Why great content starts with real human truths

It’s no secret that there’s a lot of noise out there.

Your inbox is full. Your feed is chaos. AI is pumping out content faster than you can say “GPT.” And your brain? Probably buffering. Mine is, fosho. So if your content isn’t tapping into something true, it’s not going to work. Full stop.

This isn’t about trends, tone of voice, or the latest shiny content format (although those help). This is about emotional resonance. Audience instinct. That little, “ugh, me” moment that makes a person stop scrolling and start paying attention. Because today, the only content that cuts through is content that feels human.

Stop marketing to “personas” and start marketing to actual people.

Too many marketers get stuck in a content loop that’s technically correct, but totally soulless. They’re writing for "24-35-year-old urban professionals who enjoy boutique fitness and craft beer." BECAUSE GIRL, in this economy?? Who TF? I’ll tell you who it’s not: actual people who are spiralling over rent prices, fighting for screen time, and just trying to keep their plants alive (it’s me, I’m people).

This is why great content doesn’t come from demographics. It comes from insight. Real, lived, slightly-messy human truths that you can’t Google but you can observe—if you’re listening.

• A skincare brand might say, “We help reduce redness.” A human truth might be, “Your skin shouldn’t betray you when you're already anxious about that date.”

• A productivity app might say, “Boost your workflow.” A human truth might be, “You don’t need another tool. You need someone to stop asking ‘circle back?' and two seconds to yourself to take a f*cking breath.

The best brand work must not only understand the customer journey, but the customer’s life and the problems they face.

Culture moves at the speed of memes. Human truths last much longer.

It’s tempting to chase trends. And look, hopping on the right moment can work (shoutout to every brand that managed to be funny during the Roman Empire TikTok era). But trends are surface-level. Human truths? Those are forever.

Let’s take a classic:

• Last week I wrote about how Mario Kart isn’t just a game. It’s a cultural ritual that taps into something deeper: the joy of friendly competition, the agony of a blue shell, the nostalgia of simpler times. That’s why it’s lasted decades… and why brands that tap into shared emotional memory (instead of the newest viral audio) actually build audience loyalty.

Or another:

• Canva doesn’t merely sell design templates. It taps into the emotional reality of being a non-designer expected to “make it look professional.” It understands the panic of last-minute pitch decks, the shame spiral of Comic Sans, the pure relief of dragging and dropping your way to competence. That’s why people love it. It’s a little leg up.

You can A/B test your heart out, but if your content lacks an emotional core, you’ll still be staring at flat metrics.

Humans are wired for connection. We share what makes us laugh, cry, or feel a little more understood, not what makes us say, “Wow, what a well-positioned omnichannel campaign.”

So! consider this your permission slip to get weirdly specific. Get painfully honest. Get emotionally accurate. And then wrap it up in creative that doesn’t just say something smart—it feels it.

But how do you actually find human truths without going on a soul-searching retreat?

You don’t need a PhD in anthropology to find the emotional pulse of your audience. Just do these four things:

1. Lurk where your audience hangs out. Reddit threads. TikTok comments. Substack replies. Anywhere people are candid and unfiltered.

2. Ask better questions. Not “What does our product do?” but “What’s going on in their life when they want this?” or “What emotion drives this behaviour?”

3. Zoom in, not out. Specificity is your friend. “Burnout” is broad. “Crying in the office loo while trying to cancel a dentist appointment” is a vibe.

4. Keep a swipe file of truths. Screenshot tweets. Jot down overheard convos. Save TikToks that punch you in the gut. These are literal gold mines.

The best-performing content often comes from the most vulnerable insights.

Because people don’t want brands that talk at them. They want ones that get them in their messy, raw entirety. Now, before you post, ask yourself, does this sound like something a person - a real person LIVING in today’s world - would feel? If not, go back. Get real. Then do it again.

Human first. Always. The clicks will follow. Trust.

-Sophie Randell, Writer