Giving Away The Store

Call me crazy -- get in line to do so -- but I’m going to “give away the store” in today’s article. Today’s goal is to show you some ways that you can create advertising copy that outshines the competition and convinces your customer that he or she would have to be freakin’ nuts not to avail themselves of your product or service. Today’s goal is also to keep you from strangling the life out of your business with your own words.

Above all things, your advertising copy must be compelling. Correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling might have earned you a gold star in fifth grade English class, but they won’t do a thing for you when it comes to selling with words. Oh, don’t get me wrong; rules are important. But they’re like learning to drive. They’ll keep you alive, but they won’t get you anywhere if you don’t know where you’re going.

Your advertising copy must focus on a single message. Whatever your goal for this copy may be, or whatever it is you want to tell your customer, you must not cloud it with a maelstrom of points and sub-points. What is it that makes your product special? What makes it stand out? What’s the most important reason your customer can’t (or wouldn’t want to) live without your product? Whatever your answer, stick to it…focus on it…drive it home. Don’t dilute your message with minor features and unimportant benefits.

Ad copy must compel the reader to take action -- preferably NOW. In order to do so, your copy must clearly state what that action is. Do you want them to call for information? Return a reply card? Place an order? Request a brochure? Whatever it is you want your customer to do, you must make it absolutely crystal clear. In making your “call to action” clear, you must also make it clear that time is critical.

With your advertising (as with all of your marketing efforts) you want to always be moving the customer along the path to a sale. There are a number of steps involved in any sale. That number is unique to the circumstances of your business. So you have to take your customer by the hand and lead them along those steps and into the promised land. For God’s sake, don’t let them wander off!

Your message must be appropriate for its audience. This seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many business owners try to take the cookie cutter approach in their advertising. It does your company no good to use the shotgun approach to marketing. In today’s high-tech, cyber-world, the opportunity to target your marketing like a cruise missile presents itself like never before. You can’t afford not to ride the wave -- lest you be crushed by it.

The words you write are an essential part of targeting the right message to the right people in just the right way. Know your audience. Know their needs…desires…dreams. And know what it is that keeps them up at night. Don’t talk over (or for that matter, under) your prospects. Save the technical jargon for trade journals and B2B channels. Conversely, avoid using slang and an overly casual voice when speaking to wealthy or highly educated customers. Know who you’re talking to and speak to them as they themselves would speak.

If you are targeting the public-at-large, here’s a trick that will help you reach a wide audience most effectively. Speak to your audience person to person. Pretend you’re having a conversation with someone with whom you’d be comfortable sitting around in your pajamas. This gives your voice a comfortable, friendly tone with just the right level of intimacy. We all trust our friends. Approached as a friend, we open our minds to what we’re reading.

Lastly, be sincere. We all can detect a phony; so don’t think you’re going to get away with it. Be honest about your product. You have a good product, and it’s worthy of your customers’ consideration -- right? So there’s no need to overstate anything, to play on irrational fears, or to patronize your customer.

Be compelling, be focused, speak in the voice of your reader, and don’t be fake. Do these things and you’ll put yourself a step ahead of the competition, and well on your way to increased sales.

We’ll talk more about “writing to sell” next week. Hey, I didn’t say I was giving away the WHOLE store. Besides, I need to keep some powder dry for next week’s post. Take care.