Is your Copy Suffering from Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Syndrome?

As the spooky season is upon us, the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde reminds us exactly what NOT to do when it comes to writing copy or content for your business…

Curious to learn what we mean?

Let’s dive in! 

In case you needed a quick plot refresher, Stevenson’s novel is about Dr. Jekyll, a kind and intelligent scientist, who explores the darker side of science to bring out his ‘second’ (let’s call it evil) nature. He transforms himself into Mr. Hyde, the most violent alter ego you could imagine, who commits crimes and slowly takes over Dr. Jekyll. 

Over time, the story and its characters gave way to the colloquial expression “Jekyll and Hyde”, which became synonymous with someone who has a two-sided personality. 

What does this have to do with copy and content, you wonder? 

Simple. 

Lots of businesses, especially ones based on personal brands, tend to suffer from a Jekyll and Hyde issue in their copy. 

They approach copywriting or create content mimicking a brand voice or style that they’ve seen somewhere else or that someone told them would work well. This brand voice is often completely unrelated to their own positioning or their brand archetype or personality, and when their prospects actually engage in a conversation with them (or their team), they are taken aback by how different they are from what they’ve seen portrayed online. 

Unfortunately, this causes a major inconsistency issue that affects trust and likeability between a brand and a potential customer, meaning businesses could miss out on conversion opportunities if clients are put off by such differences.  

A brand, no matter how small or big, should feel aligned and cohesive, throughout every interaction a potential customer has with it, from social media to customer service, sales calls, and everything in between.

To put it simply - would you feel comfortable buying from someone whose words don’t match their actions or would you be put off and question their integrity? 

That’s why it’s so important to ensure your personal and/or business brand doesn't suffer from a Jekyll and Hyde complex. 

So how can you prevent this from happening?

This is where the importance of shaping a brand voice, along with a copy style guide, that’s solely relevant to YOUR brand comes in; if you put in the strategic work to understand what your brand stands for, its personality type or archetype and the language it will use to address its audience, then it will be really easy to create copy and content that feels unique to you and appears consistent to your dream clients. 

Don’t know where to start? 

Keep it simple and think of your business’ values - what personality or communication style would suit it? If your business or brand was a person, what would be three words to describe their personality? 

Next, shift your focus towards your customers. What are their demographics and psychographics and what would be a communication style or language they’d respond well to? How do they talk about your services or products? How do they describe their challenges or solutions they are seeking? 

You can use this information to guide you in the creation of a wordbank and your copy style guide, so you can write (or outsource your writing) with ease and confidence. 

Remember, the language of your copy matters.

How truthful you are in your brand matters.

Being yourself, especially if you leverage your personal brand, and coming across in a genuine way matters.

Because it all really contributes to creating genuine brand-audience connections and speeding up that know-like-trust process that leads to more sales and happy customers.

Have you enjoyed this article and want more tips and nuggets to enhance your marketing efforts? Subscribe to our newsletter HERE and you will receive a monthly email choke full of exclusive insights!