Archive for the ‘Online Marketing’ Category

I am constantly amazed at the number of conversations I have with people regarding a strategy for their Internet marketing and web presence. When I read the experts, they all say the same thing – have a strategy, maintain a focus, write clear and interesting copy, and make sure you know what your target market needs. So why does it seem to be so difficult to achieve?

I believe that in general we do not think about the strategy early enough in the process.  You really want to begin devising a strategy when you are building, or updating, your web site.  The earlier you map out your goals, the better off you will be. I cannot tell you how many times a customer would have been better served to have retained the services of both the web designer and a web content writer early in the process, thereby ensuring that the web site was conducive to search engine optimization through copy and meta tags. Often I run into web designers who either do not employ SEO tactics, or believe that they can do everything needed on the back-end.  If you utilize an overall strategy, you will have better success in the search engines, and you will have compelling copy that speaks to your target market.

Building a strategy is not always easy. It requires you to think about where you want to be in the future, and know a significant amount about your target market.  By determining what you want to be when you grow up, you’ll have a solid foundation to build your business, and a better mix of online and offline marketing tactics.

So what is the first step? Write down exactly what you are doing and who you are selling to – and be very detailed.  If you are selling gutters, for example, list exactly what type of gutters and who benefits from them the most.  Remember that while the ultimate goal is to sell gutters, you cannot sell them without understanding what your target market wants.  Understanding your target market goes into everything you do – your web design, the information on the web, whether or not you will blog, write articles, what information you will impart to show your expertise, where you will “hang out” online to build relationships, and what the mix of online and offline marketing dollars will need to be in order to be successful.

A written strategy will provide you with a baseline from which to launch all your online marketing efforts. You must also track these efforts to determine their success. The Internet provides an inexpensive way to reach potential customers, but you will be much more successful if you work diligently from a strategy, execute diligently, and track and report regularly.

One of the most important aspects of copywriting is to reach your target audience and compel them to take action. Unfortunately, it’s not always as simple as we would like. Many people make the mistake of thinking that because they are part of the target audience, they can simply write in their own voice and everything will be fine. (I know – I’m guilty of it too.) But to truly reach the target audience and actually compel them to take action, you have to know a little something about them. In particular, you need to know what gives them pain.

It is proven that people will go to great lengths to alleviate their pain – much further than to support their happiness. A good target market profile will help you with understanding what compels these people to take action. The profile should include:

• What keeps them up at night?
• What magazines might they read?
• What types of hobbies do they engage in (golf, tennis, reading)?
• How do they research their buying decisions (all Internet, ask friends, combination)?
• What is their home life like (married, kids, pets, single)?
• What are their motivators (spouse, work, children)?

You need to have a detailed profile of who you are writing to, and a clear understanding of how your product or service can help them. Make sure you are providing them with benefits, not features.  Features are what you or your product does for your customer; benefits are how your customer is helped. Remember, they want to know how you can help them, not only what you can do.

I like questions as a way of breaking through – Do you feel, or Aren’t you tired of, or Would you like to have x,y, and z again.  It’s easy to scan a bulleted list of questions, and it lets the person know you already understand their pain points.  Then simple answer each one in your copy, again making sure to discuss how the target is being served. I’m sure you are great at what you do, and the product is the best ever, but people want to know how it helps them, not what it does.

If you can, use a group to review your copy. Maybe not all of it, but try to get someone who either really understands your business OR better yet, your target market, to review what you have written. Ask them to be brutal. I know it hurts (my review team is tough!) but it will make your copy better.

Once you have finalized the copy, sleep on it. Always give it another review with fresh eyes, and read it out loud. You will catch a lot of mistakes by taking the time to read your copy outloud. And it will have a more polished feel.

Hours of research and a lot of work go into writing to your target market. But it will pay off in the long run!