How can I highlight a negative aspect of my product?

Everyone out there is trying to prove their products are the best of the best!

Yes, but you wouldn’t be the first nor the last to use a negative aspect of your offering to set yourself apart.

It’s a technique that savvy copywriters throughout history have used in their campaigns at one time or another, and it proved to be the missing piece for those brands that were struggling to finally take off.

If you think about it, the idea is not that far-fetched.

By embracing a not-so-positive aspect of your product, you demonstrate that:

• You are an honest brand
• You are so confident in your ability to deliver what you promise that you aren’t scared to expose everything, both the good and the bad.
• You know how to turn something negative into something positive.

Furthermore, you not only accept what you lack or what is not so perfect, but you expose it for all to see.

Because in the end great advertising is- as the copywriter Andy McLeod rightly says –

“Expressing a truth about a product in an arresting way.”

This advanced copywriting technique is called “reverse psychology“

Do you want to learn how to use it?

Stay with me for this copywriting class in which we’ll look at several ways to exploit a disadvantage of your product.

1.   Admit that you are not the best in the market

Admitting that you are not number one in your niche can work in your favour.

Let’s see this with a great example.

The rental car company Avis was going through a hard time.

Hertz, the competitor, was gaining market share by leaps and bounds, so much so that Avis was losing literally millions of dollars.

They understood that they needed a powerful campaign to turn the situation around and hired the agency Doyle Dane Bernbach.

The agency then decided to turn the tables and make the most of the fact that Avis was number two in the market.

This truth was the perfect argument to convince their audience that with Avis, their experience would be smooth sailing.

These ads have made history because they helped Avis recover from its financial slump.

Doyle Dane Bernbach’s advertisers were able to use this disadvantage to convince audiences that they would get better service and a smoother experience with Avis, which is ultimately what everyone wants when they rent a car.

Think about how you could apply this advanced copywriting technique to your business.

Not being a big, well-known brand may mean that you offer a more personalised service, that you are cheaper, or that the buying process is easier.

Let’s now look at another way to use a disadvantage to your advantage.

2.   You are not the first choice your customer had in mind.

You may be the alternative they haven’t considered, and you may turn out to be even better.

I know this is a bit complicated to grasp, so let’s look at an example to help you understand.

Vespa, the Italian motorcycle brand, wanted to penetrate the U.S. market.

They were not fools.

They knew very well that it was not going to be easy to convince a country where every member of the family has their own car from the age of 18 to get on a small and fragile-looking motorcycle.

(Picture a Vespa next to one of those huge pickups that abound in the USA).

Vespa then hired the advertising agency Carl Ally and it was copywriter Ed McCabe who came up with this extraordinary campaign.

Pay attention to the header

“Maybe your second car shouldn’t be a car.”

It’s masterful because you’re already planting doubt in your ideal customer’s mind.

But the lead is even better:

“Don’t laugh. It makes a lot more sense to hop on a Vespa than it does to climb into a 4000 lb automobile to go half a mile for a 4-oz pack of cigarettes.”

Notice how it already plays on the fact that the average American has never considered a scooter, and therefore goes right into making the most robust argument for owning a motorcycle, but preceded by a “don’t laugh”.

McCabe goes on to strengthen that argument by outlining all the advantages of a scooter, for parking, for getting around traffic, and, course, there is also the economic issue, “you can buy one of them with the money you’d spend to insurance and fuel the average second car for a year”.

Think about how you could apply this advanced copywriting technique to your business.

Are you a cheaper but equally (or more) advantageous alternative to a more obvious choice?

So make the most of it and make sure you create headlines that already sow doubt in your audience’s mind.

Do they really need that more expensive option, or can they get a similar result with yours plus other advantages they hadn’t considered?

Let’s take a look at another very clear way to use reverse psychology. 

3. Ask your audience not to buy your products

Sounds pretty idiotic, doesn’t it?

If you want to sell more, how can you ask your prospects not to buy?

And yet that is what Patagonia did

You will know Patagonia for its clothing made with quality materials for hiking in the mountains or just walking around the neighbourhood.

In 2011 they ran the following ad in the New York Times for Black Friday:

Of course it was a campaign that attracted a lot of attention.

Patagonia is known for its environmental advocacy and campaigns to protect the planet.

That’s why on Black Friday they wanted to launch a message against the fanatical consumerism typical of these dates.

They even have a page on their website explaining why they decided to run this ad.

I copy here the most relevant messages:

…to lighten our environmental footprint, everyone needs to consume less. Businesses need to make fewer things but of higher quality. Customers need to think twice before they buy.

Why? Everything we make takes something from the planet we can’t give back. Each piece of Patagonia clothing, whether or not it’s organic or uses recycled materials, emits several times its weight in greenhouse gases, generates at least another half garment’s worth of scrap, and draws down copious amounts of freshwater now growing scarce everywhere on the planet.”

Of course, many branded them as hypocrites, because they knew that with this ad they were actually giving more publicity to their products.

They had foreseen that this would happen, so on their website they also face this truth without any hints:

“But we’re in business to make and sell products. Everyone’s paycheck relies on that. Moreover, we are a growing business, opening new stores and mailing more catalogs. What do we tell customers who accuse us of hypocrisy?

It would be hypocritical for us to work for environmental change without encouraging customers to think before they buy. To reduce environmental damage, we all have to reduce consumption as well as make products in more environmentally sensitive, less harmful ways. It’s not hypocrisy for us to address the need to reduce consumption. On the other hand, it’s folly to assume that a healthy economy can be based on buying and selling more and more things people don’t need—and it’s time for people who believe that’s folly to say so.”

Patagonia is actually doing here what it always does – selling a concept rather than a garment itself.

Patagonia not only sells quality clothing but above all presents itself as that brand with scruples that really cares about the planet.

People who buy Patagonia garments do so not only for the quality of its products but also to be seen as a person who loves nature and wants to help protect it.

That’s why this ad makes so much sense, it’s the pure essence of their “buy less but buy quality” marketing strategy.

In other words, don’t buy from Decathlon and buy from us.

Think about how you could use this technique in your marketing strategy.

If your brand is also environmentally conscious, invite your audience to buy only if necessary.

Encourage them to repair, reuse and resell when possible.

Your entire marketing strategy has to take the environmental factor into account if that is how you have decided to differentiate yourself from other brands.

And above all, be consistent with what you preach.

Let’s take a look at one last example of the marketing technique of making a negative thing positive.

4. Your brand doesn’t do everything

Specializing can be a double-edged sword.

When you only do one thing, people may decide to go for another brand or service that offers them more possibilities.

But specializing in something can also be positive because it differentiates you from other businesses and gives you that expert aura.

In the 2000s, the Umbro brand was dedicated to apparel and footwear for one sport: football.

It now also makes rugby and training apparel, but its biggest market is still football.

And it is this speciality that this campaign highlighted:

Copywriter Andy McLeod exploited the fact that all the other brands were making everything, from skateboards to yoga mats, to emphasize that Umbro only made football apparel and nothing else.

This campaign focuses on making their ideal customer – people who play football – feel proud to wear a brand that differentiates them from the rest of the crowd.

Wearing Umbro they say to the world “I play football”.

This kind of emotion is often used in advertising – the feeling of belonging to a group and being perceived as a member of it.

Because it works.

Besides, a brand that specializes in only one thing has to be better, right? This was the other message they wanted to convey.

Think about how you can use this type of message in your marketing campaigns.

Are you specialised in only one thing and that’s why you do it better than the competition?

What is the emotion you want your audience to feel?

Pride in belonging to a group?

Remember, one of the most important goals of your copy is to create an emotion that makes your audience want to get your product.

Summarizing

That not-so-positive aspect of your offer can become very effective in differentiating your brand.

Don’t be afraid to discover that disadvantage that can make you shine brighter than you thought.

Perfection is boring and too flat.

The flaws in business – as in people – are what make us memorable.

I invite you to discover them and share them out there.

See you soon!

You don’t see yourself uploading posts every single day proclaiming how great you are and how much you know.

It’s a way of being exposed and that’s not fun for many of us.

It seems to me that social media has become an annoying hubbub where the presumption reigns that she who makes the most noise is the most right.

When this isn’t the case at all.

Often the opposite is true.

Those who seem more sure of themselves and of what they say, either only state the obvious, or simply repeat what others have said before, only louder.

You might be thinking… Not everything in the socials is negative.

I do use them to find out about events happening near me, have a good laugh or read a post from those people who really have something interesting to say (they’re often the least loud).

When you’re a freelancer – or have your own business – you feel obliged to use social media for promotion.

Everyone says you should be there, adding your voice to the constant chatter.

But you procrastinate and grudgingly post something once in a blue moon that only your friends and family ‘like’.

You don’t want to think too much about it, still, you feel that daily burden on your shoulders…

But there’s something they never say in the socials and it’s that…

There are better ways to get clients without social media.

And you can do great. I’m a living proof!

