Has your web content had a personality bypass?
So, I met a lovely person at a business event recently. Let’s call her Gill. Gill was bubbling with enthusiasm about how she helped her clients and loved doing what she did. She had the kind of infectious energy I love. ‘I bet she’s got an awesome website,’ I thought. And ran home to look.
OK, so I didn’t run home. I checked it out on my phone in the car park. Too soon? Too stalker-ish? Come on – I’m a copywriter!
Anyway, I must have got the wrong website because there was no sign of Gill.
I’ll gloss over the godawful design with its dated style and generic stock photos because that’s not my patch. Let me tell you about the web content – because words most definitely are my patch.
I don’t know who Gill was talking to but it wasn’t me. It was all ‘my clients’ this and ‘my clients’ that. There was no ‘you’ to be found. Gill had been so warm and friendly when we met – but now she seemed distant and cold (much like the Indian takeaway I’d ordered 90 minutes ago).
To be honest, I wasn’t keen on this new Gill.
Talking to Gill in real life was fun. She spoke quite fast, eyes shining, words tripping off her tongue in short, sharp bursts of eagerness. The way she talked pulled me in and made me want to know more. And yet here she was now with her tediously long sentences that went on for ever and told me very little (apart from the fact she’s not a big fan of punctuation).
And – I hate to say this – but Gill had become a bit of a bore. Honestly, she was explaining how I could ‘utilise’ something or other to ‘enable’ me to do some sort of stuff that would be the ‘solution’ I was looking for. Slap me awake, someone!!
I felt a bit sad, really. We’d connected so well in real life. But this Gill was the kind of person I backed away from at parties.
I wish I’d met Gill before she – or some I’ll-knock-you-up-some-words-for-a-tenner copywriter – wrote her web content. Or she’d succumbed to using AI (I mean, she knows it’s a robot, right?) We could’ve had a nice chat and I would’ve captured her personality and sprinkled it all over my beautifully written words.
If we’d met earlier there wouldn’t be two Gills to confuse and frustrate people. There would be just the one Gill. The lovely Gill. The real Gill.
Gill – are you out there? I miss you.
* If you see Gill ask her to get in touch
PHOTO: Gerd Altmann/Pixabay