Why ‘Overwhelmed’ Doesn’t Resonate: Understanding Your Clients' True Emotions for Better Messaging.
How to create powerful content by identifying the emotions behind your clients' overwhelm and crafting copy that truly connects.
If there’s one word that I think is overused online, it’s overwhelmed. People ask us if we feel overwhelmed, but leave it there. They don't go deeper into what that overwhelm is or what it looks like, and there lies the problem.
Overwhelmed ISN’T an emotion.
There are various definitions of the word overwhelm/overwhelmed, but it can be summarised as ‘being overcome by strong emotion’.
Overcome BY emotion, but which emotion?
And why’s that important?
When it comes to writing better messaging and content, it's more important than you'd think.
Understanding which emotions your ideal client is feeling and experiencing will help you create more powerful messaging that resonates. Detailing the feelings will help them connect with the copy; it can help them feel more seen, heard, and understood. You'll build trust and connection when you present yourself or your offer as the solution.
Because there’s a difference between being overwhelmed with anger and being overwhelmed with guilt.
There’s a difference between being overwhelmed by fear and being overwhelmed with the judgement of others.
There’s a difference between being overwhelmed by stress and being overwhelmed by grief.
For example, if I take my ideal clients - service-based women in business who want to learn how to take their business to the next level with simplicity and ease so they can earn more, work less and build a happy, profitable and sustainable business doing the work they love.
Are they likely to be overwhelmed when they come to me?
Probably.
But why? What emotions might they be experiencing that are causing the overwhelm?
Here are some of the most common
Frustration at their current situation. Frustrated at themselves for not having the answer, frustrated at having the answers but not the skills or time to take action. Frustrated at their mindset and the imposter syndrome that keeps them stuck. Frustration that everyone else around them seems to be achieving the things THEY want.
What are the symptoms and emotions associated with frustration?
Frustrated people are often annoyed, cross or angry. They might be feeling disappointment along with their frustration. In Psychology Today, Andrea Bonior, PhD describes:
“Frustration is likely to be the top layer of a feeling. It speaks to a sense of stagnation or helplessness, an inability to make things happen in the way that someone wants. Merriam-Webster defines being frustrated in part as "feeling discouragement, anger, and annoyance because of unresolved problems or unfulfilled goals, desires, or needs."
Fear (this is always a big one): fear of judgement, fear of getting it wrong, fear of failure. Fear of saying the wrong thing, making mistakes, embarrassing themselves, putting themselves out there, and stepping outside their comfort zone. Fear of not making enough money. Fear of making money and then not being able to do it again. Fear of letting people down, disappointing others, and being rejected. So many people fear not being good enough.
What are the symptoms and emotions associated with fear?
Fear is a primitive emotion that makes us alert to danger or harm. Fear is the anticipation of something bad happening, both physically and psychologically. It triggers our fight or flight response, which in terms of business means we either move through the perceived fear and tackle it straight on, or we run away from it and return to safety. Fear can cause anxiety, self-sabotage, procrastination and a lack of focus. It can impact motivation, energy and confidence, which all can have an onward impact on the growth of your business.
Pressure. They are often overwhelmed with the pressure they put on themselves to make money, do more, be more, do everything, and be everything to everyone. They put pressure on themselves in terms of perfectionism, performance, and showing up, as well as meeting deadlines.
What are the symptoms and emotions associated with pressure?
Exhaustion, dizziness, clenched shoulders and teeth, irritability, frantic energy and thoughts. Being under pressure can result in low confidence or impact self-esteem. In more extreme cases, perhaps anxiety, depression, or migraines.
Guilt. Sometimes, my clients feel guilty. They might feel guilty that they have to work in the evenings and the impact this might have on their relationship/the time they have with their partner. They might feel guilty for having to work weekends. They might feel guilty for not having enough time with the kids. They might feel Guilty for not being fully present because they have so much on their minds. They might feel guilty for saying no to clients and enforcing their boundaries, forgetting something, or making a mistake.
What are the symptoms and emotions associated with feeling guilty?
Guilt can have a real impact on our mental state. It can cause people to feel tearful, trigger feelings of shame and inadequacy, and impact sleep and the ability to focus or concentrate.
I could go on and on. Do any of these resonate with you?
But now that we’ve explored some of these emotions in more depth, you can see why the term overwhelm doesn’t really address how your client might be feeling.
