By Propulsion Media Labs Talent #54 Jim R.
I live
in multiple worlds: one as a voiceover talent, another as copywriter
for clients in various business sectors featured in print, web and
broadcast mediums. Put another way: I can put thoughts and sales
pitches into words and bark ‘em into a microphone – for a fee, of
course. Bank deposits are a beautiful thing.
I see a
bunch of, ahem,
‘writing examples’ during the course of a business day. Some are
brilliantly written, many are sloppy and usually about the client or
their sale. Granted you need an offer – but getting a starving
crowd to your door or website requires copy based on the wants, needs
and desires of your ideal prospect.
See,
it’s easy for marketers and business owners to adopt the age old
platitude that if you build it, they will come. The reality is
180-degrees the opposite.
 |
| Are you listening closely to your customers and prospects? |
What
keeps your prospects up at night? What situation would they like to
eradicate from their life right now? How do they speak and verbalize
their need? What itch do they have that only you can scratch?
For
example, in my local area there is a hearing aid retailer who
seemingly has a different message every few weeks. His pitch ranges
from price, to the fact we change as we get older (that TV spot
features footage of him playing drums in a college band) to the
heart-tugging plea that hearing loss means you’ll miss what your
grandkids are saying. None of this really matters to a hearing aid
prospect.
The
hearing aid industry has done extensive market research which reveals
the actual
reason why a seasoned citizen buys a hearing aid. The real reason
they buy is fear
– that their adult children interpret their hearing loss as Mom or
Dad becoming feeble and time to be shuttled into a retirement or
nursing home.
I have
two older brothers who wear hearing aids – they each went through
this. My wife tells me I’m on the same path, by the way. I
pretend
I don’t hear her!
A spot
addressing the nursing home reality for the hearing aid market will
cut through the clutter and squarely address a prospects concern,
fear and
offer a solution to what’s keeping these prospects awake at night,
staring at the ceiling fan.
OK, so
how do you tap into your prospects mind? The best way is to ask your
current clients, customers and patients why they chose you and how
they’ve benefitted by the association. This might also be a good
time to ask them how you can better serve them.
It also
wouldn’t hurt to ask your best customers for a testimonial. I
sometimes write something up for clients and ask them to make
whatever changes they want to make, sign it and return it to me on
their letterhead. Easy for them and I have a client saying how great
they think I am. Way more believable to a reader than my saying it
about myself. You’ll be able to use these testimonials in your
print, broadcast and web marketing initiatives, too.
Now that
you’ve received some feedback from your best clients, write
yourself a letter from your ideal, composite customer. “Dear Mr.
Big, what I really need is a better way to control my __(blank)__. If
only someone could solve _(blank)_, my biggest worries, pain and
frustration would go away.” This is a trick copywriters in the
direct-marketing field use to make sure they have an accurate
demographic and psychographic profile and understanding of the
prospect they're writing an ad for.
A friend
of mine, who is a best-selling author, further fleshes out the
details of the characters in her novels by “interviewing” them.
I’ve seen her do this and it looks like a séance. The bottom line
is that she obtains an acute awareness of the characteristics of the
people she brings to life in her books. Her characters always seem
very real when you read her books, too. The interview technique might
sound a little “out there,” but I encourage you to do the same in
order to accurately profile your ideal prospective customer.
The more
your broadcast, print or web copy is completely aligned with how
beneficial your product is to your target client, the more these
people will beat a path to your business with cash and credit cards.
You have what they want, they have what you want.
Maybe
that old axiom should read: build it right – and
market it right
– and they will come.
