Copywriting Archives - Page 4 of 13 - McLellan Marketing Group

Try a whisper

June 23, 2008

Our world is chaos 24/7.

Noise, noise and more noise. We have clutter in our mailboxes, in our ears, and in our in baskets. We’re exposed to over 4,000 marketing messages a day and it seems like every one of them is shouting at us – waving their arms frantically to get us to notice.

I wonder if there might not be a better way?

We’ve all see the power of walking into a room of screaming children and beginning to whisper. Pretty soon, the kids are quieting down, afraid they’re going to miss something. Soon, they are straining to hear. We do the same thing as adults. We have grown so accustomed to being bombarded with noise that we are drawn to the softness of a whisper.

This is a principle that we can apply to our marketing efforts. The initial goal is to get our audience’s attention, right? Well what if we did that by speaking softly? By not having our headline at 42 point type. By not having our radio announcer talk as loud and as fast as he can. Or by using white space to make our website feel inviting and calm?

Here’s how the thought process works.

We have a lot of important things to say. Features, benefits. And we figure, we’d better take full advantage if we can get someone’s attention. Never know when we might have it again. So, let’s shove every bit of information into every postcard, e-mail, banner ad or press release.

What if instead of talking over ourselves with multiple messages and creating so much noise that it turns into static, we self-filtered?

What’s the one thing you need them to know? A URL? A date? A change in tax law? Focus on a single message. Then tell them. But do it softly.

6 tips for creating a print ad that actually works

June 19, 2008

Let’s be honest. Most print ads in newspapers and magazines stink. We flip through the publications without a glance at the ads or their offers.

How can you avoid being nothing more than a blur?

Make sure your headline has stopping power

If your headline is a snooze, your ad will go unread. It’s that simple. Intrigue them, challenge a common belief, ask a question or throw your offer up there – but do not be dull.

Your ad is not about you

Consumers care about their lives and their needs. Not you. So don’t waste valuable ad space talking about you. Help them understand how or why you can help them. Talk to them about what matters to them.

One message

If your audience can only remember one thing from your ad what do you want it to be? Don’t overload the ad with every benefit and feature to your offering. Stay focused on your main point and don’t take the readers off on a bunch of tangents.

Short and sweet

Write the copy that you want to include in your ad. Now cut it in half. It’s a painful process but it forces you to really think through your message. After you cut it in half, cut it again by a third. Now…you have boiled down to the bare essentials.

Say it visually

The visual you select for your ad is critical. It should help advance the story. It should not be trite – the same photo everyone else would choose. You don’t always have to be literal. If you’re going into a trade publication where everyone used a set of trite images to convey the same message, avoid those images like the plague! Ask yourself "what visual would communicate the message but also surprise the reader?" That’s a winner.

Make your offer clear and compelling

Every ad has one job. To advance the reader to the next step. Visit your website, call your 800 number, clip the coupon. Whatever it is you want them to do…be clear. And give them a reason to do it now, rather than a few weeks from now.

Print advertising can be a very effective tactic. But most people don’t make the most of the ads they buy. Don’t waste good money on bad ads.

Be brave enough to trust your audience

June 18, 2008

Some marketers under estimate their audience. So they decide that they have to beat them over the head with their message. And in doing so, that actually waters down the message to the point of it not being anywhere near as effective.

This spot starts off so strong. Watch it to the end and see where it loses its edge for you.

The power of this spot was the close ups of the women. We could see and feel their emotions. The connection was real because they were very raw and the shot was very tight. But then, the editor decided we might not understand that many women have been sexually abused….so they had to do the old "and she told two friends, and so on and so on" screen split.

Which completely disconnected us from the women. The emotion is lost. And so is the power of the spot.

Don’t be afraid to let your audience connect the dots.

Where in the world is your customer?

June 16, 2008

A client sent me some initial web copy that she and her team had drafted. It was copy for their home page and some other lead pages. I read through their draft and sent a very short e-mail back.

"Where are your customers?"

This, of course, triggered a phone call with a "what do you mean, where are my customers?"

Technically, there was nothing wrong with their copy. It was grammatically and factually correct. But, the copy was all about my client’s business. We were established in, we’ve got 4 offices in, our expertise is, our philosophy is, we believe…

You get the idea. We, us, our, we. But their customers were no where to be seen.

How do you feel about a person who just talks about themselves? Do you have a sense that they care about you? Do you want to hang out with them?

The same goes for marketing. Your copy needs to reach out and connect with the audience before you start talking about yourself. You want them to demonstrate that you understand who they are and what problems they are facing. After you’ve established that — then and only then can you begin talking about yourself.

How did I fix the client’s copy? I added four questions to the very beginning of their home page which asked:

Are you irritated when you…
Are you tired of having to pay for…
Does it grate on your nerves when….
What if it didn’t have to be that way?

And so on. You get the idea. I did some other tweaking of course…but started by adding the customer back into the copy.

You know what I am going to tell you to do next. If you’re brave enough, go check out your own brochures, websites, print ads, etc.

Is your customer there at all?

Update: Mark over at Really Practical Marketing has added to the conversation by offering some ideas on how you can make your copy more customer focused.

Be consistent. Be consistent. Be consistent.

May 9, 2008

Add to that, be predictable.

Why? It feels safe, trustworthy and comfortable. And, it creates an expectation in a customer or prospect that you can successfully fulfill.