Address emotions behind the overwhelm for better messaging
In terms of copy, here’s an example:
Are you feeling stressed and overwhelmed in your business? Let me take some things off your to-do list and free up some hours in your day. Get in touch to discuss how my VA services can help you.
(This is a generic caption; I see so many of them daily in my feed.)
But what if you knew your ideal client was a female? She was a Coach and a more creative type. She was full of ideas and super passionate about her work and her clients. Her biggest challenge was getting everything done in the time she had available. She sometimes finds it hard to focus on one thing. This is probably her first time outsourcing.
Ask yourself:
How is this situation making her feel?
How does that overwhelm show up in her life in particular?
What is it stopping her from doing?
Frustrated - Perhaps she feels frustrated at having to do everything herself. She is frustrated that she has to do things manually and repeat tasks, making her feel like she is wasting her time. She knows there is probably a better way, but she doesn’t know how to get there.
She is frustrated that that time could be better spent elsewhere in her business and that she isn't getting to spend as much time doing the things she enjoys in her business, like serving her clients and creating new programmes. She knows that this wasted time is also impacting her profit - she could be earning more and doing more of the things she loves outside her business - travelling, new experiences, reading, living!
She is frustrated because she feels tied to the business, weighed down, and pressured by the number of tasks she has to do to keep things going. She is full of ideas and vision for her business (the things that excite her!) but frustrated that she can’t make them happen because of time restraints, not earning what she needs or knowing how to make things happen.
Fearful - she knows she needs support to take things to the next level and start freeing up time in her business, but she feels afraid of making that financial commitment. It’s the first time she’s done anything like that, so she’s worried about spending the money, doesn’t understand the value it can bring to her business yet, and is worried about her ROI. Fearful of handing over tasks, losing control or the quality not being what she wants.
Isolated - the pressure she feels makes her feel lonely and isolated at times. Not having support, someone to talk things through with and run ideas by. Not having anyone to help give her a break and let her take a step back without worrying all the plates will come crashing down.
Guilt - Guilty that she has to work evenings and weekends and can’t seem to forget about her long to-do list and be present with her family. Guilty when she DOES take time out that she isn’t working on her business!
Now we know those things about her, let’s craft a piece of copy:
I know how frustrating it feels when you have a list as long as your arm of admin tasks that need to be done just to keep your business running. All you really want to do is get that new idea for a course out of your head and onto paper (because you can’t stop thinking about it; it excites you, and every time you do think about it, your tummy does a little flip).
You can’t focus or concentrate because of all the things you have to do, so you try and start them all. You end up with 20 tabs open and having achieved nothing. It's so frustrating. Then, you feel angry at yourself for wasting the time you had to blast through your list.
And, I know how guilty it makes you feel when, for the fourth night in a row, you have to open up the laptop ‘just to finish a few things off’, and your partner gives you THAT look. You feel guilty that you can’t be fully present with your family, that there’s always something vying for your attention in the back of your mind. You can’t seem to work out how to switch off your brain, almost as if you’re scared to switch off or take your foot off the gas in case everything comes crashing down around you. If you’re honest with yourself, it’s exhausting. You feel like your business is so finely balanced at times, like you're constantly firefighting to stay afloat.
You want to take your business to the next level to achieve the success you see those around you achieving (and make it look so bloody easy!). You want to reach more people, be more visible, and serve more clients, and you know how to do that; you can’t keep doing it all yourself.
You know that it’s time to get some help.
But that feels so scary. You’re so used to doing it alone. I get it! If you haven’t outsourced before, you don’t know if it will be worth it, whether you’ll see an ROI, and the control-lover in you needs to lie down in a dark room at the thought of letting someone else into your business.
What if they get it wrong? They won’t be able to do it as well as you can, so what's the point? Surely it’s just easier and quicker to do it yourself? Anyway, you are already up to your eyeballs in it. Where will you find the time to train someone, let alone FIND someone?
Can you see how that is a much more powerful, personalised copy? Which do you think your reader might be able to resonate with? Which do you think they might feel more seen, heard and understood when reading? You could then introduce your services, explain how you can support them with these problems, and address their concerns.
This is just a simple example of how understanding the emotions or collections of emotions your ideal clients are experiencing helps you create powerful copy and messaging.
So, in short, next time you go to tell your audience you know they are overwhelmed, take a moment to think a little deeper. Ask yourself which emotions they are feeling specifically overwhelmed by and why?
How is that impacting their current situation/reality? What's holding them back from taking action?
Show them you understand how they are feeling and why. Then, show them how you can help them and provide a solution.
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