That string bikini would be a conservative outfit on the beach in Saint Tropez--but an outrageous attention-grabber at church. The bikini stays the same but the context changes, along with the expectations of your fellow church-goers.

It's the same with using online marketing content to communicate with prospects. You have to constantly remind yourself where you are and where your reader is coming from.

What expectations does she have when she arrives at your website? What problem has led her there? Will she make the purchasing decision on her own or bring info back to a team? What will members of her team want to know?

Context questions are good to keep in mind no matter where you're sharing information about your offering.

Let me share a story as an example...

A networking event I attended recently included a 30-minute talk on how to explain what you do and then an hour to practice, in which attendees rotated through four different table groups.

I figure by the end of the fourth table, each person had heard around 32 elevator speeches.

There were 10 minutes left before the meeting was scheduled to end, and to kill time, the meeting leader began randomly calling on people to stand and do their spiel.

How keen do you think this audience was to hear more elevator speeches? I know my brain was full to the brim.

That's when I decided, "if she calls on me, I'm taking the gonzo approach." To soak into the saturated noggins of this crowd called for drastic measures--something unexpected.

My soft shoe is terrible, but I decided, if called on, I could tell a joke...


Too bad I wasn't called on, but I'm sure I would have gotten everyone's attention--and after my vaudeville bit, I could have shared a quick explanation of what I do.

So next time you're communicating in person or online, take a few seconds to think about where your audience is coming from.  

Depending on your goals, wearing the bikini to the wedding may not be a bad idea.