In fact, I’m convinced that for most small businesses the socials are a waste of time that could be better spent on more effective techniques to find new projects.

Let’s take a look at what techniques work when it comes to finding clients for those businesses that hate don’t like social media.

5 ways to find customers without social media

1.      Blogging and SEO

When I started my copywriting business I decided to invest time and energy on my blog.

I wrote 4 articles per month and searched for the keywords my prospects used in their Google searches.

After 8 months my website was in the top 10 on the Google results page for keywords such as “copywriting examples” or “freelance copywriter“.

And I keep writing articles because it works for me.

80% of the clients I work with have found me on Google.

And I’ve never paid for ads.

Now I don’t have so much time to write 4 posts a month because I’ve got more work than when I started (thank goodness!!!) so I write 1 or 2 posts a month.

Even so, my website is still very well-placed.

Once Google places you in the top search results, you just need to keep your website active by refreshing it with new content and updating the existing one.

Is it an investment of time (or money if you pay someone to write the articles for you)?

Yes, it is.

But one that delivers real results in the medium term.

I read a lot about SEO and keep up to date with Google’s algorithm changes by reading blogs from people who are experts.

And so I apply what I learn to my website to make sure it’s always up to date.

If you want to learn how to place your website in Google’s top results, in this post I explain several SEO techniques. Although I wrote it in 2020, all of them still work today. Check it out!

5 ways of finding clients when you don’t like social media. #marketing #blogging #SmallBiz
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A lot of people are now using AI with tools like ChatGPT to create content, and I think that’s great because it saves a lot of time.

But you shouldn’t just upload the content ChatGPT has come up with because it will lack personality.

ChatGPT is great for giving you ideas on what to write about and finding structure, but you need to add your personal vision to make your content original and interesting.

Uploading poor quality, duplicated or boring content won’t rank well on Google because people won’t stay to read it and then your bounce rate will be too high.

The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your website as soon as they land on it because they don’t see anything interesting.

Use ChatGPT to generate many different headline options, new ideas for articles or service pages, but then add your vision with examples, anecdotes or references, so it’s not just a robot spitting out content that already exists somewhere else.

If you manage to be consistent and write engaging articles on your blog, Google will reward you by ranking you high on the search results page and customers will be knocking at your door without you having to go looking for them.

Recommended reading: 5 straight-forward ways of attracting organic traffic to your website

2.      Build a mailing list

When I started blogging I also created a lead magnet to get more subscribers to my mailing list.

My lead magnet is a free guide with some basic copywriting techniques to attract international customers to your business.

If visitors want it they need to leave their email address and subscribe to my list. Then they receive an email every 2 weeks with relevant and useful copywriting tips.

Email is a way to reach out to those prospects who haven’t yet taken the decision to hire you or buy your product.

These prospects need more information since they’re still not ready to buy. (Warm audience = they’re interested in your offer but are still on the fence).

Maybe that subscriber won’t hire you right away, but you show up in their mailbox on a regular basis and if someone asks them for a therapist they’ll recommend you, or if one day they decide it’s time to invest in the future of their business, they’ll hire you.

Besides, sending emails is cheap.

Much cheaper than paying for SM ads. And it tends to work better because it creates a closer and more personal relationship.

Your prospect decides to open your email because they’re interested in your content, it’s not like when we feel interrupted with an unsolicited ad on our feeds.

Further reading: How to write an email that won’t be sent directly to the trash folder

5 ways of finding clients when you don’t like social media. #marketing #blogging #SmallBiz
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3.      Networking

We are human and therefore we like to relate to each other.

If you’re introverted you may not always feel like it.

But the truth is that meeting people in the professional sphere opens up more doors and new projects come along.

If you don’t like big events where everyone seems to be a PR expert, there are other ways.

Join coworking groups, or sign up for trainings where you can meet other freelancers or small business owners.

I consider myself a fake extrovert.

When I’m around other people I seem sociable. I talk a lot and I joke around.

But socialising eats up a lot of my energy.

I’m actually quite introverted and most of the time I like to be alone enjoying my own company.

Often my best plan is to stay home reading a book or watching a film.

But I also feel the need to be among other people from time to time. You learn a lot by talking to others.

Some of the clients I work with have met me through other acquaintances or we’ve connected at an event.

Showing your face from time to time at events for entrepreneurs, freelancers, coaches, designers, copywriters, health professionals, whatever it is you do, will bring you business opportunities and also facilitate interesting collaborations.

Although I love working alone and don’t want to be part of a team on a permanent basis, collaborating from time to time on a project with other people fills me with great energy because it’s an opportunity to grow and learn from others.

4.      Send reminders to clients you’ve worked with

Don’t be shy.

Sending a timely email or WhatsApp to your list of clients you’ve already worked with can save your month or quarter.

For instance at Christmas, to wish them happy holidays.

Your email can be the pinch they needed to remind them they want you for a new project.

But you don’t have to wait for Christmas.

Any time is a good time to send them an email asking how they’re doing and reminding them that if they need help again you are their person.

This kind of emails has brought me a lot of joy.

As well as bringing you new projects, they boost your morale since you realise that people value your work and want to work with you again.

But remember the golden rule when writing anything:

Time is precious. Don’t waste anyone’s.

Don’t talk too much about yourself and how great you are.

Better ask them how they’re doing. Personalise the email or WhatsApp so they don’t notice you’ve sent it to 50 others!

Tell them a funny story that will make them smile or give them an interesting piece of information.

5 ways of finding clients when you don’t like social media. #marketing #blogging #SmallBiz
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5.      Cold emails

Instead of blasting messages left and right to an intangible mass of followers on social media who are often not even your ideal customer because they aren’t ready to buy, spend that time and energy on companies or individuals who are more likely to hire you.

First search for those companies or freelancers who may need your services or your product and send them a personalised email.

This kind of email is called a cold email because you’re pitching to people who don’t know you at all, so you need to gain their trust in just one email.

Cold emailing isn’t easy but with practice, it can work really well.

Go through these 5 steps:

1. Make them open the email with an interesting subject line
2. Use the PAS formula
3. Clear up any doubts
4. Prove your arguments
5. Close in style

Let’s look at these steps one by one.

An interesting subject line

We all receive tens of unsolicited emails from brands every day. So to make sure prospects open your email, the subject line has to be interesting enough.

A subject line is interesting when it:

• Promises a benefit
• Arouses curiosity
• It’s fun and different

In this article I break down the formula for writing attention-grabbing headlines and subject lines.

Some of the brands I’m subscribed to use a technique that works great for subject lines and that’s asking questions. For example:

• Are you there?
• Can Spotify make you more productive?
• Do you use WordPress? You need this

Asking questions nudges people to open an email to find an answer.

Nobody likes to leave a question unanswered!

PAS Formula

As soon as readers open the email they should find something of benefit to them. They need to quickly find the answer to the question “Why should I bother to read this email?”

And the PAS formula is an easy way to make sure you answer that question.

The PAS formula work like this:

1. Problem
2. Agitation
3. Solution

You agitate the problem when you describe in detail all the issues that person (or company) is suffering that stem from the main problem.

For example, if you think their website looks shabby and old-fashioned and you’re a web designer you can start by saying:

“Your website is like your business’s shop window. If it looks untidy, cluttered and it’s not clear what you’re selling, no one will come inside.”

Always personalise the email, find a couple of specific problems you’ve found on their website and explain why these problems are causing them to lose money.

Then offer a solution to that problem and list everything that your solution will achieve:

• Your page will load faster and people will stay on page longer
• The design will look modern, intuitive and much more attractive.
• Contacting you will be much easier with a live chat and a direct call button.

Clear up doubts

Doubt it’s only human, especially when dealing with an unknown company.

Convince them why they won’t regret hiring you, and write in a personal, kind and approachable way.

Invite them to take a look at your portfolio, offer them a free demo, invite them to a video call.

The goal here is to get them to trust you.

Prove your arguments

The best way to convince your prospects about how good you are is letting others bolster your arguments.

Add customer testimonials, surveys, a success story of a specific customer, comments from other people in your niche.

These are great ways to prove you’re just not talking b*llocks.

Close in style

At the end of the email, you want prospects to contact you or click on a link to buy a product.

And for that, you need to remind them of all the benefits they get if they do it.

Summarise them in points in a clear and compelling way.

People are eager to know how what you offer can solve their problem.

Be honest. Be clear. And be yourself.

To sum up

Social media can be very useful, I don’t deny that. A lot of people are making tons of money thanks to it.

But it isn’t the only way.

Many businesses are doing really well without having to upload posts or videos all day long.

The 5 ways of getting clients without SM we’ve seen before can also help you sell more.

You don’t need to say goodbye to SM forever.

You can try some of these techniques I showed you and continue using SM if it’s helping you.

When it comes to promoting your business, only you know which techniques work best for your business.

Don’t be too influenced by what others do (not even by what I’m telling you in this post 😋) and choose your own way of doing things.

