Why You Should Never Assume

One of the biggest copywriting mistakes you see is that the writer has made assumptions about the reader.

What do assumptions make? Absent readers because they would have toddled off and found what they were looking for elsewhere.

Everyone wants something different out of life – whether it is peace and quite, a high flying career or just to be left alone. If we didn’t the world would be a pretty boring place.

It is the little things that get us up out of bed in the morning that are crucial to the way you write your website content and copy. If you don’t know what makes your reader tick you’ll never get inside their heads, inspire them and make them take the action you want them to.

Guess what? Even if you do know them so well you know what buttons to push, you can never assume you know how they’ll react.

Even the most seasoned copywriter can come unstuck if they think they know what everyone wants. You see the problem is that we all have our own way of looking at the world and tend to assume that everyone else sees the world in the same way.

Remember, what motivates you will not necessarily motivate your target audience. You have your own ambitions and goals in life, but the people who you want to buy from you may be looking for something very different – and therein lies the trick of writing website copy that converts.

If you can’t reach people and tap into what they want, you’ll never be able to sell them anything at all.

Getting to know them

Your website content must separate what you want from life from what your target audience wants. You are only after one thing – sales.

So how do you sell to someone who doesn’t think like you do? Simple – you become your target reader. Forget about your motivators, assume nothing, and discard all your personal perceptions. Put yourself in your reader’s shoes.

Your reader is trying to work out where your company figures into the equation. Why should he choose your business?

Perhaps he’s stressed and needs ways to make his life more peaceful. Perhaps he wants to cut down on his workload or boost his business.

If you know what motivates him you can sell him what you have. Take the time to find out, don’t assume anything.