Copywriting: What to include? What to leave out?
Cutting through the clutter and inspiring your prospects to sit up and pay attention is no easy feat given the amount of information that's thrown at them every day. If you swamp them with unnecessary information, it confuses them and confused people don't buy.
Here are two main points that will help you decide what information to include and what to leave out.
1. Your target market
All your materials need to be geared to your target market. What are their pains and problems, hopes and dreams? That's what you need to talk about. They have to be believe that you understand what makes them tick (and what they need to tick even better!), and that you have a solution to their problems. Before I ever put a word on paper I spend a lot of time sinking into the minds of my client's target market and figuring out how to hit their hot buttons.
2. How much do they need to know to be convinced that you're the right person for them?
People don't need to know everything you do. For example, you know me as a copywriter and marketing consultant. But did you know that I'm also a business coach? OK, so some of you did! But for those who didn't, I usually don't tell you that when I'm talking to you about my writing services. It's just not relevant to you when you're tearing your hair out over the quality of your brochure, wondering how on earth to put an informational booklet together or sweating over the right wording for a sales letter. Resist the temptation to cough up every detail about your business. Keep your material focused only on what's relevant to the problems of your target market and the solutions you can offer them.
Obviously all the above applies to marketing pieces whose purpose is to generate leads. It's a whole different matter if you want to dispense information or to educate.
Here are two main points that will help you decide what information to include and what to leave out.
1. Your target market
All your materials need to be geared to your target market. What are their pains and problems, hopes and dreams? That's what you need to talk about. They have to be believe that you understand what makes them tick (and what they need to tick even better!), and that you have a solution to their problems. Before I ever put a word on paper I spend a lot of time sinking into the minds of my client's target market and figuring out how to hit their hot buttons.
2. How much do they need to know to be convinced that you're the right person for them?
People don't need to know everything you do. For example, you know me as a copywriter and marketing consultant. But did you know that I'm also a business coach? OK, so some of you did! But for those who didn't, I usually don't tell you that when I'm talking to you about my writing services. It's just not relevant to you when you're tearing your hair out over the quality of your brochure, wondering how on earth to put an informational booklet together or sweating over the right wording for a sales letter. Resist the temptation to cough up every detail about your business. Keep your material focused only on what's relevant to the problems of your target market and the solutions you can offer them.
Obviously all the above applies to marketing pieces whose purpose is to generate leads. It's a whole different matter if you want to dispense information or to educate.
