What Is Your Reader Looking For?
It’s a well-known fact that your reader is looking for information. But what kind of information?
The common think is your reader is looking to solve a problem or get a desired result.
Okay. But pull that string a little more and you find out that your reader is actually looking for benefits. The mantra that runs through every reader’s mind is: Why should I use your product? What will it do for me?
Answer the question up front and she’s hooked.
How do you do that?
The first thing you have to do is look at your product or service the way she does. Doing that forces you to present the benefits up front. When you start off with the benefits, she’ll be interested. Moreover, if you combine features into your benefits-rich presentation, she’ll be persuaded.
Where could you use it? Commercial advertising, promotional sales.
This has everything to do with advertising and selling to the consumer. Advertising and business go hand in hand because nothing happens in business until someone buys your product. We shake our heads in agreement with that. It’s so obvious. Yet take a look at your advertising and promotion communications. Are they packed with benefits? And do you only add features that show how the reader gets those benefits?
I’ll tell you a story. I was in a hardware store looking for furniture polish. Confronted with so many brands, I didn’t know which one to chose. I wanted a package to make up my mind for me. One did. It clearly stated the benefit I wanted. I picked it up and read further. Yep! Exactly what I wanted. Turned it over; read the instructions. Ah hah! Easy to follow plus it reinforced the benefit. I bought it plus another product by the same manufacturer.
Another time I wanted to hang a bookshelf. My brother-in-law told me what hardware to buy. When I went to the hardware store, the wise clerk asked me what I was trying to do. I told him.
“What kind of shelving?” he asked me. I told him.
“What kind of walls do you have?” I told him that too.
He gave me exactly what I needed to get the result I wanted. That’s salesmanship at work. But what if you’re not personally there? Your message takes your place.
In fact your message - the benefit - has to shout! In the first incident I told you about, that’s exactly what the package did. Benefits on the front and repeated on the back. Benefits were even added to the directions: wipe clean, let set, and admire.
How else can you use it?
Instruction booklets or assembly sheets are part of integrated advertising promotion and marketing communication. Imagine a headline that reads: “Follow these simple instructions and you’ll soon be enjoying …” Or, picture an instruction manual that has a section entitled “I want to …” (filling in what the reader wants to accomplish). Wouldn’t that be helpful? You bet! And who is he going to refer his friends to?
Labels, cartons, and product sheets. Ignored areas to list benefits. I’ll give you an example. I’m looking at the box for a Norwood TV. It says: “Norwood Micro. 23″ LCD Television. HDTV Ready / Multiple Video and Computer Inputs / One Year Limited Warranty / etc.” There’s a big picture of the TV on the carton. What’s wrong with that carton? It’s all about features.
Instead, how about: “Norwood Micro (next line) Everything You’re Looking For … Guaranteed!” List the features after that with bullets. What do you think about that? Headline the benefits first! Not only that, everyone who sees that carton sees the company and the benefits. Instant viral marketing!
Another one: instead of “Wigglee’s Rubber Bands / 24 count” how about “Wigglee’s Rubber Bands / They won’t break! (next line) 24 count”. Guess who that company calls the next time they need to order rubber bands?
It’s the business writer’s job to keep the benefits visible. Give the reader what he or she is looking for. And take advantage of every opportunity to drive the benefits into the reader’s mind.
High Quality Perceptions Start with Truthful Expressions and a Well-Conceived Messaging Strategy
Why do you make the decision to buy what you do?
Is it the promise of a desired result? Maybe someone’s recommendation? Or, perhaps you just “feel right” about it. Like buying this product or service is an extension or an expression of who you are?
Good reasons, all. But certainly not conclusive.
If any one human being had the definitive answer to this question and somehow was able to apply it in a profit-making venture, no doubt he or she would be quite wealthy. But you and I both know there’s no one answer. Instead, we have theories. Maybe we can lump all those theories together and we can begin to formulate a complete answer. That could work, but then we create another problem: leveraging this All-Powerful Marketing Answer into an actionable plan our creative minds can work though and execute.
Why? Because much of The All-Powerful Marketing Answer is based on perception–an exceedingly difficult thing to manage.
Often, perceptions aren’t even based in reality. They’re the derivative of opinions based on other opinions, which are based on other opinions. Facts get lost, and whether positive or negative, the truth becomes irrelevant.
