WRITING TO SELL (Part Five): Good Choices, More Sales
Quick! You’ve got two seconds to tell a customer what you sell! No time for a long list of random categories. What’s the most important thing you sell? Or is there a category that describes everything? How to choose? Good questions, and exactly the sorts of things that marketing professionals address daily. Also, welcome to the world of copywriting!
(Helpful graphic goes here. If you like, you can view the full post with image at:
http://www.clavan.net/blog Otherwise, read on!)
Sometimes you need to make a choice. From the graphic, here are two different approaches:
Example #1 - General
---WHAT YOU SAY YOU SELL: Women's Bags, Knitted Scarves, Printable Notecards, Handmade Flowers, Floral Arrangements, Bridal Bouquets
---WHAT THEY THINK YOU SELL: Stuff
---WHO THE BUYER IS: Women
Example #2 - Specific
---WHAT YOU SAY YOU SELL: Bridal Bouquets, Wedding Invitations, Thank-You Cards, Bridesmaids' Bags, Floral Centerpieces, Bridesmaids' Gifts
---WHAT THEY THINK YOU SELL: Wedding Accessories
---WHO THE BUYER IS: Brides, Bridal Party, Family of Bride/Groom, Wedding Planners
Although it looks difficult, making a choice about what to sell, which buyers to sell to, and how to talk to them can give you the precious edge you need in order to be successful.
--1) Your customer base might be smaller, but the people you’ll reach are all eager to buy and - assuming they like what they get - are very likely to purchase again and recommend you to others.
--2) It’s so much easier to shop in your store! That’s always appealing to buyers.
--3) Focused messages, visuals and inventory make you look experienced and professional, which gives buyers confidence in your reliability and the quality of what you sell. Comfortable customers are more likely to purchase.
--4) It’s much easier to write for your store. Every time you create a page or a listing, you already know who you’re talking to and what they want to hear. You’re already halfway there!
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HOW TO CHOOSE
When big companies put together their sales and marketing strategies for a new line of products - or when they’re devising new marketing campaigns - they go straight to customers for information. They create lists of the types of people they believe they should sell to, identify some real-world people who match up with these lists, and ask them questions. “What features are you looking for?” “What's the most important factor in your decision to purchase - price, size, durability, color?” And so on.
After preparing a possible set of messages based on this research, they organize follow-up focus groups. Typical buyers look at proposed ads, product overviews and other materials, and researchers analyze their responses.
This process could cost tens of thousands of dollars (or into six figures), and might easily take several months.
Clearly, you don’t have the money and time to do this kind of in-depth research. So you’ll need to get creative, look at the resources you do have, come up with some interesting ways to use those resources, and force yourself to focus and simplify.
Rather than exhausting your energy trying to tell five different stories, strengthen one or two major messages instead. A much better use of your time, with more satisfying results.
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COMING UP NEXT
More copywriting tips - methods used successfully by large-scale international organizations, tailored for small businesses and the artisan community. Also watch for a new screencast that will cover top points made in the “Writing to Sell” series by looking at a few shops owned by members of The Copywriting Coach on Facebook. A great place to learn and a fun environment:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/copywritingcoachAlso check out all the previous "Writing to Sell" posts here in the threads or on the blog:
http://www.clavan.net/blog
