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Copy... at the Point of Customer Contact. What Makes Great Copy.

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Presentation on theme: "Copy... at the Point of Customer Contact. What Makes Great Copy."— Presentation transcript:

1 Copy... at the Point of Customer Contact

2 What Makes Great Copy

3 Great copy does three things: Identifies Informs Persuades

4 “People buy based on emotion, then rationalize the purchase decision with logic.” Copy reaches prospects on three different levels:  Intellectual – Weakest level; solely based on logic  Emotional – Taps into emotions such as fear, greed, love  Personal – Most powerful level; uses “you” to connect with consumer To reach consumers on these levels, determine your audience’s BFD profile:  Beliefs – What is their attitude towards your product?  Feelings – How do they feel about the major issues in their lives? Fearful? Nervous? Confident?  Desires – What do they want to accomplish? What change do they want to see that your product could help them achieve?

5 The Copy Checklist Does it fulfill the promise you made in the headline? Does it align with your business goals? Is it interesting? Is it relevant to your audience’s BFD profile? Does it integrate corporate branding strategies? Is it in an active voice? Have you given buyers all the benefits for an easy purchase decision? Does it have short words, sentences, and paragraphs? Is it easy to understand? Is it visually stimulating? Is there a consistent voice throughout? Is it believable? Is it free of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes? Does it call readers to action?

6 The points of customer contact E-Mail Catalogs Websites Flyers

7 Persuasive Flyer Copy You have three seconds or less to grab the attention of potential customers. Make it count by writing a great headline. “The headline is the most important element of an ad. It must offer a promise to the reader of a believable benefit and it must be phrased in a way to give it memory value.” –Morris Hite

8 Persuasive Flyer Copy Do:  Select an audience  Hone in on one very important question: “What’s in it for them?”  Keep it short  Tell the story in less than seven words  Make it newsworthy  Entice the reader into the body copy The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing a Headline Don’t:  Mislead the reader. Always check the facts  Use generic words or cliché phrases  Settle for your first try. Seek the opinions of others to see if it works  Avoid using jargon or slang  Forget the rules of grammar  Fluff up the copy with unnecessary words

9 Persuasive Flyer Copy Monroe’s Motivating Sequence – A five step formula to writing effective body copy. 1.Get their attention – Provoke customer’s curiosity with headlines and visuals. Answer the question “What’s in it for them?” “Hey! Listen to me, you have a PROBLEM.” 2.Show a need – Immediately demonstrate a need through a concise, detailed first sentence. “Let me EXPLAIN the problem.” 1.Provide satisfaction – Show that your product satisfies their needs by providing the benefits they’re looking for. “I have a SOLUTION for you!” 1.Prove your product is the solution – Use case studies, research, and/or testimonials to support your claim. “This is what will HAPPEN if you implement my solution.” 1.Call them to action – Get them involved and urge them to take action. “You can SATISFY your need if you do this.”

10 Persuasive Flyer Copy The problem that needs to be solved and how they intend to fix it. A clear, direct call to action. Benefits of the product and why and how it will meet the needs of customers. Clean, simple images with minimal copy.

11 Persuasive Flyer Copy Remember To: 1.Keep sentences short and straightforward (between 14 and 16 words). 2.Avoid technical jargon that readers won’t grasp. 3.Use graphic formats for emphasis such as bold, italics, or underlined copy. 4.Organize selling points in order of importance. 5.Use bullets and numbers to separate long blocks of copy.

12 Persuasive Catalog Copy Three years ago, a new CEO at the women’s appeal store, Cold Water Creek, came in looking for a way to save money. After dramatically reducing the number of catalogs printed and mailed out, sales began to plummet—even Internet sales, because the catalog had been driving customers online. Coldwater Creek reverted back to sending out a large number of their catalogs, sparking a rapid turnaround. 1 1 Tim Feran, “Despite the prevalence of digital media, catalogs remain a huge part of retail business,” 2012, The Columbus Dispatch, 05 Aug. 2012.

13 Persuasive Catalog Copy More than 12.5 billion catalogs were mailed to U.S. homes in 2011 and 89.6 million Americans bought an item from those catalogs. –The Direct Marketing Association The Two Jobs of Catalog Copy:  Interest the reader so they want to see the product in person.  Help them remember your product’s name and why they want it.