Unless, of course, we’re able to identify the core truths of the brand we’re offering a market and be disciplined enough to build our entire branding, marketing and advertising strategy on that foundation of truth. NO MATTER HOW RISKY OR RENEGADE THAT STRATEGY MAY BE.
“Good theory, Barone,” you say. “Where’s the evidence it holds any water?” you ask.
Hopefully, in your financial portfolios.
A recent four-year study of 33 publicly-traded companies showed that perception (according to the EquiTrend method) had positive effects on the return on investment into those companies’ stocks. In other words, the better the perception was about a company, the more money it typically made. And when you wipe away all the fluff and bubbles, isn’t making money the ultimate black and white, clear as day, irrefutable measure of a successful branding, marketing and advertising strategy?
As a copywriter, my point in presenting you this idea of creating a perception based on truth is that it is, in large part, a task accomplished by what you say to your market and how you say it.
And if I may offer a little insight into the matter: many businesses don’t get that or practice it. They may know that having a well-designed professional image is important, but often times, the messaging takes a strategic backseat and is often relegated to the person who has a little extra time to whip something up. In larger companies, it may not be as simple as having “Bob in the back cube” come up with something. However, there could be a disconnect between the best, most strategic way to verbally engage your customers and what you’re doing in your marketing collateral, on your website, in your advertising or in your retail environments.
In other words, creating a positive perception isn’t the work of “afterthinking.” It requires deep thinking, hard research and deliberate execution by your entire marketing, branding and advertising team.
Something to think about, anyway.
Its in the BLOG
If you’re looking to grow your business, then a BLOG is a great tool to add to your tool chest. In this article we will discuss BLOG basics and how you can use them in your business.
1. What’s a BLOG?
What’s a BLOG you ask? Well, let me tell you. According to Wikipedia.com:
A blog (short for web log) is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order [newest entries are at the top].
So, its really just an online journal or diary that is written by anyone who wants to tell the world what’s on their mind. (Side note: When I say “the world” I really mean it, so be careful what you write.)
Ok, so how can this help you grow your business? Great question. To understand the answer you have to know just a bit about how search engines work.
2. BLOGs and Search Engines
Search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN and all the others use what they call “spiders.” Spiders are software programs that “crawl” the internet looking for new content, and rank it based on its contents and its relevance to a certain topic. This is all done by some very complex math, but the important thing you need to know is that if you write often and/or discuss topics that are getting searched online a lot (i.e. topics in the news), the search engines will consider your site “relevant” and if you include “key words” (popular search terms) in your content, that you know your potential customers are searching for, there is a much better chance that they will actually be able to find you.
So to recap, my 3 Principles of BLOGging for Search Engines are:
1)Write Often
2)Write Relevant
3)Write Using Key Words
3. What makes a good BLOG?
This is a rhetorical question. The only thing that really matters is the opinion of the audience you are trying to reach. So here are a few tips that will help you stay on track.
1. Know who you are writing for
a. If your audience is 13 year olds, writing about retiring next year probably isn’t going to get you a lot of return visitors
2. Keep it short and to the point
a. 100-300 words is all most people will have the time to read, so keep your articles short and to the point. Over time this will build a great deal of credibility with your readers.
3. Write actionable content
a. “How To” and “Top 10″ lists are great. It gives your readers action steps they can take to use your content in their everyday lives. Think about ways to use these to point out how you are different from your competitors.
4. Don’t be afraid to tell some of your secrets.
a. People love to hear about how to make something happen, then they love to pay someone else to do it. Let’s be honest, even though you just told me how I can edit my html code on my website to make it stick out like neon lights in a search engine, that doesn’t mean I want to do it myself. Just give me a way to contact you to hire you. After all, you just showed me that you are the expert.
5. Allow Comments
a. Consider allowing people to post comments about your BLOG. In fact, you should be the first one to post a comment after each blog, pose a question or comment to simply getting a discussion started. If visitors are interacting and writing comments about your BLOG, they are actually adding relevant content that the search engines are going to like.
Well, there you have it, BLOG basics.
Marketing Made Easy: Let Your Fingers Do the Talking
As the owner of a small website, I know how easy it is to get lost in the mix. Sometimes you just want to throw your hands in the air and say, “I give up! Pass me a margarita.”
