The Importance of Specificity in Content Marketing

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“Many writers rely on generalities rather than absolutes as they craft an article; this is both a cheat and disrespectful to the reader, who is left without the kinds of supporting details that can turn a good article into a great one,” Don Vaughan advises in a recent issue of Writer’s Digest.”There’s a meaningful difference between ‘a couple of centuries’ and ‘215 years’.”

Asked where writers might go to find those supporting details (other than a simple Google search), Vaughan suggests checking:

  • government agencies
  • military agencies
  • universities
  • data resources, both U.S. and overseas,

but also just talking to as many people as you can, expressing curiosity about their knowledge and opinions on the topic.

“Specificity can be your weapon of mass effectiveness,” Jason Cohen once wrote in “A Smart Bear”. Whether for marketing copy, blogging, a sales pitch, be specific. “Generic words are a sure sign of lazy writing.”

In content marketing, we’ve learned at Say it For You, the more specific you are in describing the shortcuts and solutions, the more engaging that content will be. Web searchers are on a fact-finding mission, looking for information that relates to what you do, what you sell, and what you know about.  The more specific the key words and phrases in the title and in the body of the blog post, the greater the chance search engines will direct those searchers to your blog. Then, the more specific the examples you provide and the terminology you use, the more impact you’re likely to have on readers of your content.

As “ghost writers’ for our clients, (our Say It For You contract guarantees that we will not write content for their competitors), we often find ourselves creating content on topics in which we have no prior experience or training. Don Vaughn’s advice about finding supporting details from agencies, universities, and specialty magazines is very apropos. “You don’t have to be a subject matter expert to write on specialty topics,” he says – “all you need is an innovative idea specific to the topic”  – and the willingness to delve into:

  • aspects of the topic’s history
  • profiles of prominent people who’ve benefitted from the product or service
  • news about developments in the industry
  • different opinions on the topic
  • human interest stories.

In content marketing, specificity can turn out to be a weapon of  creative effectiveness.

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Content Market to Reach the Ones, Not the Everyones

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Paul was trying to be everywhere, serve everyone, and sell everything. Still, his business had zero revenue for three months in a row. Then, using coach Justin Welsh’s “Rule of One”, Paul was able to effect a 90-day transformation, gaining five clients and a waitlist of three more.

The secret was in the focus, Welsh explains.

  • Paul’s content got better because he focused on one specific topic, posting content on one platform only.
  • His expertise deepened because he chose one offer that solved a specific, expensive problem.
  • He chose one customer type to target; he wasn’t trying to be everything to everyone.

Beginning back in 2008, I’ve returned again and again, in this Say it For You blog, to the theme of target marketing:

Blogs and Podiums – Choose Yours Wisely – Pick one primary area of focus – don’t try to do everything in one post.
Befitting Bloggery – Everything in your content should be tailor-made for one type of customer.
In With Blogging; a Small Business Can Have a Long Tail – high quality content can have a huge effect in a small market.
Smaller targets, Better Hits – Smaller, shorter, and centered around just one idea can turn mini-power into maxi-power.

“Trying to be everything to everyone is one of the gravest mistakes any business can make, the BigCommerce Team advises. Not only will targeting allow you to allocate your advertising dollars and marketing efforts better; “failure to understand the desires, core values, and preferences of your target audience can backfire tremendously”.

I like to call the process of creating content for professional practitioners and business owners “SME-DEV”, (Subject Matter Expert development). Yes, content needs to be focused “outward”, always keeping the needs of that carefully researched target audience in mind. At the same time, we must produce content that focuses on the people behind the business or practice, presenting them as Subject Matter Experts Who Both Know and Care.

Content marketing focuses on the ones, not the “everyones”.

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Will They Get Your Cultural Allusions?

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“Water, Water Everywhere” is the title of an article in the AARP bulletin. The subtitle reads “Supermarket aisles are flooded with all different types of bottled water.  Are any of them worth the money?” Author Andrea Wickstrom makes the case for eschewing the bottles and drinking tap water, citing growing evidence that microplastics negatively affect human health…

Cultural allusions

An allusion is a figure of speech that makes reference to a place, person, either an actual one or one found in literature. The expression “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” is an example of the latter – it comes from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 

There are three possible reasons, I explain at Say It For You, for using cultural allusions in content marketing:

  1. To get readers thinking about a product or service in a new way
  2. To get a point across without going into a lengthy explanation
  3. To cement a bond between the reader and the company or professional practitioner, based on shared experiences and knowledge

The problem is – will they get it???

Readers who do not happen to recognize the underlying story or reference point (in this case the Coleridge poem) are going to be puzzled rather than enlightened.  That means that we, as content writers, must gauge our readers’ level of education.  If we miscalculate their ability to recognize the allusion, the danger is that they’ll find our content frustrating rather than illuminating. (Due to the age group receiving the AARP Bulletin, the editors have made certain assumptions about their readers’ education level.)

 

Huh-Oh Titles

The “Water, Water Everywhere” title is an example of what I call the “Huh? Oh!” tactic. The first part (the “Huh?”) is there to startle and capture attention. The second part (the “Oh!”) explains what the text is actually going to be about. (In online marketing, that second part matches the content of the post with the terms consumers typed into their search bar.)

While, as content marketers, we need to know as much as possible about our target readers, you don’t have to qualify for membership in AARP to realize that there are titles of many types to attract readers of many ages and types!

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My Personal “Old is Gold” Celebrity Experience

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When executed successfully, a celebrity endorsement lets you leverage their fame and influence. But, even if all that’s happened is that you’ve met a former celebrity, you can leverage the nostalgia and authenticity it provides. “Brands have long realized that tapping into fond memories isn’t just a feel-good moment; it’s a powerful marketing strategy,” the mediaant.com points out.