14 Persuasive Catalog Copy  Keeps sentences crisp, clear, and concise  Use an active tense to encourage customers to take action  Watch out for redundancy Tips for Great Catalog Copy  Use your hot spots. These include the front cover, inside cover, back cover, center spread, and pages adjacent to order form  Make ordering simplistic  Use colorful, specific description words  Make the information stand out with large headlines, subheads, and bursts

15 Persuasive Catalog Copy The Beauty of Crate & Barrel Crate & Barrel uses only key copy elements throughout their catalog. Instead, they rely on vibrant pictures, limiting copy to motivational introductions and selective, benefit-driven callouts.

16 Persuasive E-mail Copy “Communications should be personalized and not one-size-fits-all. You’ve got to determine who each person is and where do they stand out.” – Nick Swinmurn, Zappos Founder

17 Persuasive E-mail Copy The Subject Line The Four U’s of Subject Lines:  Useful – Is the message valuable to the reader?  Ultra-Specific – Does the reader know what is being promised?  Unique – Is it unique and compelling?  Urgent – Do they feel as if they need to read it now? Elements of a Successful Subject Line: Action Language – Words such as “take,” “buy,” “listen,” and “reserve” let readers know exactly what they can do by opening the email. Personalized – Highly segmented emails have a 39% better open rate. Think about ways to make the subject line stand out to a specific target audience. Clarity – Subject lines should be clear. Readers should see at a quick glance what the email will be about and why it relates to them. Email Copy Tip: Using ALL CAPS in a subject line can be interpreted as screaming when being read online.

18 Persuasive E-mail Copy Popular Subject Line Terms

19 Persuasive E-mail Copy Did You Know? 27% of emails were opened on a mobile device during the second half of 2011, up from 20% during the first half. The Message Should… Establish Relevancy  Personalized  Convincing  Recalls why readers are getting an email Be in Second Person  Focus on customer, not brand  “You” and “your,” not “we” and “our” Talk about Benefits  Identify why product is worthwhile  Benefits vs. features Be Simplistic  Summarize in a compelling way  Keep copy on-point Describing the benefits of the shorts, not the features * Herschell Gordon Lewis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRit98Mk8rU

20 Persuasive Website Copy Web Content Should… Delight Be personable; entertain readers Satisfy Be user friendly; consistent throughout Inform Educate the reader; prompt them to keep reading

21 Persuasive Website Copy Always keep brand personality and voice in mind when writing content for the web. Voice: Should never change; overall verbal personality. Tone: Varies based on situation and audience; a verbal expression of mood adapted according to the audience. MailChimp, a free email marketing service, created Voice and Tone, a website dedicated to teaching the difference between a brand’s voice and a brand’s tone.

22 Persuasive Website Copy Five Rules for Writing Persuasive Web Copy 1. Less is more.2. Lead with active words 3. Design for scan readers 4. Grab attention, be exciting 5. Use simple sentences.

23 Persuasive Website Copy During an average search online, consumers read 28% or less of the words on the page. Six Elements of Engaging Web Copy: 1.SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Content should be shareable and engaging; should be easily searchable through non-branded keywords, anchor text, links, ect. 1.Extension of Brand – A place to create a cohesive message and to refer back to company objectives, tone, and audience. 1.User-friendly – Homepage should start out simple with little text and slowly go into more detail. Navigation should be easy. 4. Promotes Action – Lead them to the pages you want them to go. Draw your reader to your call to action by giving them what they expect. 5. Bridges the Gap – Use your website as a place to provide readers with everything you what want them to know. 6. Reinforces the Message – Consider imagery as a type of content. Pictures and words should work together in harmony to create a compelling message.

24 Time to Take Action! Write with the five D’s of content strategy in mind.. Discover Define Design Develop Deploy

25 Who are you trying to reach and why? What does your audience want to know? How is content organized, prioritized, and accessed? How is your content created and maintained? Who is involved? How are the decisions about content made? Kristina Halvorson, "The Content Strategy Roadmap," 201

26 Start making copy about Caring for Customers Engagement Education EFFECTIVE content is created by:  Research  Focusing on the story and key issues  Targeting and tailoring to audience  Involving the consumer Take Action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

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