Early this morning my 9-year-old daughter decided she wanted to hand-make 18 origami hearts to give to each of her classmates for Valentine’s Day. We only had about 15 minutes until we had to leave for school.
She wanted each of the paper hearts to say “Happy Valentine’s Day” in script handwriting. The only problem? She doesn’t know how to write in script. They don’t teach it in school anymore.
So she asked me to do it.
I resisted. “They’re your Valentines,” I said. “They’re not from me, they’re from you. Besides, we’ve got to get going or we’ll be late.”
I didn’t want to do the work for her. I wanted her to learn to solve her own problems. Thinking I’d made my point, I sat back and figured she’d either print her message in plain text or leave the words off altogether.
But my daughter is persuasive.
“No, Dad. They’re not just from me. They’re from us—the whole family.”
Suddenly, I saw things differently. With that simple reframe, the situation was no longer about my desire to teach my daughter a lesson about responsibility. It was an opportunity for me to contribute to a thoughtful idea—and do something good on behalf of our family.
My daughter put the task in a new context.
Context is one of the many variables we consider for every piece of content or copy we develop at MarketSmiths. What does your reader know, not know, want, don’t want, understand, fear, object to, have questions about, need to further unpack, and so forth? How are they viewing your product or service now, and how does that perception need to change in order for them to take action?
These are the questions we constantly ask ourselves as we weave together facts, questions, anecdotes, examples, metaphors, and turns of phrase. This is how we use language to create the shared meaning that precedes conversion.
This is how we speak directly and relatably to audiences.
In many cases, establishing context is a gradual process. But sometimes a new context can be established in an instant. Imagine an ad for a hiking boot. The headline could simply say “Hiking Boots: $250”. Or it could say: “Where will you wander?” Now the boot is more than a boot. It’s a passport to adventure, a gateway to possibility.
This is the power of strategic writing—which is really strategic thinking. It’s the ability to merge your reader’s interests with your expertise or offering such that you both end up in a better place than you started. And context plays a huge role in that exchange.
“You know what,” I said with a smile. “You’re right. Let’s make them from all of us.” I grabbed a pencil and quickly scribbled out the 18 messages—and felt my heart swell.
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at MarketSmiths.
