Customers’ copy outweigh your business profile

All copywriting, whether for web or paper, should be biased towards one thing: the customer.

Blabbing on about the company is a total waste of time, customers don’t give a tinker’s toot about the business, they only care about “what’s in it for them”, how will they benefit from the product or services offered, will it make them feel better, look good, improve their life, or whatever.

So much promotional material uses the wrong slant; if they were to adapt the way their descriptions were written into the customers’ point of view, talking about how the customers will benefit, then they will achieve more sales.

Analyse the successful ads on TV: the one’s that work don’t even mention the product, they go on about the effect it will have on their customers, how their hair is thicker and glossier, how much the decor of their house has changed, how soft their skin has become, how good their feet now look, what a fantastic two weeks their children will have on holiday, etc.

Stop being selfish and start thinking about who you are actually selling to. The customer is king, not the content.

How to use your customers to promote your business

Customers are extremely important to your business, where would it be without them? This may sound obvious, but there are some businesses that trundle along taking no notice of this vital element.

When analysing a business promotion, take notice of to whom they are talking to. Who is the main objective in their marketing message? Who is placed at the top of their advertising? Who are they describing when they talk about their services or products? Who is first, the company or the customer?

Humans are naturally self-centred; it’s in our nature to look after ‘number one’. But for business purposes this needs to be turned on its head: you need to think about who you are selling to, rather than banging on about how great you are. Customers don’t give a tinker’s toot about your business, they only care about what’s in it for them. How are they going to benefit from your product or services? Will their lives be improved, and by how much? Will they get value for money?

This concept should be prevalent in all your visual marketing: website, promotional literature, advertising, shop front, merchandise, networking: pitch, presentation and social on-line, sales patter with your customers – in fact any visual outlet of your company. The customer always comes first, as it is they you are promoting to, and it is they who will ultimately buy.

Another factor to take notice of is time. Don’t go mad trying to explain everything, especially if it’s really dull stuff about your company. The 21st century is a fast moving world; customers won’t (or even can’t) spend time reading cluttered and over-long descriptions; they usually make split-second decisions and can be very cruel if it doesn’t match their requirements.

For example, visitors to your website usually spend up to eight seconds to make up their mind whether it the right one, what they can do (go further in, click on something, sign up for a newsletter or download a free report) or just decide to disappear. Your leaflets have even less time to make an impression as to whether they are picked up or discarded: is this relevant to me, does it have the information I want, do I understand all of it, what’s in it for me, who do I contact to find out more?

OK, customers are self-centred, but they are also greedy. You may have got an idea of this from the website reference above. If there is something they can get for nothing, they will have it. Take advantage, and offer an exchange of their details in return for something they want, is of value, is relevant and will benefit them. You now have their details in a secure database for future communication; they are now at your mercy to be promoted at! And customers like being kept in touch, especially if they will have first hand knowledge of any new promotions and can benefit from early-bird discounts!

Use your customers’ opinions, comments and feedback. Write a questionnaire to find out more about their wants and needs. Encourage them to respond to your blog posts, tweets, social networking walls, on-line articles, events and workshops, teleseminars or whatever, and use this incredible source of information to find out how you can make your business even better for them. If customers feel they are appreciated, empathised with, understood and you are willing to adapt for their gain, then they will come back for more, tell their friends, spread the news and even provide testimonials and references (I have a great referral postcard designed specifically for this).

Comparing incentives with a trifle

One of the most important parts of a campaign is the call to action. This feature can manifest itself in a variety of ways, but one popular version is the ’special offer’ acting as an incentive to get the customer to make contact.

Try to think of and create a really compelling ’special offer’. Is it a free gift or sample, a special report, a video or audio to explain your business and offer advice, or an offer of time or consultancy (like my ‘free half hour health check’ to see how I can transform your literature into something more successful)?

Plan how tasty and full of value your gift will be, as these attributes all contribute to a more successful response. And don’t forget to make your offer time-dependent, as this increases the incentive factor.

Once you’ve decided what your incentive is, then it needs to be professionally produced. What methods will be used to package and deliver it? How easily can the customer view this offer, and what will compel them to sign up for it? The process needs to be made as easy as possible for the customer to rise to the occasion.