Any way of promoting your business is good if it’s getting you results and doesn’t make you feel like you’re selling your soul to the devil.

Because being true to yourself is very important!

See you around!

5 ways of finding clients when you don’t like social media. #marketing #blogging #SmallBiz
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First, you need to write a powerful script that will portray you as a believable professional.

Video works great for B2B companies too.

They’re powerful weapons to get your prospects’ attention and nudge them to request a quote.

Writing a compelling script requires following a few important steps.

You need to think carefully about who you’re targeting and how you’re going to nudge your audience to take the action you want.

And this is what we’ll see in this copywriting class.

Are you staying?

Here we go.

Follow these 4 steps to write a promotional video script

Who is your customer

As with any piece of copy with which you intend to sell a product or service, you’ll need to do a thorough research beforehand so your video has the impact you’re looking for.

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

• Who is my target audience?
• What action do I want that person to take after watching the video?
• In which channels will I publish it? Social media, website, email, etc.

The clearer your goal is, the more effective your video will be.

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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The Big Idea

Once you have the answers to these 3 questions comes the most important part of the process of creating a video script.

It’s quite a difficult part, but once you get it, the rest will come much easier because you’ve got the piece that will allow you to complete the puzzle.

It’s about finding your Big Idea.

The Big Idea is the foundation of every marketing strategy.

It’s what will make the difference between a weak and average sales message and a powerful one that will bring you real results.

Don’t panic.

I’ll explain now how you can get to that Big Idea you need for your video.

The Big Idea is basically that transformation your prospects want and you’re going to deliver.

But listen because this is important.

Your Big Idea should sound different from all the others – even if it’s basically the same thing your competition is offering – but you’re expressing it in a unique and memorable way.

And how do you get to that unique and memorable Big Idea?

Paying close attention to those words your customers use to express how they feel after that transformation they’ve experienced thanks to your product/course/book/service.

Ways to get to the Big Idea:

• Talk to your customers about their journey. From experiencing their problem to the moment they found you and the reasons they chose you.
• Summarise their experience while receiving (or after receiving) all the benefits of your product/service.
• What expressions come up more often?
• Give a title to that transformation, as if it were a film. For example: “The real YOU is paid better”

Your Big Idea has to be crystal clear and should be expressed in one sentence.

Let’s look at an example.

In this video the Big Idea is:

“Green bin keeps trash in”

It could be a film title. It’s memorable and it rhymes.

The video breaks our mental frameworks, something that works great when we want to get people’s attention.

And it does it right at the start: “To prove our trash bin is better, we invited these trash experts”

We expect to see people in a lab, not raccoons.

The Big Idea of this video is simple and concrete: 2 raccoons trying to open a trash bin.

One manages it, the other one not because our bin is better designed.

They’ve come up with this Big Idea knowing that one of the big problems of their prospects is that they wake up in the morning and see all that trash lying all over the place.

They didn’t need many words to demonstrate the value of their product in a clear, memorable and credible way.

But the Big Idea cannot always be explained with images alone. And then you’ll need more words.

The transformation

Once you’ve found your Big Idea and it’s clear in your mind, you’ve got to land it.

Let me explain.

Sometimes the Big Idea can be a bit abstract.

So it’s important to bring it down to earth by explaining what it means in your prospects’ everyday life.

This way you make it more concrete.

And to make it more concrete you should clarify these points by taking into account the expressions your customers used when speaking to them:

•   What does it mean to live up to the Big Idea?
•   What does belonging to that group who achieved the Big Idea earn them?
•   How does it feel now compared to before?
•   Why any of this matter?

In the example of the trash bin, there’s no need to land the Big Idea because the benefits are clear and tangible – no more rubbish lying around.

But for most businesses, the benefits might not be so clear from the film title alone.

That’s why we have to land that Big Idea and not leave it up in the air.

Let’s look at another example to see this clearly.

Coach Accountable is a platform that helps coaches do their work.

The Big Idea is “Deliver better programs, to more people, with less work”.

They came up with this Big Idea because they realised this is what their target audience wants.

But this Big Idea is a bit abstract.

How do these benefits – better programs, more clients, less work – actually apply to their everyday life as a coach?

In the video, they explain in a clear and compelling way how the app will help them and their clients.

They land that Big Idea with concrete examples every coach knows well: clients losing motivation, coaches unable to check their progress every single day, tasks not being completed, etc.

The video shows how with the app they will manage to have better control of their clients’ progress and help them keep motivated and accountable.

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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The trajectory

The next step in the process of writing your script is to describe how your prospects can achieve that Big Idea or film title.

With your customers in mind, write about:

• How do you get to the Big Idea?
• What’s the emotional path to get there (overcoming false beliefs/mental blocks)?
• What about the external path (actions/decisions)?
• What will it be like to have achieved the Big Idea?

Let’s look at an example.

SalesForce is a platform companies use to manage their leads and customer support.

This video explains in a clear and simple way – without technicalities or business jargon – how SalesForce can help your company grow.

That’s the Big Idea behind this video: “With SalesForce you’ll soon see your small business grow”.

And they show how to achieve that Big Idea by telling the story of a small business becoming a bigger one thanks to SaleForce.

We can see concrete examples of how the platform helped that company convert more leads into customers and to deliver better support to existing ones.

It’s an entertaining and compelling story.

Other companies can feel inspired by that transformation.

In this part of your video script, the most important thing is to show your audience that attaining the Big Idea is possible, they just need to take the action you propose.

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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Take the first step

In order to move your prospects to take action: buying/contacting/downloading a lead magnet, etc., treat them as if they had already attained the Big Idea.

Talk to them as if they’d already achieved that new version of themselves before they or anyone else do.

This is very powerful.

Think about it – what kind of people make you feel more comfortable in your skin?

I have no doubt.

Those who see my potential and encourage me to achieve anything I want.

So inspire your prospects to pursue what they really want and give them precise instructions on how to get it.

If you do so they’ll trust you and will take action.

Let’s look at another example to see this crystal clear.

I bought this course.

And I wasn’t thinking of buying any yoga courses!

I already go to a yoga studio 3 times a week…

But an Instagram ad convinced me to take action.

Meaning: to pull out my credit card and buy this online course right away.

It wasn’t this exact video – I couldn’t find the one on IG – but it was pretty similar.

The ad showed a very diverse group of people – not so young, not so slim, not so “perfect yoga body” – trying to do inverted poses I wish I could do.

They’re challenging but they look so cool!

The ad said:

 “You aren’t too weak, too old or too inflexible to do this or this or this”

While showing these real people trying different inverted poses, for which you need a lot of strength in your arms and abs, and above all balance.

With this video, this yoga teacher convinced me that I can also achieve these positions with training and persistence.

She convinced me that it was actually POSSIBLE for someone like me.

Because she showed me real people of various ages and conditions trying too.

The way she talks to camera, in an honest and friendly way, without exaggeration, also convinced me she was trustworthy.

So convince your prospects they CAN achieve the Big Idea if they follow your advice and take action.

And you may wonder…

Have I managed a headstand without using a wall?

Not yet, but I’m working on it 😉

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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To sum up

For your promotional video to bring real results:

1. Find your Big Idea
2. Know how to land it to make it more concrete in your prospects’ eyes
3. Encourage them to trust you so they want to take action

See this process as if it were a bridge over a river that connects 2 points: the one where your prospects are right now and the one in front of them which is where they really want to be.

But for them to want to cross the bridge this must look safe and tempting.

At first, they might feel a bit anxious because they’re scared of heights.

But you’re going to persuade them that it’s safe and that life looks better on the other side.

Plus the views from the bridge are stunning!

They’ll feel happy and proud while crossing it.

But be careful!

Because there are other bridges along the river.

So in order to convince your audience to cross your bridge and not any other, yours must be unique.

When explaining the path to attain the Big Idea, it has to sound different.

A revolutionary way of studying, a different way of exercising, a much more user-friendly software, etc.

The way to get to the Big Idea needs to be more compelling than the rest.

“The 5-routine method to get a body you’ll be proud of”.

“The revolutionary software that solves your administrative chaos so you can focus on getting more projects done”.

When your path is more attractive and unique than the rest, customers will trust you and be willing to cross your bridge.

I hope this article has inspired you to write a script for a promotional video that will make your offer stand out and bring you real results.

See you around!

How to write compelling #scripts for promotional #videos that get real results. #copywriting #marketing
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We’re all kind of lethargic, in zombie mode, so you have to work double hard on the copy and images of your content to break this lethargy.

You have to say, “Hey! Wake up, this interests you!” But using other words.

Very easy to say, eh? But how?

There are several ways.

And even if they aren’t 100% “content overload syndrome” and “scroll till your eyes hurt” proof, with these techniques you’ll have a much better chance of your ad getting the attention your business needs.

Let’s have a look at them.

Awake their curiosity

People want to know what’s going to happen next, especially if it’s something that interests them personally.

