Vocabulary.

Timing.

Simplicity.

These are all important factors that greatly influence the way we communicate with each other and the world around us. Not only that; they’re also important tools in how we market to our target audiences.

After watching a beautiful short video about the power of words, I can’t stop thinking about the effectiveness behind our communication. The moral of the short video (spoiler alert) is that a single message can be said in multiple ways, so we need to learn the best ways to share our messages. This is directly applicable to our marketing and brand communications too, like making sure we use strategic keywords to attract attention from our target consumers, or expressing the importance behind issues like the newly implemented farm bill. And considering the average person is exposed to as many as 5,000 ads a day, it surely wouldn’t hurt to learn a few tips for more effective communication with our target audiences, right?

Here are some manageable tips to help you achieve master wordsmith status and ensure the content you’re trying to share is done so in a powerful way:

• Use the right vocabulary, or for marketers: the right keywords. When writing blog posts, use keywords that you know your consumers or customers are searching for. For instance, marketing blogs often use vocabulary like “consumer,” “strategy” or “promotion” because the audience they’re looking to attract is searching for content using these terms. For consumer facing content, try not to use produce industry jargon that may not resonate with them. Instead, focus on keywords like “apple recipes,” “healthy breakfast,” or “low-calorie meals.”
• Timing is everything. Make sure you strike when the iron is hot – using trending topics to fuel your keyword choices or overall communication messages for that month or week. For example, talk about the Super Bowl and share recipe ideas that you know consumers like to eat during the game in January and February. Or tap into green and eco-friendly conversations in April to celebrate Earth Day. A helpful tool to guide you in the aspect of planning your messaging is The Produce Marketer’s Calendar.
• Keep it simple, silly! When launching a new promotion or campaign to your audience, less is more. If a consumer is bombarded with too much information or given too many choices of what to do next, they’ll often not take any action at all – which isn’t what we want! Keep your content and messaging succinct and streamlined so that it delivers the most important message or call-to-action in the most relevant, timely and clear way.

Using the power of words, we hope the messages you share with your audiences make their way through strings of seemingly endless information, and into their hearts and minds (and newsfeeds!).