There seems to be a fear about showing personality in B2B content. Either that it doesn’t sound professional or makes people feel exposed.
Showing some personality can be using a particular turn of phrase or choosing more conversational words in your writing.
Or perhaps using an anecdote or talking about a personal experience or how something made you feel, something that shows some of your personality.
What is ‘professional’?
First of all, being professional isn’t about sounding or dressing a certain way.
I’ve worked with many different people in the property industry, and some wear suits, some wear jeans and a range in between.
It doesn’t make any difference to their knowledge and expertise and how they do their job.
And when meeting people in person, elements of your personality will come across. You aren’t a robot.
Know, like, trust
People do business with people. And they are more likely to do business with people they know, like and trust.
And how you come across, your personality is part of that.
Showing some personality in your writing helps your content in two key ways. It can make it more engaging and relatable because it will sound human.
And secondly, it can help your content stand out from the B2B content crowd because not many people are letting their personality shine through in their writing.
Small steps: Being subtle
You don’t need to give away your life story. It can be as subtle as choosing to use a particular word you would usually say.
For example, if you work in health care and would usually say ‘poorly’ rather than ‘sick’ in conversation, then use ‘poorly’ in your writing.
Readers will understand the word, and it sounds authentic.
It also means that when people, who have read your content, meet you in real life, you don’t sound like a different person.
How do you feel about personality in content?
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