Writing copy for a specific person not a demographic

Nobody has ever read a sentence as an “AB male aged 35–44 with a promiscuous attitude to white spirits”. They read it as Steve, late for a train, suspicious of the price and wondering whether the bottle will make him look cheap at dinner. Steve may be fictional or composite. He is still more useful to a writer than a demographic wearing a tie.

Broad audiences produce ceremonial copy. “Our solution empowers modern IT leaders to unlock transformational value.” Which leader? What value? What happens if they do nothing? The sentence addresses a conference badge, so naturally it sounds like one. Picture instead the person who has to explain another outage to the board. Or the shop owner creating invoices at ten at night. Or the colleague opening an email and deciding in four seconds whether it requires action. Now the writer can hear an interruption: “What does this actually do?”, “How painful is migration?”, “Can I deal with this tomorrow?” Useful copy begins where imaginary applause ends.

Specificity does not mean assuming every customer is Steve. It means choosing a real enough mind against which the sentence can collide. Segmentation helps buy the audience. A person helps write to it. If the copy still sounds like an announcement from Manufacturer to Consumer, stop polishing. Put someone human on the other side and notice how quickly the bullshit becomes embarrassing.