal Brand Thing of Ours
Omertà always applies to Personal Branding
Next time, join MadVlad as he takes on…
Issue #6: Craft or Line Assembly?
Are you a Rolls-Royce or a run-of-the-mill car?
You can get access to the full archive here if you missed any other issue.
In the meantime
If you liked my stuff, this is how we can work together:
I write for you. Check out the Experience section on my LinkedIn
I consult marketers and founders. Ask about my non-stupid approach to marketing
I consult writers. Ask about my non-stupid approach to writing
Are you a marketer/writer/founder who wants to learn how to stop taking your audience for granted?
Reply to this e-mail if you’re interested in the above.
Know somebody who’d also like that? Share my newsletter and point them in my direction. I’ll give you a beer if you’re ever in Bucharest.
(I’m still working on offers 2 and 3 so watch this space for updates)
Cheers
If this was the first, but also last time we meet: Thank you.
I write for myself, but you reading my writing gives it additional meaning. I literally could not resonate without you.
And please remember: we’re in this together. Nobody has to lose for you to win. We can win together.