Entries Tagged 'copywriting tips' ↓

Marketing is a necessary evil when it comes to running a business. It’s one of those things that most people hate, mainly because it takes time. Th problem is, without it you won’t have any customers so it’s a bit of a catch 22.

If you are one of those rare creatures that enjoys it – whether you’re a social media fanatic, blogging hero, content writer extraordinaire, or a wizard at email marketing – there’s one thing you must do in order to get your customers to buy.

Want to know what it is?

Finding out what interests your customers.

That’s it.

You have to know what keeps them awake at night, what pushes their buttons, what they really, really want.

There are probably several things, but in the main their main interest is themselves.

They don’t care about your business, where your premises are, whether you’re the market leader (everyone says that), or a great innovator (yawn), all they want to know is how you are going to help them.

How selfish!

Even though you’ve spent years building up your business, you’ve weathered economic downturns, fluctuations in your market place and umpteen rows at home because of the number of hours you spend at the office, your customers don’t care.

But why should they?

None of that’s going to help them, is it?

The only way they’re going to spend their hard earned cash with you is if you can convince them that their lives will be greatly improved by your product or service.

It’s the exact same reason why you buy things and yet it’s easy to forget that when you’re putting your own marketing materials together.

If you want to sell, forget about your business

When crafting your message, put yourself and your business to the back of your mind.

Every thought you have must centre on your customer.

• Who are they?
• What problem do they have?
• How can you help them?
• What can you offer them that will solve their problem?

There’s no room for a tempting “we’re the best at what we do” spiel.

The cold hard fact about marketing is that there’s no room for your ego. The only thing that matters is what you can do for your customer. Keep everything you write focused on them and you’ll see your sales increase.

The entertainment world is a buzz with the term “triple threat”. It relates to performers that excel in acting, singing and dancing – a very rare breed.

You’re probably wondering what that has to do with copywriting.

Well, if you want to be a great copywriter, you must be able to create content that:

• Engages
• Educates
• Persuades

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not. Creating interesting copy that people actually want to read that also ticks those three boxes is quite an art.

Engage

Writing in an engaging way is tough.

If you think that people will read anything you put out there, you’re in for a nasty shock.

It’s your job to write about the product or service you’re promoting in a way that makes the reader think “Wow, I need that. How have I managed without it all these years?”

A mere description is not going to be enough. You have to create a story around it, showing off its benefits.

OK, yes, this is marketing copy and no one is going to read everything you write word for word, but if you hit the right tone, it will resonate with them and make them stop and think about what you’re selling.

Earlier I mentioned creating a story. Storytelling is one of the most powerful sales tools out there. The story format is used because it engages and draws your reader in. Written in this style it takes on a more interesting light and by adopting a friendly tone of voice your reader will be helpless as they become immersed in what you’re telling them.

Educate

There is a big difference between educating and lecturing.

Marketing copy that educates shows the reader how great their life will be if they had the product or service. That means focusing on the benefits not the features.

The colour, shape and size of the product (its features) are not going to make someone buy.

However, show the reader how it will make their life easier, make them richer for more successful, and they’ll buy, buy, buy.

This is where storytelling comes into its own again. Just like fables are told to young children to persuade them about the benefits of good behaviour, storytelling in marketing illustrates what could happen if a buyer acts in a certain way.

Persuasion

Even the strongest stories need a helping hand, which is where persuasion comes in.

Creating writing that persuades is quite an art. You need to employ several techniques to make your writing as powerful as possible, such as:

• Rhetorical questions
• Repetition
• Emotive language
• Facts and statistics
• Alliteration

And of course, it should always be written in the second person – i.e. “you” not “we”.

Life would be a whole lot easier it you could just tell someone your widget is the best ever to make him or her buy it, but it doesn’t work that way.

Before you can get your reader to part with their hard earned cash, you have to persuade them that not only is your product or service right for them, but that you are a reputable company they should be doing business with.

On top of the devices listed above, your copy should also include testimonials, evidence of your facts and figures and a guarantee to give extra peace of mind.

Only when you offer all three – engagement, education and persuasion – will your copywriting bring in the sales.

Corporate blogs drive traffic to your site, raise your company’s profile and show you customers that you are a market leader.

They are also a complete pain.

Why?

In two words: multiple contributors.

On the face of it you probably think that’s a good thing because it means one person isn’t left to produce all the copy.

You’d be wrong.

Multiple contributors mean major headaches, because chasing them for content is a bit like herding cats.

There’s also another problem – continuity, or rather the lack of it.

Many voices cause confusion

Every company has a brand voice.

When you have multiple contributors, that single identity gets lost and you end up with a vast array of writing styles that create a cacophony of noise that will put readers off.

Plus, you’ll find that some people are naturally gifted writers, whereas others are not.

Some can write in engaging, simple language that everyone can understand.

