mollyzwinters Good copywriting (and marketing) starts with the ideal client profile — an audience’s wants, needs, emotions, and aspirations fueled by data points, KPI’s, and reports.
BOR-ing. (On its own.)
Great copywriting understands humans on a deeper level altogether.
You must listen well, read body language, surrender to your curiosity, dig deeper with your questions, and put yourself in the reader’s shoes.
In short, great copywriters understand humans — and know the value of data.
From there, however, copywriters can take two paths: ethical marketing…and not-so-ethical marketing.
We can use our powerful skills for good — or evil.
What is Human Connection?
I was fourteen when I first felt the natural, intuitive CLICK of human connection.
It was my freshman year of high school, and I entered the intimidating sea of adolescence as a tiny five-foot, 90-pound band nerd who looked fresh out of fifth grade.
Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have a handful of friends and an acceptable spot at a lunch table on the first day.
But it wasn’t until I crossed paths with fellow band nerd and goody-goody, Tanilee Perry, that I realized what it truly meant to connect with another person.
We talked for hours and never found the other boring.
We looked forward to West Wing Wednesdays, adored Heath Ledger singing in 10 Things I Hate About You, and had the BEST inside jokes that we detailed inside the fuzzy journal passed between us during class.
Best of all, we could even finish each other’s —
I’m sure we annoyed the HELL out of a lot of other people.
You Know It When You Feel It
This kind of human connection isn’t quantitative. I can’t spell it out for you in data points or tell you step-by-step how to recreate it because it’s just one of those things — you know it when you feel it.
Nearly thirty years later, and we still have the same connection.
I like to think we’re on the same level as Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Han and Chewie. Wayne and Garth.
Heck, even Snoop and Martha.
We talk nearly every day (thank you, Marco Polo! Sponsorship opportunity, right guys? wink wink.), we’ll always laugh at our own jokes, and we still finish each other’s…
Over the course of those thirty years, I’ve encountered a similar connection a handful of other times. One led to marriage (👋 hey, babe!), and a few others to more lifelong friendships.
Human Connection — you know it when you feel it.
– Molly Winters
An Epidemic of Loneliness — and How it Relates to Business
In an age when we can work and chat with others from across the globe, we seem to be lonelier than ever.
Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a public health epidemic in 2023. Soon after, the World Health Organization declared loneliness a global public health threat.
And it’s not just white-coat-wearin’ scientific smarty-pants who think this.
On a recent episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, Amy Poehler said, “…and it’s deeper — it’s connection, which I think we’re very hungry for. Everything is very front-facing and we’re lonelier than ever.”
When I heard that, I was internally fist-pumping and high-fiving myself like, ‘Yassss. Amy Poehler and I are on the same page.’ (Sorry, Dr. Murthy. I could quote Amy P. on loneliness before I knew who you were.)
SO — how in the hell does this relate to business? To marketing?
Hold your horses, I’m getting there.
Integrity in Marketing
I’m an idealist. Always have been.
I believe that humans, innately, are GOOD. Or at least want to be.
(In my college years, I lived in Los Angeles for a year and a half and frequently heard friends saying, “I hate people,” or “People are the worst.” That’s when I knew I had to return to the Pacific Northwest. That shit is toxic, my friends. #pnw4life)
Sure, there’s a helluva lotta bad happening right now. There are some seriously crazy people in power.
But guess what? There always has been. (Naysayers: please don’t read that as me saying we should just give up and shrug our shoulders. That’s not what I said.)
We live in an age where everyone lives with their thoughts out loud for all to hear. As Milan Kundera said in The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, “Once the writer in every individual comes to life (and that time is not far off), we are in for an age of universal deafness and lack of understanding.”
(Kundera generously thought we’d all be writers, but instead our universal deafness has come in the form of TikTok videos.)
We’re living in some rough times — and it’s quite possible we’re driving this metaphorical big ol’ bus right off the cliff…
BUT —
What if instead, we all believe in our ability to make a difference?
What if instead of pointing fingers at everyone else, we took a hard look at ourselves and decided what to do in our daily lives to make a difference?
Enter — marketing with integrity.
Human Connection in Marketing
I’ve worked in marketing for over a decade. Initially, I wrote descriptions of bed linens for an e-commerce website (aka product copy).
I learned about data and analytics when they were words rarely heard or understood. I wrote blogs about sleep hygiene (before it was a buzzword) and stain removal to drive traffic to the aforementioned linen company’s blog.
But eventually, I found it rather boring.
It wasn’t until I began writing for professional organizers that I started truly understanding human connection’s impact on marketing.
Purpose-Driven Companies
In a world of excess and consumerism, professional organizers help people declutter what they don’t need or love and organize what’s left over so they can live a more peaceful and fulfilling life.