But before you go reaching for the tequila and salt, let me tell you something. It’s not as hard as you think to get links, get noticed and start actually “doing business” with your online business. That’s the idea after all, right?
Here’s how I approach the problem: I write two or three short 500-800 word articles a week about my business, and then I submit them using an online submission service. The service is budget-friendly, super-easy to use and extremely effective. After just two days, I looked for my article and it was posted on more than 50 websites.
That means each of those sites contains a link back to my site, and more inbound links means — you guessed it — better search engine results positioning. Before I knew it, I was getting more than 200 hits a day on my site. “Unbelievable!” I thought, but it was true.
Here’s the idea. You write a few short articles each week — or as many as you can churn out, the more the merrier — and submit them either using a service or software you’ve purchased that serves this purpose. (Psst! Guess what? A service is a thousand times easier.)
You can select a category for your article, such as Business, Fashion, Marketing, etc. and then select subcategories that will pin your article to even more specific needs if you like. The benefit to categorizing your article is that it will show up in front of people who are looking for your product, service or website. If you write about Children’s Fashions and you turn up in a newsletter about lawn care, people aren’t going to read your article or click on your link.
The way you choose to submit your articles is also important. Software is an option, but I don’t like it because it is quickly (some would argue immediately) outdated, clunky and hard to use. First you have to install it, then you have to figure out how each aspect of the program works, then you have to write your articles — the fact is, most people aren’t going to bother once they’ve got the thing installed.
The thing I love about online submission services is that they do the heavy-lifting for you. All you have to do is write your articles and submit them, and they do the rest. Different services have different features, of course, and you should do the research to see which one is right for your needs.
iSnare is one service that offers “distribution credits” to its authors. Submission is free, but in order to have your article distributed, you must purchase these credits. It’s $10 for five credits, $18 for 12, $38 for 28 and so on. They distribute articles to more than 150 article email lists and over 40,000 publishers, plus hundreds of article sites. They have good reviews from satisfied customers on their website.
ThePhantomWriters is another option. Be sure to include “the” in the title, because there is another website called PhantomWriters that offers writing services, not article distribution. ThePhantomWriters service operates on a sliding scale. It costs $35 to submit one article, and then the next three are $27.50 each, on down to $20 apiece for 10 articles. This is a little steep for my budget, so I moved on pretty quickly from Phantom.
The service I prefer is Article Marketer. They are very professional and courteous, and they tell me when I have something to fix about an article before it can be distributed. At $79.99 for three months or $239.99 for an annual subscription, I can afford to write as many or as few articles as I want. I get unlimited submissions with my subscription price.
How To Easily Write The Most Effective Classified Advertisements For Your Business
There are some simple rules to follow when writing an advertisement to be placed in a newspaper, magazine, newsletter, or online classified section. This marketing method is easy and inexpensive, which makes it an excellent option for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
The first thing you need to do is make it clear what you’re selling. That’s the first thing a buyer looks for. This means that the ad’s headline is of the utmost importance. List exactly what you’re selling in as straight-forward of a manner as possible. The most important thing you can do with your ad is to simply convey what it is you’re trying to sell.
Don’t forget to “sizzle” the product. Don’t just say, “table for sale”. List it as, “beautiful dining room table”. This will catch the buyer’s attention and sell your product faster. The same advice applies to classified ads offering services instead of material objects. Don’t just place an ad with a headline of, “Work at Home”. Everyone’s seen these ads a million times and it’s become easy to gloss over them and not pay that much attention to them. Instead write something engaging like, “Tired of Working for the Man?”
When writing anything, whether it’s a classified ad, press release, brochure, or a novel for that matter, you always need to consider your audience. Who are your potential customers and clients? A product or service geared towards teens is going to demand a classified ad which is much different than an ad directed at older retired people.
Are you targeting people who know little about what you’re selling, or are you looking for people who already know what you’re talking about? This is important because you don’t want to provide too little information, and you don’t want to waste valuable space with unnecessary information. Knowing your audience will allow you to determine what information is necessary and what isn’t.
If you’re addressing an experienced crowd, you can use more technical or specialized nomenclature than if you’re addressing novices. You need to convince readers that you have what they’re looking for. In addition, you need to convince them that they should choose you or your product and not choose one of your competitors. A well-written, convincing, and interesting classified ad will be effective and boost your business.
