This week's newsletter was supposed to be about authenticity. But then Klaviyo had to go and rebrand in a way that caught my everyone's eye.

No, it's not the lowercase "k" or the Spicy Salmon flags.

It's this new bit of Hero copy:

"Talk to customers like you know them. Because you do."

Klaviyo's copy overhaul got real meta for me because...

1) They're encouraging their customers (DTC brands) to take the time to better understand their customers 🎉, and...

2) They're actually leading by example and putting their customers first with this new copy

Let's check out their old copy (you know, from way back on Tuesday):

"Where ecommerce businesses grow: Klaviyo is the best software platform for marketing any business that sells online. We drive billions of dollars of revenue for brands large and small, all over the world."

I don't spend a ton of time in the SAAS world, but that copy all feels pretty...generic? Like someone in Product simply described what Klaviyo does (but that could probably describe lots of other software tools as well).

But now Klaviyo has stepped out of the spotlight ("we're the best software platform") to let their customers be the heroes of this hero copy ("Turn hard-earned customer data into hard-working emails and texts.").

Or, as they said in their big unveiling: Klaviyo helps you "drive customer experiences, commit to real connection, and turn your data into growth."

(Marketing + CX working in harmony?! You love to see it.)

SO...

With this rebrand taking up space in my brain, all I could think about was how important it is to talk to your customers like you actually know them. And my favorite way to do that is by reading real customer language (and tapping into real customer goals, doubts, and dreams).

Curious about how you can better know your customers so that you can put their words to good use?

Let’s dive into this week’s links to find the answers…

Link Diving

Your marketing agency will hate you for this

(Don't blame me for the clickbait title - I swiped it right from the author 😂!)

Ever wonder how some brands come across as customer clairvoyants (while others choke on their words like they've never even used their own product)?

According to Matt Lerner, co-founder and CEO at Startup Core Strengths, the answer is Language/Market Fit.

Matt argues that language/market fit is more than "just marketing tactics" or "magic." It's simply the natural result of

He recommends that founders start the search for language/market fit as part of the customer discovery process.

Wondering how to extract the words from your buyers' brains? Matt details his 4-step process for uncovering language/market fit using the Jobs To Be Done framework.

As a bonus, this article includes loads of examples, so read it to study the framework and get some copy inspiration.

Oh yeah, and about the clickbait headline, Matt issues one final warning at the end of this article:

And to that I say, fear not. You can happily blend customer language with your brand's amazing personality and voice.

📰 Read it here: Finding Language/Market Fit: How to Make Customers Feel Like You’ve Read Their Minds​

. . .

Opening up a customer-feedback loop for sales copy

A long article deserves an itty-bitty podcast, as a treat.

So imagine my delight when I discovered that everyone's favorite funny (and talented!) copywriter Lianna Patch hopped on the Pitstop podcast to talk about customer-focused website copy.

Tune in to all 13 minutes to get some great tips on writing better bullets, pre-empting objections, and adding fun Easter eggs for your detail-loving customers.

But the part that caught my eye this week was all about turning user-generated content (not the paid kind, just regular ol' product reviews!) into marketing copy.

If you've been review mining or capturing Customer Support tickets, you already have this data.

But rather than having a robust Notion database that simply looks good (and reminds you of a hard day's work!), why not turn that data into something more?

As Lianna explains, using sticky phrases and descriptions straight from the mouths of your real buyers builds trust. What better way to reflect how customers feel about your brand than using their words?

And while you're in there snooping around, you just might discover some messaging mismatches. (Don't worry, Lianna and host Lucas Walker have an easy solution for this!)

🎙Listen now: Pitstop >> Play to Your Audience - Lianna Patch​

Delight Discovery

Let's celebrate brands that are doing things right, raising the ecommerce bar, and delighting their customers. This week’s Delight Discovery comes from Franklin's Gourmet Popcorn.

This is the headline from the Product Detail Page for Franklin's Whirley Pop popcorn machine. All of the language in this headline comes straight from customer reviews.

(I know because I wrote this one myself but here's the proof!)

^ Consistency of popped popcorn was important to Franklin's ideal buyer. And this customer spelled it out in their review.

^ Lots of reviewers used the exact phrase "built to last," so why not use that in the headline?

As for "fun to use," that was in about a dozen Amazon reviews and a few others on their Shopify site (and as a bonus, family fun is important to Franklin's as a brand value).

Buried Treasure

When we listen to customers, we find buried treasure. Here’s this week’s featured product review that’s full of swipe-worthy customer language.

Why wouldn't you listen to your customers' language (and, um, borrow it liberally) when they're writing copy like,

"It peps up pizza, excites your eggs, and fires up your fried chicken."

A list of three and alliteration? You're hired, happy customer!

CX Twitter

I'm working to find the best of CX Twitter. Here are a few Tweets (new and old) that caught my eye this week on the topic of customer language.

Juliana Jackson @theclvlady @siobhansolberg asked me today about this in her podcast Marketing. Unf*cked & this is how to mine CS data to help your product team accelerate VoC (Voice of Customer Data) efforts, prioritize features, plan a roadmap, and be aware of what your customers are going through/ feel Juliana Jackson @theclvlady Pulling CS tickets in an excel sheet is like that leftover food you come home with from a restaurant, put in a tupperware & throw out after 3 days of having it in the fridge. You don't use it, but you feel better because it gives you the impression that you did something good. March 18th 2022 0 Retweets 0 Likes

Juicy VoC lurks in other places besides customer reviews. Your CS tickets are a great place to dig around for real language. Just heed Juliana's warning and actually use the data that you're mining. Like Klaviyo says, it's your hard-earned data, so you may as well use it!

Eli Weiss @eliweisss Underrated marketing hack: Talk the way your customers do. Leverage reviews to learn how your customers talk about the problem your product is solving. Add it to your ads 📢 Add it to your PDP’s 📄 Add it to your welcome flow 📧 March 8th 2022 21 Retweets 187 Likes

I have no doubt that Eli's logged some serious hours working in the product review mines. So it's no surprise that he's got some great ideas for putting customer language to use in ads, product detail pages, and welcome emails.

Bryan Dickey 📲 @BryanDickey_ Customers don't know what SMS means. So many creative alternatives to capture the exclusivity of the channel: "Text club friends" "MVPs" "VIPs" "For our most loyal customers" "For [brand name]-lovers" Slang term for your customers (HydroJug = Juggies) Drop more below 👇 Bryan Dickey 📲 @BryanDickey_ Things you should never call SMS subscribers in a text: 1. SMS subscribers March 23rd 2022 1 Retweets 3 Likes

Remember: don't let your preferred language (which is often industry jargon) steal the spotlight from customer language. Check out the replies to Bryan's tweet for a few other ideas for addressing your audience with their words.

Let me know what kind of CX, marketing, and customer-focused curiosities you've been exploring lately. I'd love to hear what you've discovered.

- Megan