For example, I have little interest in sports, so if I read a headline like this one, I won’t be interested:

• Pipito Malesca’s stunning goal that only happens once in 50 years

I’m not going to click on it or spend a second of my brain mass reading it.

But someone who is interested in football will click on the link.

Screenwriters know curiosity is very powerful, so one thing they learn from day one is to always leave questions open and only give the answers at the end.

Curiosity is so strong that it even makes you keep watching bad films just to find out what happens at the end, even if you know you’re going to be disappointed.

The need we feel to fill our information gap outweighs our sense of wasting time.

You can use the same principle in your copy.

Ask those questions your buyer persona is interested in and reveal the answers little by little, always creating the impression that there is still more to find out.

This is the only way to get your prospects to read your copy till the end. When you answer the first question, present a second one and so on.

In this article, I talk about more techniques to increase the curiosity of your audience.

Surprise them with something totally unexpected.

The Heath brothers’ famous book Made to Stick talks about why some ideas survive over time and others die. Read it, it’ll help you to write better copy.

One of the most important elements of successful ideas is the element of surprise.

If an idea has a totally unexpected element it will make people give us their full attention because we break their pre-determined schemas.

Our brain and nervous system are programmed to pay full attention when something totally unexpected happens, and we owe this to our survival instinct.

So if you introduce something totally unexpected in your ad or post, you will get that elusive attention from your audience.

One of the examples in the book that explains this concept is the following. It has stuck with me because the 2 main characters in this story are 2 things I admire:

• Great journalism and the stories of writer Nora Ephron.

In one of her books, Nora Ephron tells the story of the day she decided to become a journalist. One day In high school, the teacher asked the students to come up with the lead for the next story.

“Kenneth L. Peters, the principal of Beverly Hills High School, announced today that all high school teachers will travel to Sacramento next Thursday for a colloquium on new teaching methods. Among the speakers are anthropologist Margaret Mead, high school principal Dr. Robert Maynard Hutchins and California Governor Edmun Brown.”

The students set about writing the first leads of their lives, all along the lines of “Governor Pat Brown, Margaret Mead and Robert Maynard Hutchins to address Beverly Hills High School teachers Thursday in Sacramento”.

The teacher picked up all the leads, read them quickly and paused.

“The lead of the story is: There will be no school next Thursday”.

All the students were dumbfounded, and it was at this very moment that Nora Ephron decided to pursue journalism as a career.

And after so many years she hasn’t forgotten that moment because it was something she didn’t expect.

The stories that surprise us always take an unexpected turn and break our mindsets.

Look for that twist in your copy to surprise your prospects.

The 6 most effective ways to attract your prospects’ attention. #copywriting #contentmarketing #ads #SmallBiz
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Make them smile

Humour is always welcome. Well, not always, depending on the subject we are dealing with, obviously.

Although there are brands that have dared to make humour out of subjects that have always been very serious. And it’s worked.

Dead Happy is a life insurance company that has broken the insurance industry’s mould.

Dead Happy has decided to target a younger audience and get them to start thinking about what they want to do with their money when they die.

They use humour to take the drama out of a subject that has always been taboo and intrinsically linked to paperwork and bureaucracy.

Their copywriters have completely changed the meaning of the term Death Wish: no longer a will to auto annihilation but more what people want to happen when they die: all their money to go to a certain person, pay off the mortgage, have a Viking funeral… Anything is possible.

By breaking the mould of a gloomy and overly serious industry, they’ve managed to attract the attention of their target audience.

Promising an improvement in their lives they consider important

Who doesn’t want to improve their life?

We all have aspects of our lives that we are dissatisfied with and if someone offers us a chance to improve them we’ll be all ears.

For example, making more money, having more time or a healthier relationship with oneself.

But to attract people’s attention you need to be very concrete. Abstract messages don’t have as much power of attraction as concrete ones.

For example, a headline that says Do you want to earn more money? It won’t be as attractive as one saying Do you want to earn 1000 euros more per month in just 6 months?

Being hyper-specific in your copy will make your prospects pay attention to your ad or landing page.

A concrete message is much more memorable than one that is abstract or too general.

There are a lot of masterful examples of this in the history of advertising and copywriting. Like this one written by David Ogilvy for Rolls-Royce in the late 1950s.

“At 60 miles per hour, the only noise you’ll hear in the new Rolls-Royce is the electric clock”.

A hyper-specific headline tells us that the car is quiet, something revolutionary at a time when you couldn’t hold a conversation in a car without shouting at each other.

This headline promised a very concrete improvement in prospects’ lives.

Another way to demonstrate how you will improve your prospects’ lives is by assuring them that they will spend less effort on a task.

Like this App for coaching whose headline reads:

“Deliver better programmes, to more clients, with less work. “

If your headline encompasses a promise of improvement your prospects are looking for, they’ll pay attention.

The 6 most effective ways to attract your prospects’ attention. #copywriting #contentmarketing #ads #SmallBiz
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Solving a problem they are currently experiencing

Another way to get your prospects’ attention is to offer them a solution to a specific problem.

In this case, your prospects know they’ve got a problem and they want to solve it because it’s causing discomfort.

As in the previous section, here you should also be very specific when defining the problem and the solution.

Let’s look at an example of a headline from a post I saw some time ago, which makes me laugh because it’s something I often suffer from.

“How to solve your parents’ IT problems without murdering them”.

This headline caught my attention immediately because I’m their target customer and also because I found it very funny.

My father often calls me because he can’t remember how to print a document or because he can’t send a video via WhatsApp and wants me to help him over the phone.

If you know what I’m talking about, maybe you also lose your patience and sometimes you speak badly to them without meaning to.

When I hang up after having spent half an hour explaining to him how to go to the deleted folder, I feel terrible for having lost my patience at times.

That’s why this article caught my attention.

Let’s look at another example this time of Lemonpie

On their homepage they say:

“Reach future customers on podcasts they love.

We’re a Podcast PR agency for tech companies. We’ll secure guest interviews on your audience’s favourite podcasts and help you make the biggest impact possible on them. “

Notice how specific this headline and sub-headline are, both in terms of who they are targeting (tech companies looking for more customers) and what problem they’re solving and how (not having enough customers and getting more by being guests on podcasts their audience listens to).

Being concrete will help you reach the right customer and convince them that what you offer interests them.

The 6 most effective ways to attract your prospects’ attention. #copywriting #contentmarketing #ads #SmallBiz
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Protecting them from danger

Our brain needs a lot of energy to function so as a cost-saving measure, it only attends to what seems important.

Our survival instinct is still very much alive, so our brains respond immediately when it feels under threat.

If your copy highlights a danger affecting your prospects, you’ll attract the attention of their reptilian brain, which is responsible for making almost all our decisions.

This record-breaking click-through headline speaks directly to a latent danger for any entrepreneur:

“Will your website survive the penalties of Google’s new algorithm?”

If you have a website and you depend on it to attract customers, you’ll click on that link for sure because you’ll be afraid the new algorithm will penalise your website and lower your ranking.

This other one appeals to a very common concern:

“Money will no longer be a worry – if you follow this simple plan”.

To sum up

With so much content and so many ads out there getting the attention of your prospects is becoming the BIG challenge.

But if you know what will interest, surprise, amaze, make them laugh, worry or scare them, you’ll have a much better chance of people stopping whatever they’re doing and read your ad, article or home page.

Get inside their minds and touch that key that will make them focus all their attention on what you have to say.

The 6 most effective ways to attract your prospects’ attention. #copywriting #contentmarketing #ads #SmallBiz
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This way they have the peace of mind that if they aren’t satisfied they can always return it.

By law, in Europe, products purchased online have a 14-day money-back guarantee.

This guarantee refers to products without defects, what’s called buyer’s remorse.

This type of guarantee doesn’t apply to:

1. Airline and train tickets, concert tickets, hotel reservations, car rental reservations and catering services for specific dates
2. Food and beverages regularly delivered at home
3. Custom-made or personalised items
4. Sealed audio, video or computer software data carriers which have been opened
5. Digital online content, if you have already started downloading or streaming and if you have accepted that you lose your right of withdrawal.
6. Products purchased from private individuals and not from companies or professional sellers.
7. Contracts for urgent repairs and maintenance work

Let’s focus on point number 5: Digital content. This is courses, e-books, webinars, etc.

If you sell this type of product you aren’t obliged to offer a money-back guarantee, but many content creators do.

Why?

Because they know that by offering a guarantee they’ll sell more.

The importance of how you frame your offer

If you are selling an e-book for 9 euros, you aren’t obliged to offer a money-back guarantee.

The investment is not as large and therefore the customer’s reluctance to cough up that amount of money will be less.

Still, there are 2 important reasons why offering a money-back guarantee in these cases it’s a good idea:

1. Your prospects will have the feeling that e-book must be grand, otherwise you wouldn’t offer the opportunity to return it.
2. They’ll think less about pros and cons and buy more quickly.

What if they read the book in those 14 days and then want to return it?

There will always be sneaky people, but luckily they aren’t numerous.

