Content is King – It’s what all of the search engines are looking for.
Content Writing is the process of creatomg amd updating web pages, posting blog comments, creating new stuff for people and search engines to find.
But it isn’t as simple as just writing stuff. In the earlier days of content creation developers would use a process called keyword stuffing which, as it sounds, is the process of packing a page with as many keywords as possible for the search engines to find. With the many updates that have occurred this doesn’t work anymore and you can be penalized for it. What they are looking for now is RELEVANT content to the product or services that you are selling. This means you need to have good valuable content written to entice the readers to read, not the search engines.
Copy is the air your marketing consumes. If its stale or foul smelling then so will your marketing. There is an art and science behind successful copy that move prospects and clients to action.
There are 5 components that your copy needs to have a good chance of working. Leave one out and you risk wasting your hard earned money. These components are:
- Get their attention.
- Identify the reader’s problem.
- Position your product/service as the solution.
- Prove the value of your solution versus others.
- Call for action.
So lets take a look at each of these a little more closely.
Get their attention
People are going through their day with blinders on. Most of us are oblivious to the stuff that goes on around us because we are wrapped up in our lives, issues, problems, etc. Getting someone’s attention is critical, you have to shake them out of their own world. So how do you do this?
Excellent question. First, sending the same thing as everyone else in your industry is sending probably won’t do it It certainly won’t show you as being any different. We like to be different, exciting even outrageous so we suggest cranking up the volume so that it is easier to be heard.
You can do this by a provocative headline, packaging, message, yada yada yada. The point here is to be different. If you want to be a little different – if your industry sends out standard glossy postcards then you send out oversized brightly colored postcards. This way you will be seen better. Doesn’t mean that you will get any action but being seen and read is half the battle.
You need to have headlines. A statement right up front that is going to grab the reader’s attention. Without this you are just like everyone else. More on this later.
Identify the reader’s problem
If you don’t connect with the reader on the basic issue of their pain, you will have a hard time connecting at all. Pain is the driving force for most action. While we all love to think that we can run towards pleasure, at least intellectually we believe that, the reality is we’re moving away from pain.
Just accept this as a truth and move on, how you craft your messages will become easier with this understanding.
So much marketing starts and ends with
- How great we are
- How we can help you
- Been in business since 1492 (a really long time)
- Best price
- Best service
None of these acknowledge the pains and frustrations that your prospects or clients are experiencing so you haven’t made the very basic connection.
Position your product/service as the solution
Once you have made the connection mentioned above you can then craft your story, yes it needs to be a story – more on this later. Your story is about you as the solution to their pain.
During your story you will open their wound (more pain) so that you are engaging them on a deeper level and then will carefully bring them around to see how you relieve them of the pain with the only logical solution – you, your product, service, etc.
This takes some doing but with the right patience and practice it will happen.
Prove the value of your solution versus others
Unless you are the only one of your kind in the market, world or universe you will have competition in the mind of your prospect. You may not agree with their assessment . . .in the world of marketing, what you believe is irrelevant, only what the client believes is important.
So you must know engage their intellectual side and provide them with the evidence that is needed to prove to them beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are only choice to be made. Think in terms of a lawyer here. Do you watch “Suits” on USA? If so you know Harvey. Good looking, creative, take no prisoners lawyer who at the end of each episode has won for his client and himself. That is what you need to do.
This can and should be fun – building your case and providing the evidence that will convince the jury in your client’s mind that you are guilty of being the solution.
Call for action
Ahh, the last major piece. The Call To Action.
This is where so many pieces fail. They either don’t have one or what they have is “call us.”
So lets get real here. When was the last time you were so compelled by a marketing piece that you had to pick up the phone and call for more information on the product. You think you can convince your prospects to do this?
Another one that I love is “’Call for Free Quote.” That is the best that some can come up with and its lame.
With the internet taking over every aspect of our lives both personal and business you better be able to step up the plate and provide a ton of information (for free) to help provide the evidence that your prospects need to select you.