In considering your audience, you also need to consider the medium itself. A classified ad placed in the local newspaper will probably be different from one placed on the internet. A classified ad placed in a specialized newsletter may have requirements or guidelines which are different from an ad placed in a magazine.
In addition to well-written, eye-catching product information, your classified ads need to contain the all-important contact information. This can be a phone number, PO box, email address, or web site address. Email addresses and web sites are becoming increasingly important. If you’re offering anything technologically related, an email address is mandatory. It gives you credibility, as does a web site.
Classified advertising is an inexpensive way to promote your product or service. It’s a good advertising option for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Research ads, study ones you see all the time, and don’t be afraid to change up your ads if they’re not working.
A Look At Some Of The Best Classified Ad Writing Strategies
Don’t be daunted by having to write a classified ad to sell your product or service. It’s really not all that hard. Here are some classified ad writing strategies you can use now to sell your product or service and start making money:
First of all, study what successful marketers are doing. There’s no better way to learn how to be successful at anything than by following what successful people do. Obviously can’t copy a successful classified ad word-for-word but as you study these ads you’ll start to see common elements which you can utilize in your own classifieds. Study the ads in the newsletters, newspapers, magazines, etc. which you’re subscribed to or read regularly. Browse the internet and look and the text ads you see all over the place. Consider the ones you like and think about why you like them. Respond to the ads you like and see what response you get in turn. This will further enhance your understanding of the classified ad process and increase your chances of success.
Don’t just look at classified ads, though. Larger scale ads can be educational, too. Look at what the big guys are doing with their conventional “junk mail”, advertising inserts, and big, bright, colorful ads. While you’re not looking to advertise on that scale, there are important tips and tricks you can learn by closely studying such campaigns.
There are plenty of web sites which allow you to place classified ads for free. This is a great way to practice writing ad copy. You have nothing to lose!
Don’t sell expensive items directly from classified ads. Instead, provide basic information which encourages the reader to visit your web site or to email you. Then you can find the specifics on your site or through an auto-responder email message.
Advertise in more than one place at a time. It’s not good to rely on just one publication to sell your product or service. By placing classified ads in multiple locations, you’ll increase the number of eyeballs on your ads and increase the likelihood of success. Don’t just place your ads willy-nilly, though. You need to target your ads. It doesn’t make sense to sell skateboards on a fishing site site, or offer business advice in a kids magazine. Common sense can be your guide here.
Pay attention to who’s responding to your classified ads. Never forget to follow up on inquiries. Be professional. Slow or non-existent responses will totally defeat the purpose of what you’re trying to do. Don’t just respond, but also keep records of your correspondence. Knowing who you’re attracting with your classified ads will help you better target your readers. Keep track of which of your ads are finding success. Be aware of who they’re attracting and where they were placed.
Perhaps most important of all, change your classified ads if they’re not working for you. Don’t ever give up! If you’re not finding success, then do something different with your ads. If you place the same ad over and over again, you’ll increase the chances that people will just ignore it. People love novelty, so change your ads periodically. Don’t be afraid to experiment.
Placing classified ads is an excellent, cost-effective method for selling your product or service.
Squeezing Every Last Cent From Your Marketing Budget
Since hiring a high-powered public relations firm is not in the cards for most business owners, coming up with creative ways to market on a budget is an essential part of any business plan. Your marketing efforts will grease the wheels of your business and get it moving in the right direction. Don’t be intimidated by the hype surrounding the extravagant advertising budgets during the Super Bowl. Not everyone needs to spend millions for a thirty second ad. There are plenty of cheap and effective ways to get your name out there and get your products in the hands of customers.
Don’t Let Your Marketing Efforts Fall on Deaf Ears
Quantity is not quality in the marketing world. Believe it or not, sending out advertisements to everyone in the United States is not a cost effective way to spend your marketing dollars. It is a waste of your time and money to advertise to people you know won’t be interested in your product.
Why would a dating service targeting 20-35 year olds living in the Pacific Northwest send a promotional coupon to a ninety-eight year old in Texas? Explore your customer base and figure out where you fit.
There are numerous ways to identify your target market. You will likely have an idea of the type of customer you want to attract from the get-go. It is just a matter of reaching those customers and seeing if they are truly interested in your product.