Most people simply want to buy something that adds value and if your e-book is helpful or they have a good time reading it, they’ll be delighted.

What’s more, they won’t ask for their money back, but will leave you instead a super review on Amazon or Goodreads.

As always, mastering copywriting techniques will help you to present your offer in a clear and convincing way, then the guarantee will clinch the sale.

What happens when what you sell is an online course for 600 EUR?

Here you should definitely offer a money-back guarantee of at least 14 days.

Because the outlay is more important, and even if you aren’t obliged by law, as we’ve seen, it’ll help you to close the sale.

Why do I say it’s good to offer at least 14 days?

Because the longer the guarantee period, the more people relax, and by the time they want to realise it, the deadline has passed.

But if you give only a one-week guarantee, your customer will be more vigilant and will try to check everything with a magnifying glass.

And when the end of that week comes, they’ll be unsure whether the course is helpful or not and will tend to ask for their money back.

How to sell more with a hard-to-ignore #guarantee. #copywrting #sales #SmallBiz
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Don’t be afraid to offer 2 weeks or even longer, this will reassure your prospects and they’ll buy your course without thinking too much about it.

This is if they are interested enough in it and if you know how to sell it, of course.

Recommended reading How to create a top 10 sales page for your digital product

What if you offer services and not products?

Then, offering a guarantee is much more difficult.

Once you have done your work, it cannot be returned to you intact and therefore you cannot sell the same service and time spent to someone else.

It’s not like a digital product, which once written-recorded-launched you don’t have to invest any more time (apart from the time spent promoting it) and therefore a small percentage of returns won’t do much harm to the overall result.

It’s also sometimes difficult to measure results in order to establish standards against which to decide whether the service is satisfactory or not.

Because, more often than not, the service you offer is complementary to other activities or resources that need to be put in to obtain the desired results.

For example, imagine you are a mindfulness coach and you give sessions to clients online.

The desired goal is for your client to incorporate the principles of mindfulness into their daily life in order to reduce stress, live a healthier life, concentrate better, etc.

But if your client doesn’t do the exercises you propose every week, doesn’t read the material you send him and doesn’t follow your advice, of course he won’t reach the desired goal.

But, are you to blame?

How to sell more with a hard-to-ignore #guarantee. #copywrting #sales #SmallBiz
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Or for example a copywriter like me.

No matter how good the copy I wrote for an email sequence is, if my client doesn’t create the sequence in the email marketing platform correctly or doesn’t segment their audience well, the desired objectives won’t be achieved, but am I to blame?

Many professionals and businesses do their job wonderfully but cannot control absolutely all the factors that need to be taken into account to achieve results.

And therefore cannot be held responsible for the failure to achieve objectives.

Of course, there are ways of knowing whether a piece of copy is good or not.

Looking at indicators such as email open rates or conversion rates on a website, for instance.

But for this to happen, all the previous steps have to be taken so that the email reaches the right person and the website receives qualified leads.

And most of the time we copywriters don’t have control over all these factors.

Then, how can you offer any kind of guarantee if you are a service provider?

In several ways. Here is a list of them:

• With success stories. Looking at the details of how you’ve helped another business solve a similar problem to the one your prospect has will give them some assurance of the value you offer.
• Testimonials. Always ask your clients to write a testimonial listing what they liked most about working with you. Compelling and numerous testimonials will give your prospects the peace of mind that you know what you’re doing.
• Portfolio. If you are a designer, copywriter, illustrator, etc. you should show on your website your best works.

To sum up

Offering guarantees will help you sell more because prospects will have nothing to lose and will decide to buy faster.

Sometimes this guarantee is fixed by law, but even if it isn’t, as in the case of digital products or info-products, it’s better to offer it.

However, when it comes to services, offering a money-back guarantee is more complicated as you cannot sell to someone else the service and time you’ve dedicated to a particular customer.

But I’ll tell you something, I did refund their money to 2 clients.

Because I saw, after working on the project for a week, that the client was never going to be happy, no matter how hard I worked.

My mental health is worth much more than the money the client had paid me in advance, sure thing.

Fortunately, this happens very rarely and most of my clients are great and I have really enjoyed working for them.

See you around!

How to sell more with a hard-to-ignore #guarantee. #copywrting #sales #SmallBiz
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With this technique, you’ll get more people to do what you want them to, whether it’s to buy a product, to subscribe to your list or to book an appointment.

In this post, we’re going to see what’s the principle of reciprocity and how you can apply it to your business with some practical examples.

Reciprocity as a sales tactic is not new, it’s been used in the real world for years.

Picture this.

You are walking towards the underground and at the top of the stairs there is a lady selling flowers.

She looks at you, hands you a flower and says with a smile:

• Here you go, beautiful, for you!

And you look at her with scared little lamb’s eyes and tell her:

• I don’t want it, thank you
• But it’s a gift!

Then you feel obliged to accept the flower and give her a few coins.

You leave with the feeling you’ve been cheated somehow, but you felt bad turning down that gift.

This is a somewhat aggressive way of using reciprocity, which is nothing more than feeling indebted to someone.

However, there are many other better ways of putting it into practice, because…

…the truth is… it works.

So let’s see the best ways to implement it within your sales strategy.

Think of reciprocity as sowing to then reaping the rewards.

Ways to apply the principle of reciprocity in your business

#Share your knowledge for free

People appreciate free advice a lot.

However, it doesn’t mean you should give everything without getting a penny back, unless you inherited a fortune and don’t need to earn money to make a living.

Writing a blog or sending out a newsletter on a regular basis will make people appreciate everything they learn from you, and when they feel ready they will buy from you before buying from another business they get nothing from.

At the same time, free content in your blog or newsletter will show others you know what you’re talking about and will make people trust you when it comes to hiring your services or buying your product.

Yes, it’s a big investment in time (and resources) but it will be worth it in the long run.

AppSumo even gives away subscriptions to some of their Apps from time to time.

They know you’ll feel a little indebted afterwards and will be more open to buying from them than from others who have never offered anything.

Recommended reading 6 compelling reasons to have a blog

How to use the Principle of Reciprocity to Sell More. #Copywriting #SmallBiz #DigitalMarketing
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#Reply to all emails (even those ones that want more from you)

I know, you’re always so busy. But you should never neglect taking care of your audience.

Show them the respect they deserve just for having decided to follow you.

Take your time and reply to emails even if they aren’t to buy something straight away.

Reply also to those you consider a little cheeky.

Because there will be some…

Those emails from people asking you for free reviews, free products, free consultation…

And when you open them, your first reaction is to hit the delete button…

But then you say to yourself, well, don’t be so ill-conceived, maybe that person isn’t aware that you can’t afford to solve everyone’s problems for free.

They might think that just because a person asks you a favour, even if they don’t know you at all, it won’t take much effort from you…

Without realising that there are many others who write to you with the same intention…

Yet I always reply with kindness and empathy, because I once read somewhere (probably on some coach’s wall) something like this:

Be nice to people. You don’t know what kind of inner struggles they are experiencing.

You do it out of humanity but also because you don’t know what the future can bring, maybe that person will become a client one day.

How to use the Principle of Reciprocity to Sell More. #Copywriting #SmallBiz #DigitalMarketing
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#Have a nice and easy-to-navigate website

Isn’t it wonderful?

You’re looking for some info and you land on a well-designed and responsive website, intuitive, with clear and easy-to-find information and that is respectful with people’s time.

Be one of those websites.

Invest in it because a nice and easy-to-navigate website is your passport to your success.

Not everyone understands how important this is, so be the one who has such a website among all your competitors.

I still find it hard to believe when I visit some well-known brands’ websites and they make me want to cry.

Messy, with thousands of buttons calling your attention at the same time, without any visual priority, with tiny font, with endless blocks of text that say nothing. A lot of blah blah blah with the typical marketing buzzword added randomly…

Don’t be tempted to skimp on your website, please.

There are hundreds of exceptional websites that haven’t cost a fortune to their owners, like the last example on this list.

A beautiful, clear and compelling website will give visitors the feeling that your business cares about them because it makes their lives easy.

And once again they will feel more indebted to you than to a business that has a terrible website.

Recommended reading Top 5 most common mistakes of websites that don’t convert

#Ask nicely

Well, is it all going to be giving?

No, you should also receive, and for that, you need to simply ask.

When it’s time to ask for something, don’t hold back.

Don’t be embarrassed to ask your audience to share your content, to recommend you to others, to write outstanding reviews and testimonials.

Because when you have given, people are more willing to give back to you.

Reciprocity and copywriting

Including reciprocity in your copy will be hyper beneficial for your business.

Reciprocity improves conversion rate.

But how do you include reciprocity in your copy?

There are several ways.

Sharing a story, making the reader feel good, telling them an interesting fact they didn’t know or adding extras to your offer.

When a prospect has the feeling they’ve learned something from us, or we have moved them with an interesting story, they’ll be more inclined to do what we’re going to ask them later (buy, contact, share).

