Most companies are just not customer focused in their advertising and marketing.
It’s almost always about themselves, how long they have been in the business, how many branches they have, how many awards they have won, how organized they are… They actually think that all these would make people into customers. The truth cannot be further from this.
People really don’t care about hearing about you. You must make them see how you can benefit them. Remember WIIFM – What’s in it for me?
You really need to sneak your way into your customers’ head and speak to their needs, their wants, their wishes, their dreams, their fears, their desires.
You must then offer them benefits, and show them how your products and services can help solve their problems, achieve results they only dreamt about, take away pain that they might have been feeling in a particular area.
Another problem in most advertising is that people are selling the wrong things when they should be selling benefits.
Most people simply talk about features of their products and services, eg. Comes in an elegant box, Has 100 moving parts, Handmade by craftsmen. All these features do very little to sell.
You really have to show your customers how all these features is going to benefit them.
Whenever possible, you should also sell them the benefits they are going get from your products and services, and push them hard repeatedly in your copy and marketing.
How much time they would save?
How is it going to make their life easier?
How much money they can save in the long run?
Most people are not very adventurous when it comes to promoting their products and services.
They are usually constrained to a set type of sales copy or ad that they feel is appropriate for their industry and end up just like everyone else in that industry.
The question then becomes why would a customer even notice you among your competition. You should really aim to interrupt and demand attention from your customers.
Being different, brutally honest and in your face will make you stand out from the crowd. Avoid advertising based on facts and logic but rather promote and advertise based on emotion, your customers’ emotion.
Being enthusiastic in your copy sometimes to the point of over the top strengthen your chances of your customers registering your messages emotionally. People attach emotions to the thoughts they have, so you need to grab them by their emotion.
You need to get people to focus emotionally in order to get them to pay attention to what they have read.
People buy based on emotion, then justify it based on logic. We buy something we want, then justify and rationalize our decision with explanations in our mind.
When writing your sales copy for your products and services, you should reach out to people, appeal to their emotions, make them want what you have to offer and justify it with the rest of your copy.
Most importantly, have the guts to make a call to action at the end, which is the close. Remember the advertising formula AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.
It is also of great importance that when you get to the call to action and the close, you take your customer by the hand and tell them exactly what you want them to do so they do not have any doubts on what they have to do. “Fill Up This Form And Mail It To This Address With Payment Of $97,” Call Bill At 123456789,” “Click The To Checkout Button Now,” “Send $97 To This Paypal Address Now.”
You have to walk them through as if they are a child, telling them exactly step by step what they need to do. At this point, if they are ready to buy, they will be waiting for your direction, and it’s really your responsibility to do it well.
Failing to do so will result in losing sales that you would otherwise have gotten.
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Jo Han Mok is a frequent guest and featured speaker at Internet Marketing bootcamps and conferences on subjects such as copywriting and Joint Venture Marketing. Visit his website to find out how he can help you turn mere words into cash! http://www.MasterWordsmith.com
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1. Scrap the “Image” and work on an identity.
The first step to success is to get away from the idea of creating an image. In fact, the literal definition of image is an imitation or representation of a person or thing. Now that is exactly what you don’t want to be… an imitation
Identity on the other hand means is the condition of being the same in all qualities. It’s based on truth and honest. And believe me, it only takes a millisecond for consumers to identify a fraud.
Consumers respect integrity, and feel comfortable depending on companies who have invested in their identity… invested in being real, and have lived up to their name.
2. Be Yourself
Copycats are a dime a dozen. Whenever a good idea comes to light, there will be a thousand and one imitators ready to cash in on the success of the idea.
I’m not talking about learning from the best, and using their success stories to guide you on your quest for success. We all need mentors and examples to follow at times.
True success lies in originality. What good would it do to copy your competitors advertising strategies and campaigns? Finding your own niche and capitalizing on it will go a lot further toward making you stand out from the crowd.
3. Be Consumer Friendly
Friendly service is winning service. Who can resist a heartfelt smile? Most business have this down to a science. They spend a great deal of time stressing friendliness and “the customer is always right” attitudes among their employees.
What about customer-friendly products and services? We all know that people should be friendly, but sometimes overlook the fact that the product itself should bring a smile to the consumers face.
Tents have to be right near the bottom of the list of customer-friendly products… though in the case of my family, it wasn’t the tentmaker’s fault. We always lost the instructions before we made it to the campsite, and Dad’s attempt to assemble the darned thing without them had us kids running for the hills.
Do missing instructions or parts erase the smile from your customer’s face? What about websites with hard-to-find contact information or fliers that leave out important details?
Be sure you’ve thought of everything that will make your customers experience A+ from start to finish, and they’ll be back for more!
4. Have Guts
Trying something new often fills us with fear… especially when it involves hard earned money. Sometimes the only way to get out of a rut is to do exactly what we don’t want to do – get out of our comfort zone and try something new.
Other emotions that keep us from jumping onto a new idea are:
Hesitancy – we want to play it safe
Discouragement – we’re all set to lose before we even try
Pessimism – we focus more on the problem than the options
If you find yourself stuck in the doldrums remember that doing what you’ve always done will get you exactly what you’ve always got – and that’s why you’re where you’re at right now. Don’t be afraid to step out and get your feet wet!
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Who is Allyn Cutts, and why should you care?
Allyn has spent over 24 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales to current customers. Allyn is a marketing and sales fanatic, providing measurable marketing solutions that drive huge results for small-to mid-size business clients. You can learn more about Allyn Cutts at http://www.AllynCutts.com and you can call 610.437.4106 between 10 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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