SUPER BOWL PARTY ADVICE: Don’t ever try to compete with Super Bowl Sunday weekend unless you can make a mean chili or spicer copy. 

A few years ago, I was working with the previous rector of a church in Connecticut as their Communications Director, and each year he would host a chili cook-off for the parish. Many would compete for the title of “Best Chili” or “People’s Choice.” 

That year, it happened to be the day before Super Bowl Sunday, and the number of responses was… underwhelming. For almost a month, we sent out weekly newsletters advertising for contestants to step forward along with a bunch of other “asks.”  

And we received…. the sounds of…crickets chirping in our emails… 

With no contestants in sight, it looked like we were either going to have to cancel or re-schedule, and hope, and pray, that snow wasn’t in the forecast. 

The newsletter felt more like a long list of help wanted for different projects. It became something that people just glossed over as soon as it popped into their inbox. The week before, I had signed up for an online course on how to craft better emails. That class taught me two essential details to preparing the perfect email. 

1. Write an Engaging and Personal Headline
2. Write a Compelling Call-to-Action with a Story

With that, I had a mindset shift. 

What if instead of writing the emails like we had done in the past or what we thought we should be sending, we wrote the kind of emails we would want to get in our inbox?

Emails that people felt connected to or exciting. Emails that made our audience feel like we are engaging them directly instead of as a whole. 

I don’t know why it didn’t come naturally to me because I’m a writer, not a designer, by training. I majored in English with a minor in creative writing. I’ve always loved writing and connecting with people through good storytelling. 

With my new mindset, I asked the rector if I could take some creative liberty to save the Chili Cook-Off. I went to work in crafting a personalized plea and leaned into the Super Bowl as far as I could go. 

Due to knowing my audience and leaning into our opponent through that carefully crafted email, we garnered twelve contestants instead of the only contestant we originally had – the rector!  

I write all of the DiDonato Design Studio’s marketing copy, social media captions, and website copy. I devour good writing – from good fiction on my nook to Matthew McConaughey audible soliloquy to screenshot caption worthy Instagram posts. Writing is kinda my thing! 

And yet, I was passing up the opportunity to truly speak to an audience wanting more substance and fulfill a real call-to-action. 

But before I put my blinders on and you judge me, let me just turn this around:

Chances are, you’re passing up on the same missed opportunity to write something worthy of substance to your eager readers every week. 

That’s right! I’m asking you to look at all of your brand’s copy: from website, social media captions, emails, and your marketing copy! The words you’re writing each time you snag a subscriber. It’s a missed opportunity for you and your audience, and you don’t have to be a trained writer to get it right. We’re all writers in the underbelly of our minds, and you just need to pull it through.

Tip One: Tell A Good Story

People will always make room for the latest Netflix show because people devour great storytelling. People make time and pay attention to great stories with intricate details. Just look at the latest Netflix show that exploded on the internet this month, Bridgerton. People binged the show within a day(s). Why? Because 1. Shonda Rhimes is a producer goddess, and 2. She’s good at showing and less telling. That’s why we’re all on the edge of our seats waiting for season two. People love stories because they remember and re-tell them. Stories stick with us. 

So, how can you tell the story of the day you quit your 9-5 and became a podcast host or the time your family friend told you to build a side hustle shooting family portraits because you really have an eye for photography, or the moment you truly realized you have a passion for designing outfits. Stories make you memorable, so don’t limit your audience and share your stories. 

Tip Two: Read Everything Out Loud

Why do people care about listening to sermons each Sunday morning? People care about good storytelling and tone of voice. Each Sunday, there is an underlying lesson to the sermon, and tone of voice can deliver a powerful sermon through different techniques. It could be sense of humor, emotional depth, a desire to help one another, to be empathetic, the ability to relate, be poetic, or it can be all of the above!  

Good copy has a tone of voice and sounds like a person wrote it. If your copy is missing your sense of style or tone of voice, it can feel underwhelming. It needs to sound like you and by reading your copy aloud, you can get a sense of whether you’re writing as you or how you feel you should be writing. When you read your copy aloud, you can catch sentences that may fall flat or doesn’t quite sound like you, or maybe there should be a pause in between your sentences. 

Tip 3: Don’t Edit Your Personality and Make it About Them

The best brands feel real, and like you’ve been good friends for years. Most of the time, as business owners and entrepreneurs, you are the focal point of your brand, and you want your copy to sound relatable to your audience and convert your audience into clientele. 

It’s also about your reader. What’s in it for your reader? Why would they take the time to read what you’ve written? How are you best serving them? 

You can achieve this through good storytelling, listening to yourself out loud, and tying in your overall message or call-to-action.