Because most businesses are boring to death when it comes to selling, whenever a person finds a well-written website where they feel understood and listened to, they will show their appreciation (reciprocity) by continuing to navigate.

And you know how important that is!

For your SEO and for your sales.

The more time spent on the page, the more Google will want to see you in the top positions, and more traffic means more sales, if the product and the copy are good, of course.

Tell it with a compelling story that makes the reader want to know more.

But be aware! The story is not about you and how good your product is.

It’s about the reader, he or she is the protagonist.

It’s like when you want to entertain a child, and to get him to pay more attention, you tell him a story about a child who is exactly the same age as he is, who likes the same things, and so on.

This is how you attract people’s attention and increase their desire to stay and learn more about you and your product.

Make everything revolve around your future customer.

Recommended reading How to use the power of storytelling to sell more and better

How to use the Principle of Reciprocity to Sell More. #Copywriting #SmallBiz #DigitalMarketing
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You’re also introducing the principle of reciprocity when you add bonuses or extras to your offer.

Prospects feel you’re giving more than you should and they show their appreciation by buying from you.

Of course, they don’t buy only because they feel in debt, but also because – if you’ve done a good job presenting your offer – your future customer will feel that the value of what they’re getting far exceeds its price.

Recapping

Don’t hesitate to introduce the principle of reciprocity in your business and in your sales copy. It will help you convert more customers.

You can do this in different ways:

• Sharing your knowledge for free
• Replying to all emails
• Having a clear, intuitive and compelling website
• Asking nicely for help when needed
• Telling a story that entertains and excites
• Teaching something new and interesting
• Offering bonuses or extras with your offer

See you around!

How to use the Principle of Reciprocity to Sell More. #Copywriting #SmallBiz #DigitalMarketing
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Comparisons are obnoxious.

But sometimes they are necessary.

Only by looking at what others do can you find what makes you different.

That’s why you need to study your competition. But without getting into a downward spiral.

Try to observe them with a constructive spirit and don’t beat yourself up.

If a competitor is doing better than you, think about the reasons why.

What strategies are they following?

Is it something you want to do or can do?

Can you improve on what they offer?

Is your audience exactly the same as theirs or could you perhaps target a more specific group?

The most important thing is not to wallow in self-criticism thinking about how much better others are compared with you.

But to learn and find out where others stand.

That’s what we’re going to see in this post.

Are you staying?

Let’s go!

The first and most important reason to study your competition

Because people compare before buying.

You do it too.

Customers want to be sure they’re buying the best value.

So if you study your competition, you’ll have more chances of finding your Unique Selling Proposition.

In this post, I explain in detail what USP is. You’ll also find several examples so you can grasp the idea easily.

In this post, I’m just going to summarize it, but I strongly recommend you read this and learn more about USP, which is essential to creating a sales strategy that works.

Your USP is the most important and unique benefit your customer will take away with the purchase.

It’s a desirable benefit that other competitors don’t offer or don’t mention anywhere.

Pulling that difference out can be hard, I get you.

But believe me, it’s always there, somewhere.

And you can find it by putting a lot of thought into your product or service and observing how others sell theirs.

Often this difference may seem insignificant at first glance, but if you know how to enhance it with a compelling message, it can make all the difference in a prospect’s decision to choose you.

3 big reasons to study your competition… Without getting into a funk. #copywriting #marketingstrategies #marketresearch
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And to illustrate this point, let’s talk about a brand I’m sure you’re familiar with.

M&M’s.

Their slogan which is also their USP is:

They melt in your mouth and not in your hand

Can you imagine how many times the copywriters had to go round and round before they found that difference?

Maybe at first they passed it by because they didn’t think it was something worth highlighting.

But then decided that other chocolate brands didn’t mention it and yet it was important.

I’m sure many other sweets don’t melt in your hand either but they didn’t say so in their campaigns, so M&M’s decided that this would be their USP.

And it seems to have worked for them because they’ve kept it ever since 1954!

The second reason to study your competition

And you shouldn’t overlook it.

Studying your competition will take you to read comments and reviews customers leave on their websites, product pages, Amazon pages and socials.

To move prospects with your message, you need to listen carefully.

A problem I see often with some businesses is that they don’t listen to their audience.

These businesses want copy that speaks to them, that flatters them, and they don’t realise they aren’t thinking about their prospects.

It’s like that relative who always offers gifts thinking about what he likes and not about what the person who is receiving the present likes.

Your competitors’ customers may be your future customers, so listen to them with empathy.

By reading reviews and comments from competitors’ customers, you can find out:

• What they really want and can’t find
• What do they like most and least about the competitor’s product/service
• What objections do they have and how can each of them be overcome
• What words do they use to describe the product/service and its benefits

This information is pure gold.

And anyone who doesn’t realise that will never write good copy.

3 big reasons to study your competition… Without getting into a funk. #copywriting #marketingstrategies #marketresearch
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The last but not least reason to study your competition

To learn.

As simple as that.

Businesses that have been at this longer than you have a lot to teach you.

Marketing tactics, copy, design.

Study them with an open attitude, trying not to feel envy or self-doubt.

I know it’s difficult; often the needle of envy will prick our egos.

You shouldn’t feel bad about it, it happens to everyone.

The trick is to notice when you’re looking at your competitor’s website or social media with a negative attitude.

You start getting uncomfortable because you think you’re a piece of shit compared to them.

That’s when you should close that window and do something else.

Try again another day, when you feel stronger, and study your competition with an open mind and being as objective as possible.

Imagine it isn’t about you, and you’re just analysing their strategies for someone else.

Observe which words they use to address their audience.

Do you like their style? Are there words you could incorporate into your message?

Look at what marketing strategies they use too.

Do they use email, social media, phone calls?

See what works best for them and consider if it’s something you’d like to do too.

But, listen: if they do certain things which would take you miles away from your comfort zone, you don’t need to do the same.

You don’t have to talk about your personal life on Instagram if it’s something you don’t feel like doing.

The great thing about the times we live in is that you can choose different ways to promote yourself.

There’s social media, but there are also blogs, podcasts and emails.

Even phone calls can still work really well even if it’s an old technique.

Or maybe because of it.

What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to mimic everything your competition does.

You should study what they’re doing and what results they are obtaining.

But it’s up to you to decide what strategies resonate with you and the type of business you want to build, but also the kind of buyer persona you want to attract.

Copying others literally is not going to get you anywhere because people will notice sooner or later that you aren’t genuine.

But studying others for inspiration is what can help you find your own style, your own way of doing business.

See you around!

3 big reasons to study your competition… Without getting into a funk. #copywriting #marketingstrategies #marketresearch
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Although each one might be different, most of them copy each other and in the end they don’t differentiate themselves in any way.

If you want to stand out and win not only more customers but also more fans of your brand, you need to reveal your difference, and one sure way to do that is to create a voice with personality for your brand.

Corporate image is super important but many companies or freelancers forget that the brand personality is just as important as a logo.

If you look around, the people who leave a trace are not only stylish but also have their own particular way of expressing themselves.

Well, that’s what we’re going to see right now in this post.

When I start working with a new client who hasn’t got a well-defined brand identity, I ask them to do 4 exercises that will help us create an authentic, coherent and original voice.

And now I’m going to share them with you.

So let’s get down to business!

Create a brand voice with personality

Let’s take a look at these 4 exercises that will help you create your brand voice and make it stand out from all the clutter on the internet.

1. The celebrity

Imagine you had all the money in the world to choose a celebrity to be the voice of your brand.

Who would it be?

You can choose a fictional character, someone who is no longer in this world or even a cartoon, too

This exercise rocks because it helps me lots to write effective copy for a client.

Will Smith comes up a lot as an answer, also Leonardo DiCaprio, they are likable guys who seem honest.

People trust them and they’re great at what they do. Well the latter more than the former in my opinion.

There’s a world of possibilities out there for you to choose your own celebrity.

Mine would be a person who is no longer in this world and who was a sassy writer.

Here’s a hint, she wrote the script for an 80’s movie where Meg Ryan faked the best orgasm in the world.

That’s right, it’s Nora Ephron. If you haven’t read her book Heartburn, which was made into a film with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, read it. You’ll have a great time!

I love her style, she writes about everyday life with a clever sense of humour, she never took things too seriously and she knew how to entertain her readers in a respectful way.

That’s why I would choose her to be the voice of my brand.

Now it’s up to you to get your head around it and choose your own celebrity.

4 exercises to create a brand voice that stands out #copywriting #brandvoice #brandpersonality
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2.  The living room

Imagine your website is a living room. What would it look like?

Let’s design that living room to help us define what kind of experience you want your website visitors to have.

Don’t be shy about making it luxurious if that’s what you want to convey to your visitors, what’s important is that it coveys the right ambience you want to create for your brand.

– Is it minimalist or vintage?

– Are there plants all over the place suspended from the ceiling with hanging macramé pots?

– Are there big windows with lots of light coming in or do you go for a more mysterious feel with dim lights and dark colours?

