Tap into Relatable Truths

This is one of my favorite tweets about startups:

Clearly, it resonated with quite a lot of other people, too.

Why?

It summarizes a truth that I immediately got but failed to articulate previously:

Every successful person got lucky, and their success is nearly impossible to replicate.

Note: Paul Graham says that a founder’s best way to replicate this is to increase their luck surface area by meeting people, writing online, building an audience, living in a major city, etc.

This tweet taps into one of the most powerful ideas behind impactful marketing: relatable truths.

Tapping into relatable truths makes your message more powerful and memorable.

In the book A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters, Dan gives examples of relatable truths you can tap into during Christmas holidays:

Notice how you felt after each of them. Did you find yourself nodding along?

I know I did.

Let’s dive into the different types of relatable truths.

Here are a few ways to categorize relatable truths:

• Context: Truths related to where the message is seen. For example, an ad in LA:

• Holidays/events: Truths related to the current or recurring events such as advertising your product during Valentine’s Day, Christmas, a US election, a recession, or a global pandemic.
• Industry: Truths related to the specific industry you operate in. For example, startups/business (like Andrew’s tweet), kids toys, dating, clothing, and for marketers:

• Cultural:Truths related to social, societal, or cultural trends. Ranging from:
  • Hype trends: AI, crypto, Clubhouse, BeReal, and Squid Game.
  • Culture shifts: Sustainability, remote work, DEI, personal brands, creator economy, urban diaspora, video > books, anon accounts, and mental health awareness.
  • Technological shifts: Internet, mobile, AI, blockchain, virtual reality/metaverse, 3d printing, quantum computing, and nuclear fusion.
  • Memes: rick rolling, ok boomer… too many to list.

• Human: Truths related to core human behavior and psychology. This is the most broad-reaching and hardest to categorize. For example, how people act in an embarrassing moment:

Spend time brainstorming relatable truths for your product, industry, culture, and context. And add to this list whenever you come across one.

They’ll help your marketing resonate.