Beware of Self Congratulatory Web Copy
Imagine a well-dressed, sophisticated professional woman enjoying a glass of fine wine in her favorite four-star restaurant.
A nice-looking, well-groomed young man approaches her and says,
Hello. I’m a hot stud.
Now, what chance do you reckon this young man has with successfully continuing the conversation?
I ask you this because when I see companies and people with self-congratulatory names, taglines, web copy, and social media profiles — I wonder if they seriously hope to attract sophisticated, mentally competent clients!
Sure, a self-congratulatory approach may work on airheads and rubes, but it turns off sophisticated consumers. Overselling has a decidedly low-brow, mass-market appeal. It works for “Wonder” Bras and “Wonder” Bread and “AAA” Insurance — but not for a sophisticated, niched professional market!
In fact, this approach is exactly like a guy coming up to a gal in a bar with some kind of cheesy line. If people were companies, think of how ridiculous this might be:
- “Hi! I’m a Prestigious Lawyer. I close your case with style and satisfaction!”
- “Hello, I’m the Most Preferred Real Estate Agent. I’m the top professional home sellers trust!”
- “Yo! I’m a Distinctly Different Accountant! Competent AND Aggressive, I can’t be beat!”
Lay off the cheese. One of the happy benefits of social media plays like LinkedIn and Facebook is that you can let other people brag for you! Testimonials from your professional network speaks more strongly than ape-like chest pounding.
In a social media world, online bragging is so O-U-T.
(Not that it was ever really “in”…!)
Related Posts:
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Eric Hundin