– Lots of colour or neutral colours like white, grey or black?

– Are there lots of gadgets?

Close your eyes and imagine it for a few minutes. Then sit down and describe it in as much detail as you can.

3. The dinner party

Imagine you are going to a dinner party with people you don’t know.

You probably want everyone to have a certain opinion about you at the end of the evening.

So you’ll act a certain way, choose certain words and topics of conversation, make certain jokes, and generally try to be the most charming, funny, intelligent, or sensitive, etc. version of yourself, depending on which of these traits are most important to you.

If your brand could come to life as a person at a dinner party, what would she be like?

Would she be the cheerful one and the centre of attention?

Or would she prefer more intimate one to one conversations?

Would she talk about literature, football or art?

Would she make people laugh?

Try to define what kind of conversations your brand would initiate or participate in, what kind of jokes she’s make, and so on.

You can also imagine what people would say about your brand when she leaves.

She’s a very cultured person, or she knows lots about this or that, or she’s very sophisticated, so charming when she speaks, etc.

4. The declaration of principles

A good way to drill down on the values and personality of your brand is to define what it is and what it is not.

This way you can further define that voice and make it stand out in your industry.

Here are some examples of well-known brands:

– Gap is whimsical, but not cheesy

– Pixar films are emotional without appearing to manipulate emotions.

– Jeep buyers are adventurous, but not aggressive.

– eBay is a bit of a sloppy website, but not crappy

– Zara is a cheap brand, but not tacky

Now it’s up to you to think about what your brand is and is not.

If you can’t think of many adjectives, you can get some ideas in this list with 200 adjectives.

Now that we’ve seen the 4 exercises that will help you create your brand voice, let’s look at other aspects that will help you create your business personality.

Recommended reading Brands that provoke clicks<<<<

Tone is not the same as voice

Let’s clarify this just in case. Many people will talk about the tone when what they mean is the voice.

Your brand voice shouldn’t change, well, it can always evolve with your business, just like a person grows.

You aren’t the same as you were 10 years ago. Your experiences have changed you. You know better what you want and the same will happen to your business.

But that change is progressive, not from one day to the next, and that’s exactly what should happen to your brand voice.

It will be constant and will evolve little by little over time and with the direction your business takes.

However, the tone of your brand can (and should) change often.

Because the tone depends on the situation.

Let me give you an example.

Imagine you are buying a jumper you absolutely love and it’s 50% off. You can’t wait to get your credit card out and receive the purchase confirmation.

However, when you’ve already entered your card number and press buy, something has gone wrong and you haven’t been able to finalise the purchase.

Now imagine the error message you receive says something like:

“Oops! We don’t know what happened, but something went wrong. Let’s give the developer a slap on the wrist to make things better… Adios!

You won’t like it!

Firstly, you don’t know if you’ve been charged so you’re panicking and trying to log into your banking app to check and secondly, you wanted that jumper like nothing else in the world and they didn’t tell you if you should try again!

This isn’t the right time to be joking around.

You’d have been much more grateful for a message that would have reassured you, like,

“We’re very sorry but something went wrong. Don’t worry because nothing has been charged to your card. Please try again in a few minutes. Thanks!”

The tone of this message is much more in line with the situation your customer is going through – stress, disappointment, frustration – and they will be much more appreciative.

Notice that the voice is still informal and friendly but the tone of the 2 messages is very different.

Save the puns for other occasions, such as when giving good news.

Like, in the purchase confirmation email, you can allow yourself to make your customer smile because he’s relaxed and you are giving him good news.

“Yay, I’m on my way! I can’t wait to leave the warehouse and live with you. Make room in your closet for me!”

This more funny tone matches the customer’s state of mind. Happy, excited, etc.

So be careful with that tone and be empathetic when you write.

Put yourself in the shoes of the person receiving the message and have in mind what kind of emotions they are feeling.

Stress, joy, expectation, worry, relaxation, etc.

4 exercises to create a brand voice that stands out #copywriting #brandvoice #brandpersonality
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Create a style guide

Many businesses have a style guide for the design. Colours, fonts, sizes and so on.

But they forget how important it is to have a style guide for the brand voice as well.

It’s really useful even if you are running your business alone, because, who knows, in a few years it may thrive and you will be working with more people.

Even if you are the one writing all the copy on your website and on social media, a style guide will help you be consistent and will remind you what kind of personality you have created for your brand.

This way you will make it recognisable in all media and all networks.

Create a style guide that is short and concise and easy to update and refer to.

What’s more important is that the guide helps you be consistent.

Here are some of the things you can include in the style guide:

• If you use abbreviations for some terms, add them to the guide so you always write them in the same way. (Remember that you should only use abbreviations when you are 100% sure your target audience understands them.)
• Which elements should be in capital letters (e.g. buttons or CTAs)
• Words to avoid because they sound bad or are misleading.
• The goals of each piece of copy you write: web copy, blog posts, social media captions, etc. (inform, create curiosity, build loyalty, etc.).
• The list of qualifying adjectives that define what your brand is and what it is not.
• A glossary with the terms you have decided to use to define concepts. This way you will always use the same ones and not synonyms. For example, if you have decided to call your marketing emails Newsletter, don’t call them “bulletin” or “rocking emails” the following week.
• Salutations and signatures in your emails.

You can add anything you think is relevant and important in order to be consistent with your brand personality.

I hope I’ve given you some good tips to create a unique brand voice for your business.

See you soon!

4 exercises to create a brand voice that stands out #copywriting #brandvoice #brandpersonality
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But how to do it?

How do you make your voice heard in the hustle and bustle of the Internet and make customers choose you?

Think about it.

Who are the people who have most impacted you?

Those who you spoke to only once and still remember them?

Surely you remember them not because of what they said, but because of how they made you feel.

Maybe you also remember them because of their looks, which attracted you straight away.

A brand should be the same.

Not only the appearance matters, the personality is what will make people pay attention.

If you want your business to stand out, you need to create a brand that has personality, to ensure it will be seen above the others.

But let’s first have a look at what a brand exactly is, the concept can sometimes be a bit diffuse.

The concept of brand

The traditional definition of a brand in the Oxford dictionary reads:

“A type of product, service, etc. made or offered by a particular company under a particular name”.

But you and I know that a brand goes much beyond that.

In the book Read Me, 10 Lessons for Writing Great Copy, by Horberry and Lingwood they define brand in this way:

“Brand is a mixture of attributes, tangible and intangible, symbolised by a registered trademark, which if properly managed, can create value and influence the public.”

A brand can be a product but it can also be a place.

For example, advertising campaigns that are made about a place to encourage tourism also try to create a brand, as Spain has done this year with the campaign “Spain will wait”.

A brand is above all a PROMISE.The promise that by buying that product, by visiting that place, by hiring that service, your life will be better.
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That promise, if it truly delivers on what it promises, will become an experience and help sell even more with the positive reviews that customers will leave behind.

“Red Bull Gives You Wings“

“L’Oreal – Because you’re Worth it”

“M&Ms, Melts in your Mouth, not in your Hands”

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and the richest man on earth, defines brand this way:

“A company’s brand is like a person’s reputation. You earn your reputation by trying to do things right.”

Therefore the company is not the true owner of the brand, in the end it’s the public who owns that brand and makes it their own.

Copywriting to create a brand personality

One of the most difficult but most rewarding tasks for a copywriter is to help create a brand.

It’s something that involves a lot of work as you are faced with a blank canvas since you start from 0.

But that’s why it’s so exciting, because you have all the freedom to give it the angle you think will work best.

When you write for an established brand you have to follow some guidelines, unless you’ve been hired to totally change the dialogue and resurrect a brand that’s fading.

So what’s the first thing to do?

As in any copywriting process, the first thing is to do research on the buyer persona and the market to observe what other brands are doing and what our audience really wants.

After this research, we will see clearer what differentiates us and makes us unique, and we will be able to choose a Big Idea on which to base our whole strategy.

Recommended reading How to research your buyer persona

The key piece of your brand: The Big Idea.

How do you identify that an idea is the Big Idea?

It’s the main idea on which we are going to base our brand personality.

All the brands that stand out are based on a single Big Idea.

Apple – “Think Different”

Nike- “Just Do It”.

To identify that an idea is a Big Idea it must have the following characteristics:

Unusual: Do you feel that you have already seen that idea somewhere else? Then forget about it.

Specific: Can you explain it in a simple way?

Credible: Is your idea perfectly probable?

Emotion: Does your idea evoke sadness, joy, curiosity?

A story: Can you develop your idea around a story?

If your idea meets all these characteristics, it will be more likely to resonate with people and that’s exactly what you need: to reach your audience’s core.

Connecting with your audience

We have often heard that people buy from a person, not the thing itself.

This reminds me of a former colleague at the company where I worked for 8 years, let’s call it X, who always said “MediaMarkt doesn’t buy from X, they buy from Raúl P”

And he was quite right.

