What Vicky Pattison can teach us about content marketing

I loved watching Vicky Pattison on Strictly. And I was gutted when she was voted out of the competition. Spoiler!

Not only was she a fab dancer, but she cracked me up.

Why? 

Because she doesn’t take herself too seriously. Plus, she doesn’t fall into the trap of sounding like every other reality star out there – and let’s face it, there’s a lot of them around these days.

Some of the lines she came out with on the show were hilarious. 

If you've not been watching Strictly or are unfamiliar with Vicky's golden one liners, here are just a few examples (it helps if you say them in a Geordie accent)…

• “I’m thrilled to ribbons”

• “I’m shaped like a croissant, me”

• “You’re dripping like an egg sandwich”

• “I’m buzzing like an old fridge to be here”

• “Everyone looks as cool as a cucumber in a bowler hat”

Find your own voice

The word authentic has become a bit of a buzzword recently. But I still stand by the fact that you need to be your true self when it comes to marketing your business.

That’s especially true when so many business owners are turning to AI to write their content.  

The thing about AI is…it’s predictable. 

It sounds like everyone else because it uses data to create the content you’ve asked for. There’s zero creativity involved. It just takes a guess on what word should come next. And that is the antithesis of being creative, in my opinion.

It’s so easy to stick to the norm and use overused similes, metaphors and cliches in your content. 

Lines like:

• “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”

• “Like a bull in a China shop”

• “As cold as ice”

When you use these lines, you just end up sounding like everyone else – they’re boring and forgettable.

Make your content stand out from the rest

So why not have some fun with your similes and metaphors, like Vicky does? Get creative and come up with some new phrases that'll help you become more memorable to your audience.

Instead of “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, try “don’t put all your cookies in the jar” or “don’t let one pigeon carry all your messages”.

Instead of “like a bull in a China shop”, try “like a toddler with a paint set” or “like an octopus on roller skates”.

Instead of “as cold as ice”, try “as cold as a frozen pea on a snowman” or “as cold as the look you get from your kid when you forget their snack”.

You get bonus points for making it relatable to your target audience, too.

For example, my target audience is female business owners. So, rather than using the overused phrase: “Every Tom, Dick and Harry”, I've created my own version: “Every Yvonne, Nic and Carrie”.

Try it for yourself next time you’re tempted to use a boring, overused cliché in your content. You might even end up creating your own catchphrase.

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Need help to define your audience and create some messaging that will stick like the Paw Patrol sticker my daughter put on my laptop?

Book a strategy session and let me help you ditch the clichés.