Others only write in complex terms that result in a meaningless article that leaves everyone scratching their head.

How can you get round this problem and create a successful and long lasting corporate blog?

Streamline your blogging process

The answer is not to get one person to do all the writing because your blog will need to cover a number of different subject areas and one person is unlikely to be able to write everything.

That’s why the best solution is to have a blog Gate Keeper.

The posts are written by your own subject matter experts and then passed to your Gate Keeper.

It is then their job to:

• Copyedit each article to bring in line with the brand voice
• Tweak them to make them more readable (i.e. by adding sub headings etc.)
• Source images to bring the subject matter to life
• Add elements of SEO

The end result is a healthy blog that’s regularly update with readable articles.

Whether this is done in-house or outsourced, it is the best way to make sure your corporate blog remains healthy and popular.

Author – Sally Ormond, Briar Copywriting

This post first appeared on Briar Copywriting’s blog, but we thought you might be interested in it too.

Email marketing remains one of the most popular forms of marketing. When things get a bit slack, it doesn’t take long to put something together and send it out to the thousands of opt-in contacts in your customer database.

The only problem is most industries have an average open rate in the low 20 per cents and a click through rate that barely scrapes 4 per cent. Even if you hit those averages, it doesn’t matter how big your list is, your not really being effective.

There are numerous articles out there that claim to have the magic formula to higher open rates, but there’s nothing magic about email marketing. All you need to do is be yourself.

1. Be you

Even though you want your customers to buy from your company, it’s you they are really dealing with.

That’s why you should always write like a human. Even if you are in the B2B sector a human will be reading your email, so keep it conversational. If you’re not sure how to do that, picture yourself having a conversation about what you’re writing about and write as you talk. When done, read it out loud and if any parts start to sound wooden or business-like, cut them.

“Voice” is one of the most important parts of your marketing, but it’s a term that’s used liberally without much explanation. The best way to think about it is the “voice” you use is how your writing sounds when it’s read.

Another big part of conversational writing is asking questions, so make sure you use them in your email. They will make the reader stop and think about what you’re saying, increasing engagement.

Admittedly, this may not be your natural way of writing and it will take time to perfect, but persevere with it and you’ll see those open rates begin to rise (when used in conjunction with the other points I’m about to raise).

2. Important elements

What are the 3 most important elements of your email?

Give up?

OK, I’ll tell you:

• Your subject line
• The first line of your email
• Your “From” line

When your email arrives these are the first 3 things the recipient will see, so they have to make an impact if you want them to open it.

For the subject line and first line of your email, make sure they are short and to the point, personalised (definitely the first line, up to you about the subject line) and that they lead with a benefit.

What about the “From” line, I hear you say? How on earth can that have an effect on the open rate?

Well, it’s important it comes from a real person. If your customers get an email from sales@briarcopywriting.com they are more likely to ignore it than if it came from sally@briarcopywriting.com.

3. Responsive

Last, but not least is the responsiveness of your email.

Did you know that 65% of emails are opened on mobile devices these days? That’s why they need to be responsive so they open and display correctly on any device and any screen size.

Conclusion

Email marketing is great when it works well, but as with all marketing it takes time to refine the art and that means constant testing.

Try different styles of subject lines, when you send your mailing and the subjects that you cover. Over time you’ll gradually learn what your audience is looking for.

 

You have a set of values within your company.

Every employee is supposed to uphold those to provide a united front of customer excellence.

You’ve probably got an “Our Values” page or section on your website that outlines them, but are they reflected in the rest of your website copy?

What does your website tell your customers?

For a moment let’s imagine I’m a potential customer.

After browsing the web I found your website. I’ve had a quick peak at your About Page and read all about the values you hold dear. Great, you sound like my kind of company. Then I nip back to the Home Page – ah, something’s not right.

Your values told me that your customers always come first, how you bend over backwards for them and offer an unrivalled level of customer service. The problem is that your Home Page completely ignores my needs and talks about your company’s growth, the awards you’ve won, your passion for your industry and how long you’ve been in business.

Hang on a minute, what happened to being the company that puts its customers first?

You haven’t told me what you do or how it will benefit me – so I’m not the centre of your world at all, you are.

It’s mixed messages like this that will scare off potential customers.

Customers always come first

Your website isn’t your online portfolio from which you can shout about how amazing you are. It should be an outlet through which you can show me, as a potential new customer, how you will make my life easier, better or more productive.

It is there to attract new customers. If it just talks about you and your achievements it won’t convert visitors into customers.

Sure, you can talk about you achievements and awards to back up your services, but confine it to the About section. Your Home Page must be about your customers.

Make sure your Home Page:

• Clearly shows what you can do
• How your products or services benefit your customers
• Tells them how to get in touch

It must be all about your customers because that’s what they want to hear. There is no room for your ego on your Home Page.