That’s a pretty idealistic goal, with true sights of changing the world and making an impact. And there are countless other industries like it in the world—ones that are driven by purpose and a deep why that fuels what they do.
These are the companies that we should be using our superpowers to champion and promote.
Now, don’t get me wrong — I don’t think ethical marketing will change the entire world. And marketing won’t cure loneliness. But human connection is a driving force behind so much in life, and there are an estimated 2.5 million marketing professionals in the US and 6.5 million globally.
I think we can make a dent.
The Intersection of Profit + Purpose
CEOs, founders, or leaders may hear these concepts and consider the potential profits in combining technology and human connection. And they’re correct. There are big margins for the taking.
Using human connection in our marketing shouldn’t be wielded like a financial weapon, but rather as an authentic filter to match the right people with the right product or service.
Your company can’t be the solution for everyone. There are currently over 8 billion people on the planet.
If you’re going after everyone, you’re greedy.
When your product or service sincerely improves people’s lives and you can stand behind it, then using human connection in your marketing isn’t evil, it’s human.
We can use the things that make us tick (or click) as drivers in our marketing to attract the right people and repel the wrong ones. That way, we can all get our fair share of customers and profits, all while aligning with our purpose and values.
Let’s see a few examples in action, shall we?
Ethical Marketing Examples Using Human Connection
In looking for companies with ethical practices, I wanted businesses that are actually doing good — not just saying it.
A B Corp Certification means a business has undergone a thorough review and has proven to care about more than just profits. We’re talking people, planet, purpose—the whole package.
The following examples are B Corp Certified — and they’re only three out of over 9,500 companies that have achieved the status.
Ben & Jerry’s
More than just a bunch of damn hippies, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream was founded in 1978 and has championed human rights, social and economic justice, and environmental protection ever since.
With flavors like Americone Dream (featuring the face of Stephen Colbert), Cherry Garcia, and Phish Food, it’s fair to say that Ben & Jerry’s knows its ideal customer profile pretty well and connects with it through humor, fun, and downright serious values.
This quick video shows the issues Ben & Jerry’s support.
Who’d have thought ice cream could say this much?
Patagonia
In searching for companies with ethical marketing and business practices, Patagonia comes up again and again.
We get it, Patagonia, you love Earth.
But guess what? Their customers do, too.
Companies with strong values naturally attract loyal patrons. Patagonia understands that its ideal customer cares as much about the environment as they do.
Through famous marketing campaigns like the Don’t Buy This Jacket ad, Patagonia has made waves against the fast fashion industry.
Founder, Yvon Chouinard, says, “I’ve always felt guilty about making consumer things. So I have a sense that it’s my responsibility to help people wear them as long as possible.”
“You hear ‘reuse, recycle,’ stuff like that. You also have to consider refuse. Refuse to buy something. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it,” he told TODAY. (My professional organizer friends will love this sentiment.)
Through programs like Worn Wear, Patagonia offers to “buy back your eligible pre-loved Patagonia gear and help it find a new home—not the landfill.”
Values like these make great marketing fodder, but they have to be more than that to have lasted since 1973.
The Body Shop
In an industry not known for sustainability, The Body Shop has been a leader in ethical business practices since its founding in 1976 by Anita Roddick.
As a champion for environmental and human rights, Roddick believed that, “Business shapes the world. It is capable of changing society in any way you can imagine.”
Despite a few bumpy years, the UK beauty brand remains a champion of sustainability through programs like its refill stations.
“Why waste a container when you can refill it? And why buy more of something than you can use? We behaved as my mother did in the Second World War, we reused everything, we refilled everything, and we recycled all we could (…) The foundation of The Body Shop’s environmental activism was born out of ideas like these.” Anita Roddick
Value-driven companies transcend trends or fads because they stand for something more substantial. Each of these examples has put their values front and center — and they’ve stuck around since the 1970’s.
Purpose-Driven Companies Can Change the World
Okay, so we’ve hopped all over the place today from my ninth-grade yearbook picture, Ben and Jerry’s hippie-dippie ice cream, and all the way to Milan Kundera.
Such is life.
It’s all connected, and at the moment, humanity appears at the precipice of either greatness or. . . not.
So if you’re in any kind of business leadership role (or like me, in a marketing role), I think you’ll see that ethical marketing and human connection matter now more than ever.
We can use data, technology, AI, and all the incredible tools at our fingertips — and still remember the human side of business.
For the love of all that is holy, let’s not drive the school bus off the cliff.
If you’d like to hear more about my connection copywriting style, check out my interview with Website Planet, “Crafting Copy That Connects: Molly Winters on the Power of Human Connection in Marketing.”