Then make sure you prepare yourself and your staff so that once the customers start taking the bait, you are ready and waiting for them. Not only should you have your patter up to speed, but you be ready with an opportunity up your sleeve for a series of upselling motives to add on if applicable.

Think of the call to action incentive on your advert or webpage as the sponge layer of the trifle. The upselling techniques should be represented by the jelly, fruit, custard, cream and, eventually, the chocolate sprinkles. Of course even with just one addition it will taste nice, but think how scrumptuous it will be with all the benefits added together! Plan your response methods to take the best advantage of the situation.

Adapt your products, not your customers

In these difficult times, it isn’t easy to get your customers to keep on buying. So you must change for the better.

First, analyse the product that sells the best. Find out why, which attributes are so popular, what aspect appeals to encourage a sale, and how does this product benefit your customers, what value is it to them and what is it that they want the most.

Once this has been accomplished, whether by going through your records, doing research, collecting questionnaires or whatever, then you must adapt your other products to suit. Obviously your popular product is selling, so the others must gain similar attributes to do the same.

Another tip: you could use your most successful product as bait to get your customers across your threshold. Once captured, you are then in a better position to educate, offer, seduce, cajole your customers into becoming aware of what else you have to sell, it all depends on your patter, the value of your products and any savings that can be made.

If your product isn’t doing terribly well, look at your competition. What are they doing right? Or are they really, and can you do better? Consider the environment, season, economics, trends, news that could influence either the way your customers are thinking or how your product can be adapted. Try and keep one step ahead.

And what about all those potential customers, those who are interested but are not yet ready to buy? Do you have a way of capturing their details by offering them something irristible that they cannot do without, yet practically costs you nothing? By investing in warm contacts you can educate, offer, seduce, cajole (again) this new customer source for a future sale; they will be the first to know of any new products that you have developed that ‘just hit the spot’, and sales can be encouraged using the ‘early bird catches the worm’ syndrome to guarantee more sales then ever before…

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How clearly do you describe your business?

One of the most difficult things in networking is adequately describing your business so that your listener’s eyes don’t glaze over. With some networking groups you only get 60 seconds to give your pitch, which is actually a blessing in disguise. It makes you concentrate your mind on the most important parts, enabling you to condense your ideas into a few concise and well-chosen words.

But be aware of speaking value to your audience. Waffling on about unimportant details will cloud your description and waste your opportunity. Pin-point the areas that concern your customers the most, analyze exactly what they need in this present economic climate, and once you’ve understood their pain, offer a solution that cannot be ignored and highlighted as your USP to stand above your competitors.

For example, I wish to bring to your attention the importance of good design in promotional literature. There are various elements which are ignored because they are either considered as ‘old fashioned’ or are not properly taught, as they require what is termed as ‘having an eye’ for placement and positioning of text and images.

Today’s world is forever getting faster, and our brains haven’t time to stop and analyze subjects at length like they did 20 years ago. Concepts need to be understood in a nano-second, and this recognition will either result in taking action or being rejected. Multiple promotions are required to drive a message home, usually in various methods to avoid repetition, as on-the-spot decisions or reactions are rare.

The main element is the importance of margins. The eye needs to be navigated towards its passage across the page, guiding it to the relevant areas to aid comprehension. This cannot be achieved if the margins are too narrow or non-existant (as with bleeds and images set outside of grids) as is the wont with many ‘modern’ designs. Misunderstanding the use of ‘white space’ and therefore cramming in as much information as possible into the space will not enable the reader to fully understand the message and another opportunity will be lost.

In marketing terms, this concept could also be stressed by not having too many words in your promotional literature. The old adage ‘less is more’ results in summarising your message into a concise select number of words or phrases, especially if they have a ‘benefits’ bent rather than ‘features’, and will enable skimmers and scanners to ‘get’ your point quickly in this fast moving world of ours. They maybe will be able to retain the information somewhere, and remember the concept when it is presented to them again soon afterwards. Don’t expect instant recognition or action, people need to be coerced or seduced into your way of thinking, all aided by expert design and pin-pointed copywriting.