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When you consider writing marketing copy, throw out all your notions about features and benefits, riveting, detailed descriptions and techno jargon and focus on answering the only two questions that really matter - and do it before you pass go.
1. What are your prospects and clients saying to themselves as they consider purchasing your type of product or service? What are the actual words they think in their heads? (visualize the cartoon bubble floating above) Chances are it’s not - “gee, I wish I had a new fangled Acme gizmo #156.” No, chances are, it’s more like - “gee, I wish I had more time off or why is running my own business so hard” So, you must discover their conversations and use them as your copy.
I’ve discovered over the years that my prospects are asking something along the lines of “Why is marketing a business so hard or I just don’t know anything about marketing.”
So I might start an introduction to Duct Tape Marketing by posing this question - “Have you ever said “I’m just no good at marketing” or “Have you ever wondered why marketing your small business is so hard?”
2. What would they like to say to themselves if they actually got the result they are seeking? In other words, what would success sound like to them.
I’ve discovered that what my prospects would like to say to themselves is that “marketing can be simple, almost automatic once you understand what to do.”
In this instance it’s essential that I am able to paint a picture of what their world could be like if they had the magic sauce.
These are the mysteries rolling around in the minds of your prospects, but you must find ways to discover, unlock, and communicate the answers in your marketing and sales materials or your copy will never move beyond the level of static.
Oh, and by the way, I just happen to be holding a three session teleseminar on the subject of creating these kinds of education based marketing materials - check it out here - it’s possible we will get into the very subject of this post!
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2007 at Jul 11, 07 | 3:11 pm and is filed under Copywriting, Core message, Marketing Materials. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I love this post. It’s not about the voices in my head, it’s the voices in my customers’ heads!
Great advice! I often tell my clients this same thing, and it’s very true. *=)
Great stuff. I often try to sketch out a customer journey, 6 to 10 steps they go through, one step that my product could intersect. I then place these thought bubbles at each step. Scanning the thought bubbles often reveals an emotional peak.
[…] Duct Tape Marketing These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web […]
Write out successful client ANECDOTES:
1. in their words, ASPIRATION/ADVERSITY:
2. in their words, your ADVICE/ACTIONS:
3. in their words, ADVANTAGE/ACHIEVEMENT:
For more emphasis & suspense, flip the order of 3 & 2. You can say the whole anecdote in less than 10 words: Start with 100 words (30 x 3), then underline the most important 30 (10 x 3)… and then 10 (3 x 3)!
Great blog.
~ Vik Rajan
PersonalBrandMarketing.com
[…] 3. Two Questions that matter most http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2007/07/11/two-questions-that-matter-most/ […]
Great post!
When I write copy I try and think of these two questions that would appear in the “thought bubble” of my potential customer:
1. WIIFM - What’s in it for me? (Or, what emotional need of mine will this product or service satisfy?)
2. WISGAT - What is so good about that? (Or, how is this particular product or service going to satisfy that need [see above] in a way that is more relevant to me than a similar product or service?)
- Paul