Weren’t the Spice Girls ‘pop-tastic’?
OK, they weren’t to everyone’s taste, but they were right about telling people what they want.
Confused? Read on, I promise it will all become clear.
If you have been involved in the making of a product or service, you probably think it is the best thing since sliced bread. You have nurtured it from the initial brain storming sessions through to its infancy. You were there smoothing out the troublesome teenage problems until a fully matured product emerged. In fact you are so close to it, all you can see are its features and that will be all you want to talk about.
I’m not saying that’s a bad thing because we all want to know what something can do. But to produce great copywriting you must understand that what the potential reader/buyer wants to know is how it is going to benefit them. What is it going to do for them? Why should they spend their hard earned cash on your particular product or service?
For example, you have made a pair of football boots, your sales copy reads like this:
– They are made from a unique leather
– They have titanium tipped studs
– The come in a range of colours
– They mould to your foot
What is your reader going to think? Shall I tell you? They’ll say ‘so what?’ turn over the page and start reading the latest celebrity gossip.
Now if you sold them on the basis that by wearing your football boots your customer would become a better football player, that is a benefit. The features will help your buyer rationalise their buying decision but it is the benefit that will get him to pull his wallet out.
You see, I told you those Spice Girls knew a thing or two about freelance copywriting. Just remember, if you want your readers to buy ‘tell ‘em what they want, what they really want.’
