Are You The Right Person To Write Your Copy?

If you are a business owner, are you of the opinion that there is absolutely no need to hire a copywriter to write your sales materials because you know your product better than anyone else?

I can’t argue with the fact that you probably do know your product better than anyone, but that is the exact reason why you shouldn’t write the copy.

How can you tell if a company has written its own copy?

Because it is focused on what the product is rather than what it will do for the customer. It’s only natural. After all if you spend every waking hour with tumble dryers you will end up thinking about them a lot. You will know what every programme does and will probably be able to explain how it works in your sleep. It would be same if you made top of the range, ultra expensive shoes or any other product for that matter.

The problem with this is that it tends to lead to descriptive writing rather than powerful sales writing. So you will be writing about how great it is at drying clothes and perhaps the different colours it is available in – great, but a freelance copywriter would describe it as a specially designed labour saving device.

The same applies to the shoe example. Being too close to them, you will be selling them as high quality and stylish, which I am sure they are. But your sales writer would look at them and think ‘what does your potential customer want to know?’ They aren’t interested in the quality of the leather, or shade of colour. The will want to know that they are the latest must-have item for the woman-about-town and they’ll make her irresistible to men.

OK, that is potentially a little far fetched, but I hope it illustrates my point.

No matter how much blood, sweat and tears went into developing and producing your product, your customer won’t give two hoots. The only thing they are interested in is what will it do for them?

• Will it save me money?
• Will it save me time?
• Will it make me look successful?
• Will it make me feel like a million dollars?

Knowing your product well is vital but what is probably more important is the ability to dramatise them it terms of their benefits. A skilled copywriter will make your reader believe that not only will their lives be made easier with your product, but they couldn’t possibly live without it.

That is the skill you need to harness through a professional copywriter; the skill that will make your readers reach for their credit cards.