Always remember…you get tired of your message much quicker than your audience does. You may not even get noticed the first few times someone hears from you. You just have too much competition for their attention. After six or seven times, there might be recognition, but perhaps they don’t need you yet. Typically it takes 8-13 interactions for your audience to really register that you are talking to them.

But what would happen if you stopped talking to them after attempt #7? Or if you speak to them differently each time?

We’ve been sending out a weekly e-mail marketing tip since 1999. We get calls from people who want to hire or interview us – some who have been putting our weekly e-mails in a 3-ring binder for several months or even a couple years, but they just hadn’t needed us until that moment.

Thank goodness we didn’t take them off the list after the first five contacts didn’t elicit a response!

Whether the magic number of contacts is five or fifty-two, make sure you are consistent and repetitive in your efforts to reach out for new customers.

Are you saying too much?

April 7, 2008

One of the constant discussions we have with clients is that usually they try to say too much. It’s human nature I suppose. We want to tell a prospect everything and anything. it’s almost a reaction of panic. "What if I can’t get their attention again?"

Well guess what. If your initial communication is so jammed with information and facts that they can’t make their way through it, you won’t get their attention again. And frankly, you don’t deserve it.

Remember, that all buying decisions are emotion-based decisions. People have to like and trust you before they can need you.

We create emotional connections with people, places, companies, products and brands. We do that, little by little, over time. Getting to know someone isn’t an instantaneous process. It takes some time and patience. We learn new information with each meeting. The information beings to build up and tell a story.

If you are trying to drive one-time sales, then sure…cut to the chase. But if you want to create loyal, repeat customers — you need to let them get to know your product/service by telling them a little at a time. Not sticking a fire hose in their mouth and hoping they can drink it all in at one sitting.

We can take a page from the current political landscape and learn a little. There was an interesting article from Minnesota’s public radio that explored how part of what is working for Obama may be the fact that he isn’t saying much.

What do you think? Take a minute and look at your sales fliers, website, or print ads. Are you saying too much?

Don’t let your words get in the way

March 29, 2008

Kudos to the team who created this campaign. Why? They didn’t wreck it with more words.

When creating your marketing materials — find the fine line between just enough information and too much. If you aren’t sure if it is too much, cut it by 20%.

Yes, really.

Tired of getting caught in the SPAM filter?

March 24, 2008

Are you using e-mail based marketing efforts only to discover that a good proportion of your target audience is never seeing your message? Is your e-zine or e-mail getting snagged by their SPAM filter and tossed into the trash?

As companies tighten their anti-spam filters, more and more legitimate e-mail is getting caught in the same trap.

Check out this free tool that will check your content for red flags before you send it. You just fill out a brief form, cut and paste your content into the right field and you will get an instant and free report. They’ll identify any problematic elements in your content and suggest alternatives.

It’s free. It’s easy. And it will save you time and headaches. What’s not to love?

Do the numbers have it?

March 14, 2008

Numbers can be a compelling sales motivator. No matter what we’re buying, as consumers we like to see some data.

It validates our choice and either helps us feel like part of the crowd –"4 out of 5 dentists recommend Trident" or in an elite group of special customers — "only one in every 2,000 applicants will be invited to join."

But use them with caution because numbers alone don’t convince most people to actually buy. They need something else. They need the story.

When we show consumers a bunch of number or a comparison chart – they see the data but they don’t always see the relevance to their life or needs. But when your marketing materials tell a memorable story and put the numbers into a rich context, your potential buyer understands why the numbers matter.

When you wrap the numbers into a testimonial or a before and after story, you’re bringing whatever you sell to life. You tap into the emotional needs or wants of your potential consumer by helping them envision just how your product or service will help them. You paint a picture that makes them want what you’re selling. Then, the numbers validate their desire. It turns a want into a smart buying decision. You have now appealed to both sides of the buyers’ brains. And both sides can see, in the way it processes information best, the value of your product/service.

Next time you’re writing copy for any of your marketing materials, make sure you blend the power of numbers with some good old-fashioned storytelling.

Want to get creative?

February 19, 2008

Want to get your creative juices flowing? Try one of these tactics:

View the problem/product/desired result from a different seat on the bus: In other words, how would a 6-year-old child view it? A librarian? Truck driver? College student? Someone who uses a wheelchair for support? By putting yourself in many different people’s shoes, you can begin to see the situation differently.

Do a 180: How would the product talk about itself? Or describe how it works? It sounds crazy, but again, sparking creativity is all about thinking differently. What would the competitive product tease your product about? Who knows what you will uncover?

Personify it: If your product or service was a person, who would it be? A man? A young girl? How would they behave? What would their personality be like? What would be their favorite book? Movie? What are they afraid of?

Get out: Most people brainstorm and try to spark their creativity in the same work environment that they are in every day. One of the best ways to inspire some new thinking is to be in a new place. Go to a park and take a walk. Go play at a toy store. Visit a museum. Play a kind of music you would normally never listen to. Stimulate your senses.

Ask why: Make an assumption about what you are working on. Then ask why. And answer it. Then ask why. And answer that. Then ask why. And so on. See where it takes you. Then, when you cannot go any further, make another assumption and do it all over again.

Play: Have a paper airplane contest. Create a putt-putt course in the office. Play charades. Sometimes you have to give yourself permission to be creative, and being playful is a great way to bring that part of you to the surface.

Okay….your turn. How do you get creative?

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