Fifteen years ago, as president of my Indiana chapter of the National Speakers’ Association, I attended the NSA Winter Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Country music star Mel Tillis led a breakout discussion, ending by inviting all of us to attend the Grand Ole Opry performance he was hosting later that day.

There are two special points Mel Tillis made during the question/answer session about communicating with an audience (None of us could help noticing his stutter, which he explained would disappear when he was performing music):

  1.  “I’m always coming up with new anecdotes and stories.” It’s important for any speaker to keep coming up with new anecdotes and stories to illustrate each point, Tillis stressed. That’s a lesson content marketers need to learn, for sure, since maintaining high rankings on search engines means creating content again and again over long periods of time. Anecdotes and stories keep the material fresh.
  2. 2. “Sure, I get tired, like if I have to sing ‘Coca Cola Cowboy’ one more time, I think I’m gonna die. But what you need to do is act like it’s the first time you’ve ever done it. After all, every time I walk out there, it’s a different audience.” In “pull marketing” through content, you are attracting only searchers who have a need relating to what you do, what you sell, or what you know about. You may be “tired” of “same old, same old”, but, for most of those searchers, it will be the first time they’ve ever read your content.

 No, I don’t have a celebrity endorsement from country singer Mel Tillus (The singer died in 2017, after performing onstage for fifty-two years), but I wanted to share with my content marketing friends the nostalgia and authenticity of this memorable and inspiring “Grand Ole Opry” encounter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How to Build Killer Sales Pitches, Marketing Moves, and Brand Stories as a Small Business Team

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You’ve got a product or service, a team that believes in it, and a market that needs it—now what? Selling it, of course, but not with a shrug and a hope. Sales, marketing, and storytelling are where businesses win or spiral, and if you’re working with a lean crew, the stakes and the focus sharpen. You need tactics that punch above your size and messaging that doesn’t just land, it sticks. The good news? Creativity is cheaper than a bloated ad budget, and resourcefulness often outpaces experience. Let’s get into how to shape your pitch, tighten your strategy, and make your story sing.

Start with a pitch that makes people stay

Sales pitches shouldn’t feel like someone reading bullet points off a brochure. You want rhythm, voice, tension, and resolution. The goal isn’t to sell a product, it’s to sell a shift in thinking, a new convenience, or a fix they didn’t know they needed. So how do you do it? Strip it back to the problem and build the pitch around the solution, using language that invites, not pressures. A perfect sales pitch weaves customer pain points into an effortless narrative with a clear next step. If you sound like every other team with a script and a smile, you’ll disappear with them too.

Market with movement, not noise

Marketing only works when it’s aimed, not sprayed. Start by figuring out where your audience already spends their time—scrolling Instagram reels, opening local newsletters, searching YouTube tutorials—and meet them there. From there, consistency beats virality every time. A steady drip of content that informs, entertains, or sparks curiosity builds more brand recall than a one-off blitz. This is especially true for budget-conscious teams who need bang for every buck and second. For inspiration, these small business marketing ideas show how scrappy campaigns can still dominate attention spans.

Tell a story that actually matters

Nobody remembers taglines, they remember feelings. That’s the whole point of a brand narrative—it’s the emotional thread that ties everything together. You’re not just a boutique coffee roaster, you’re the shop that sponsors open mic nights and buys beans from farmers by name. Stories like that are sticky, shareable, and defensible against cheaper competitors. The mistake most small businesses make? Talking about themselves too much and their customers too little. Study compelling brand narratives and you’ll see that it’s always the audience who ends up the hero.

Go back to school without pausing your business

If your marketing or sales muscles feel flabby, there’s no shame in hitting the books again. Earning a business management degree will help you gain skills in operations, marketing, and sales—yes, all three, which is what most small team leaders need. What’s even better is how flexible the programs have become. You can go here to see how online courses make it possible to stay in the trenches while sharpening your strategy. Nights, weekends, even lunch breaks can turn into workshop hours. It’s a long play, but one that stretches your ceiling for the years ahead.

Let feedback shape your messaging

Forget guesswork. You’ve got emails, DMs, comment threads, reviews, even eye rolls at the end of your pitch—data is dripping from every edge of your business. The trick is creating systems that feed that data back into your approach without clogging your workflow. Use surveys, ask blunt questions, and don’t flinch at the answers. Your customers will write your next pitch if you let them. Start integrating feedback loops into your team’s weekly rhythm and you’ll find your voice evolving to match what people actually care about.

Proof it works: entrepreneurs are doing it

Sometimes the best advice is a mirror. When you see someone who looks like you—same hurdles, same goals—succeeding through education, the theory becomes real. One entrepreneur goes back to business school and finds their voice stronger, their strategy sharper, their brand more magnetic. That’s the ripple effect of learning with intention. It’s not a retreat from the hustle, it’s a weapon you bring back to it. And you’re not chasing a degree, you’re carving out a longer runway for your business. You’ll think longer, act faster, and speak louder. 

There’s no one-size script or silver bullet when you’re pitching with heart, marketing on a shoestring, and building a brand story that feels like yours. But there are instincts you can sharpen and strategies you can test, discard, or double-down on. Be the team that keeps learning, that writes fast and edits with curiosity. Chase feedback like it’s a cofounder. Take your voice seriously, because nobody else will until you do. And if that means going back to school or rewriting your pitch for the twentieth time, well, that’s just business.

 

Chantal Briggs created Neighbors Needed to make it easier for community members everywhere to connect with their neighbors, build strong relationships, celebrate one another, and in turn, create communities where everyone can thrive. The site offers resources and advice on how to make strong neighborly connections and build safer communities.

 

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