Twice in a month she came out of the gym in tears.

Her tumbling coach is… not well-suited to my youngest daughter’s personality.

At 10, she is getting really good at gymnastics and cheer.

But she’s aware that she’s more sensitive than other kids her age.

This is not a cop-out.

It’s a real thing she has to navigate.

Interactions or comments other children can easily absorb are challenging for her to accept.

They hit her at a different angle.

And hurt.

And this guy’s coaching style doesn’t accommodate her sensitivity.

So she’s practicing something besides tumbling these days: going numb, mentally.

So that she can stave off the emotions and perform physically.

And this week she came home proud.

“I did it. I didn’t give him my tears.”

It’s a thing we all learn to do, right?

Going numb.

Sometimes intentionally.

And sometimes we’re just conditioned to it.

Think of your social media feeds. After years of scrolling, you recognize ads and don’t pay attention.

It’s the same with display ads on websites.

And emails from brands that have lost inbox priority for you.

As marketers / content creators, we’re trying to catch the attention of numbed audiences.

And to do that, we have to figure out ways to break through the barriers their brains create.

These barriers are mostly the byproduct of more and more brands adopting a best practice until what felt like a fresh, new approach now saturates the spaces we occupy.

Eventually, it’s a sea of sameness we’re all numb (aka immune) to. We learn to ignore them.

That’s why “doing what our competitors do” rarely works.

But doing what very few can do does.

You can break through the numb barrier with…

…a strong point of view.

…content that goes beyond anything else out there to solve a buyer’s problem.

…building a relationship that feels 1:1 (engaging on social media in the comments; replying to every reply to your newsletter).

…publishing content that is unmistakably from you / your brand.

In continuing to shift this newsletter more toward content marketing with a touch of newsletter advice, you’ll notice this issue has less newsletter tips and another heaping dose of marketing content.

I’m taking it slow so you have time to react and send me feedback. Let me know what you think.

Ashley Guttuso