Don’t go wasting half your marketing budget on your quest to find your target market. If you think your customers will be active adults fond of the outdoors, you might choose to visit local nature societies or park reserves in order to see if that group really likes your product. Instead of wasting time surveying thousands of people, go straight to the source. Find your niche and stay there.
Creating a Marketing Plan Within Your Budget
Now that you know who you are marketing to, you’ll have to figure out how to do it. The “how” will be determined by your budget. Begin by asking yourself several simple questions:
-How much money can I spend on marketing?
-What type of advertising do I want to do?
-Where should I do this advertising?
While it is impossible to accurately foresee where you will want to spend your marketing money for the next year, you should be able to make some rough estimates. It can be helpful to research some of your potential competitors to see where their ad dollars end up. It is always good to learn from other people’s flops. If you identify a certain ad campaign as ineffective, you’ve already saved money by avoiding the same mistake.
Cost Effective Ways to Market Your Business
Creativity is the key to any marketing plan. A creative home video featuring your business may find greater fame on YouTube.com than any television advertisement ever will. Not only is that free, it is effective.
The Internet has opened a whole new world of marketing opportunities, many of them free of charge. Both blogs and public forums have become a great way for business owners to connect with customers on a personal level. This is not about pitching potential customers; it’s about sharing your opinion and having a conversation. Such a medium can be especially advantageous in establishing yourself as an expert in your field.
Article marketing has become another increasingly popular means through which companies market their products. This process requires you to write informative articles relating to the your industry. Once you’ve written a batch of articles, they can be submitted to article databases and then distributed to websites throughout the Internet. Each and every one of those articles will have links going directly to your company’s website. That is free publicity at its best!
Maximizing a budget for a new business is never easy. When you identify your target market, create a marketing plan, and seek out marketing opportunities within your budget, you set yourself up to see sales climb.
Adding Entertainment to Any Marketing Message
The 21st century is a lot less about being the ‘information age’ and much more about being the ‘entertainment age’. Technology makes so many aspects of life inexpensive and automated that we have more leisure time than any other generation before. We also have so many different means of communication available to us that it is overwhelming at times to try to choose which medium will best serve your business. People are under fire by advertising 24/7 and see thousands of marketing messages every day.
Business is so competitive now that it is more important than ever that your marketing strategies not only be responsive, but cheap and often entertaining as well. Entertainment often what makes many marketing campaigns so much more successful than others because people enjoy remembering your advertising. Whether your ‘entertainment’ factor was comedy, shock, cuteness, or sexual, these elements will keep your message in the minds of your audience for weeks on end.
One way to include entertainment in your marketing message is to match your ad to the kind of entertainment your audience is looking for. It would be wrong to include sexuality as part of the entertainment factor in advertisements for children’s toys, for example. It would be a better match to include the cuteness factor in ads for children.
Happy kids in parks with animals using your product would be effective, just as long as it memorable. Use bunnies, kittens, puppies, but don’t use reptiles or bugs or amphibians. Try to think like the kid’s parents (specifically the mom since it’s been proven that moms influence the majority of buying decisions) so that the appeal universal to both parent and child.
Marketing to adults is a different factor, especially when marketing to men. Whether men admit it or not, sexual messages of gorgeous women affect them. It’s well known that men are generally much more moved sexually by visual stimulus than women are, and in different ways. Women’s sexual needs tend to be softer, as in finding a man who is affectionate, attentive, caring, strong, and handsome.
Men are less selective. If there’s a hot babe in skimpy clothes anywhere in their vision it will draw their attention. This same style is useful in less aggressive ways too. Simply including a modest picture of a beautiful young lady in your marketing message will keep male attention longer than without it.
The super bowl is now famous for the commercials that appear during the breaks. That air time is very expensive so companies know they need to make their message stick. How do they accomplish this? The method of choice is comedy. The funny commercials are what get the repeat plays on the talk shows and on the internet. The funny ones get the most buzz and get people talking about the commercial the most.
Take a hint from these companies that spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to do what you can do all the time. Make your marketing message funny, but keep it appropriate. Never try to combine comedy with shock factor, it just isn’t congruent and people won’t be sure what to think of you.
Welcome to the entertainment age. Make your marketing and advertising funny, provocative, cute, and memorable and you’ll be pleasantly surprised how long after you run your ads that people will still remember them.