He was a great salesman and was largely responsible for our product selling so well at MediaMarkt.

Obviously the product was good, otherwise, however skilled a commercial can be, he won’t be able to sell a third time.

It’s clear that in the buying process human relations count for a lot, and this hasn’t changed in the era of ecommerce.

People buy brands with which they feel an emotional connection.

The emotional beats the rational because it makes people feel identified with the product.

I’m not saying you should discard the rational side of things completely. Explaining in a logical way the reasons why people should buy your product will always help. For example, adding data and explaining in more detail the technical features.

But it’s important to look for that emotional connection which in the end is more powerful.

Copywriting plays an essential role here.

When writing for your brand (web copy, emails, articles, social media posts) the language you choose should make the reader feel part of a club; part of those people who think differently (Apple) or of those others who dare (Nike).

The type of language used should make the brand attractive in the eyes of the target customer, since it shares the same values and because it also uses expressions that attract their attention.

A good copywriter knows what kind of language will attract the attention of the right audience and how to make that brand stand out from the rest.

And how do we do it?

Let me give you a concrete example.

I just finished a copy project for a fashion photographer.

To be honest, I’m not into fashion, I like clothes, yes, but I don’t follow influencers or read fashion magazines.

The first thing I did before writing anything was read as many fashion magazines as I could and got into Instagram for the first time in months.

What I wanted was to get that voice that magazines and some influencers use.

I dived in their expressions and tone of voice and wrote like they would.

Like they would do, but with a clear strategy behind it: to catapult the brand I was working for.

I use a formula that always works for me and that I have perfected over the years.

My copywriting formula:

Use the expressions and mannerisms of the ideal customer to express their concerns and desires in order to introduce THE promise (Great Idea).

This is how you get the attention of your target audience.

Basic components that every brand must have

Let’s now quickly look at the basic components you need to consider when creating your brand.

1. The Big Idea or essence: the central concept that captures the main difference of your brand. Invest as much time as necessary until you find it because it’s vital for your business to stand out.
2. Language: This is the part we have concentrated on in this post. It’s the voice of your brand and it‘s present in everything you do. In the name, the slogan, on the web, social media, catalogues, EVERYTHING. Therefore it has to be consistent.
3. Design: put care into designing your logo, website, etc. Investing in a good designer as soon as possible will provide better results.
4. Name: deciding on a name for your brand can provoke many headaches, but it’s important to choose well. The name can be descriptive (7-Eleven), evocative (Patagonia), superlative (Mr Proper) or abstract (Bershka). Choose it with your Big Idea and your audience in mind.
5. Representative: There are brands that have a person as a powerful image, think of Steve Jobs or Zuckerberg. You can be the image of your brand, or if you prefer it, you can hire someone.

Your brand will help your business to take off and to make it on the Internet.

Don’t skimp on it, because how different and suggestive your brand is will largely determine the success of your company.

See you around!

Something that you may be overlooking and that might be the reason you’re not selling as much as you should through your website, social networks and your marketing emails.

That something that might be missing in your marketing message is your Unique Selling Proposition.

Your USP is what makes your product or service unique in the eyes of your target audience. It’s the main feature and benefit that no one else offers or is talking about.

Let me explain.

Your USP might not be really unique but it’s something your competition doesn’t talk about.

It can be difficult to find out what is that quality that makes your product or service unique, so you will have to study thoroughly how others present their offer in order to bring out your difference.

This is very important because that difference will bring you more sales.

Let’s see then how you can find out what your Unique Selling Proposition is.

Find out what your Unique Selling Proposition is and sell more.#copywriting #smallbiz #digitalmarketing
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Don’t confuse Value Proposition with Unique Selling Proposition

The Value Proposition, of which you have probably already heard, is the main benefit that your product or service offers to your target audience.

For example, if you sell face cream, your value proposition is that your cream nourishes the skin and helps reduce the signs of ageing.

However, that value proposition is not unique; there are thousands of creams in the market that offer the same thing.

It’s time to dive in and investigate what makes your cream different.

A thorough investigation

How can you do research in order to find out your USP?

By reading your competitors’ web copy and content marketing, as well as their social networks and marketing emails.

Analyse what they talk about and which words they use to sell their product.

You also need to study your target audience, what kind of needs they have, what they are concerned about and what terms they use to describe those concerns.

Read reviews, comments on social media and blogs, published statistics, etc.

Find out as much as you can about what would make them choose your product.

Recommended Reading: How to do research in marketing

Scrutinize your product or service

It’s time to (hypothetically) break down in pieces your product or service.

Sit down and make a list of all its features and then write down the benefits these features bring.

Add the following information to this list:

• Feature type
• Is it unique in the market? I mean, does anybody talk about this?
• What problem does it solve?
• What benefit does it bring to the target customer?
• What score out of 1-10 would you give it with respect to its importance?

Let’s see this list with the previous example of the nutritive cream.

• It contains shea butter
• It’s not unique, there are many creams that have it
• Nourishes the skin to make it more elastic
• Delays the signs of aging
• 8

The problem is that this value proposition, although very important, is not unique. You need to study more about your competitors and your product to see how you can differentiate your business.

Find out what your Unique Selling Proposition is and sell more.#copywriting #smallbiz #digitalmarketing
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No one talks about it, so it’s unique

Many copywriters have already realised this important point throughout the history of advertising.

If no one talks about it, the audience will consider it unique, and even if others copy you later, you were the first to use it.

Let’s see this point more in detail with the case of Schlitz beer.

The iconic publicist Claude Hopkins created at the beginning of the last century an ad for Schlitz beer that catapulted the product to the top, obtaining record sales for years in the United States.

And all thanks to his Unique Selling Proposition.

A proposition that wasn’t really unique but that only Schlitz beer talked about.

At that time all brands of beer claimed to be very pure.

Through research, Hopkins realised that that purity was the result of the careful process of elaboration the beer went through.

All beers went through a similar process, BUT NO ONE TALKED ABOUT IT.

A light bulb turned on in Hopkins’ head and he decided to write an ad dedicated to the brewing process.

And so he gave the product a superior quality and therefore more desirable aura.

The other beers, although they went through very similar brewing processes, had never talked about it, and although they began to copy Hopkins’ advertising, it was too late, Schlitz had been the first.

Find out what your Unique Selling Proposition is and sell more.#copywriting #smallbiz #digitalmarketing
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How to identify your USP

Your USP has to meet 4 conditions:

• It has to be unique (or nobody talks about it)
  • It has to be desirable (the target customer should be really interested)
  • It has to be memorable (because it’s very attractive)
  • It has to be specific (it should be clear what kind of customer it is intended for)

Let’s look at this with the above example of the face cream.

Imagine that after studying your competition you realise that no one talks about where shea butter comes from, its properties and that it was already used in ancient Egypt.

Then your USP could be:

Aysha Cream, made with the same natural ingredient Cleopatra preferred.

And in your copy you can elaborate your USP saying that your cream has a higher percentage of shea butter than any other cream, that it uses only organic shea butter from x region, that all good remedies can be found in Nature and the ancient Egyptians used it already.

Let’s see if it meets the 4 conditions:

• Is it unique? Yes, because nobody talks about it
• Is it desirable? Yes, because Cleopatra is famous for having been a beautiful woman who liked taking care of herself, therefore we want a cream that gives us the same results
• Is it memorable? Yes, because when you talk about Cleopatra, who is a very well-known character in history, people will remember it
• Is it specific? Yes, it’s clearly a product for women who want to take care of their skin

Mission accomplished.

Find out what your Unique Selling Proposition is and sell more.#copywriting #smallbiz #digitalmarketing
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Examples of Unique Selling Propositions

Dove was the first brand that dared to challenge the status quo in the world of beauty products where all models were perfect.

And it began to distinguish itself by its campaigns for a more real beauty.

That’s how they created its USP.

It’s funny because the famous publicist Ogilvy back in the 50s created one of the most successful campaigns for Dove, and it couldn’t be more different than that of today.

This campaign was very successful for 2 reasons, one because it displays a naked woman (although we can’t really see her body) talking in a sensual way to her partner at a time when something like this wasn’t very common and 2 and the most important reason because Ogilvy knew how to compel its USP.

“Dove creams your skin while your bathe”

It was the only soap that had a part of cream and therefore you didn’t need to apply body cream after the bath.

Both are great and very different campaigns for the same product.

Find out what your Unique Selling Proposition is and sell more.#copywriting #smallbiz #digitalmarketing
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Conclusion

Isn’t the advertising world amazing?

That’s why you will have a lot of fun finding out your USP.

Just observe what others do, analyse their message and take a trip to the heart of your product or service to find out what makes you different.

Remember that there is always something, no matter how small, that makes your offer unique.

That something might seem insignificant at first, but you can always make it bigger by creating desire and expectation.

Like Ogilvy did with a simple soap.

Find out what your Unique Selling Proposition is and sell more.#copywriting #smallbiz #digitalmarketing
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