Overnight oats and not everyone needs to get it
So long as your words make the target audience feel something, you're good.
The super wonderful Andrew Boulton recently shared this ad from The Collective on LinkedIn:
For some people, it hit home and they got it.
For others, not much.
Some people were especially adamant it was wrong.
But besides Graham seeming like a bit of knob, the point here is that your copy doesn’t need to – and I’d argue it shouldn’t – appeal to everyone.
The Collective aimed that a niche audience and – going after British parents, probably low to middle incomes – and in my opinion, nailed it.
For me, the 'overnight oats parents' bit isn't about oats at all, it's a clever jab the relentless trend of social media parents going to great lengths to prepare something for their kids, while most real parents just need to get food in ‘em.
It acknowledges the exhaustion we’ve all felt from parenting 24/7 while also having to deal with influencers implying we're not doing it right if we're not preparing organic, grass-fed, handpicked, slow cooked, hand-pressed, overnight marinaded food for our tiny terrors every day.
It recognises that we're all doing what we can and giving your kid a pouch of tasty food in those rare free minutes in the morning is fine, because we can't all be overnight oats parents.
And it says The Collective gets that, a brand instantly recognisable to most parents (like Ella's Kitchen), which means we like them even more.
Yes, Graham, the headline along is enough to trigger those thoughts in the right audience and the branding’s distinct enough to identify them. Is it pulling in shiny new customers who whizz by the ad at 30mph? Probably not. Is it sticking in the mind of every target parent customer who looks at it for a few seconds? Definitely.
So next time you’re writing something and someone says, “I don’t get it”, don’t stress yourself out. If they weren’t the target audience, that’s fine. Not every bit of copy needs to appeal to everyone. Not everyone even needs to get it! As long as the people you’re aiming it at feel something, then your work is done.
This applies to all your words! Ads, emails, articles, blogs, books – whatever. Not everyone to get it, appreciate it or like it. Someone’s bound to dislike you and words at some point. And that’s fine.
So get comfy with that.
Oh, and go read Copywriting is… if you haven’t.
Fight fight fight fight 😂