One of the most common mistakes made by marketing strategists is an overriding focus on product features in their advertising messages. Strange as it may seem, it’s not really your “product”, the prospect is after. What your prospect is really seeking is a solution to a problem or a means of satisfying an immediate want or need. Your product or service is only a medium to achieve either of these objectives.
This being said, the question you should be asking yourself is, “Why should a prospect choose your product or service over your competitors?” The answer is not in how great your product or service is. The right answer is how in their mind your product or service will help the prospect overcome a problem or satisfy a want or need better, faster and with the least amount of effort than your competitors.
Understanding this principle will make the difference between the success and failure in your marketing going forward.
It was Robert Collier who said, “You must enter the conversation already going on inside your customer’s mind.” Once you know what their fears, frustrations, needs and aspirants are, crafting compelling copy for your advertisements and sales material becomes simple.
When you first engage with a prospect either in person, on the phone or through the media it’s only natural you’ll be up against a wall of mistrust. A number of questions are running through a prospect’s mind: “Will I get ripped off?” “How will I pay for this?” “Will the product last long?”
So how do you take the prospect from a position of fear and mistrust to placing their trust in you when crafting compelling copy for your sales material?
A quick and easy way to do this is by using three copywriting tactics that have been proven to succeed.
1. The Enemy in Common Click
Identifying a “common hate” that consumers feel with a product or service and using it in your copy can help you gain immediate trust. The secret is to acknowledge the pain and empathize with your prospect. For instance, lawyers specializing in helping people achieve a positive outcome when making insurance claims can use large insurance companies as the enemy in common.
The headline for a sales letter can read:
“A Distraught Single Mother Reveals How She Fought Back to Get Compensation When Her Claim Was Denied By a Ruthless Insurance Company…and How You Can Do the Same.”
The body copy would go on to build empathy with the reader, explaining how insurance companies make it a practice to decline claims as far as they can, the lawyers know how it feels to be victimized…and how they can help.
2. The Shared Values Click
When crafting compelling copy, it’s important to know that people buy from those they like and trust. Try and find some common ground between you and your prospect. For example if members of your target audience reside in a local suburb in which your contribution has been publicly acknowledged, then don’t make this your best kept secret.
Use blurbs or boxes in your sales copy to indicate who you support or even write a paragraph explaining the extent of your contribution to the local community. Using clippings of press coverage or a snippet of a TV interview can help to authenticate your claim.
You can go further and pledge a portion of your sales to a noble cause or project in your local area, such as contributions to a school seeking funds for constructing classrooms.
3. The Empathy Click
If you’ve done your research thoroughly, you should know what’s going on in your prospect’s mind. Showing empathy to your prospect can immediately lower the barriers to building trust. Explain how you’ve been in a similar situation which is why you understand the pain experienced by your prospect.
For example if you’re selling accounting software your copy can read…
“…despite exceeding sales targets, you just can’t explain why you’re not achieving profits. Two years ago I was in exactly the same situation. My crack sales team easily achieved their targets, yet the profits weren’t rising. I was puzzled and completely at a loss.
It took me three months and $150,000 to discover exactly why I wasn’t making huge profits despite achieving record sales. It was a flaw in my accounting system. So I decided to do something about it. Six months of development, testing and $40,000 later I had a software solution able to pick up even the slightest flaw in the accounting system. Now my business is turning over six figures every year and my accountant has never been happier.
But enough about me. Now I’d like to help you achieve the same results…”
If you’re ever stuck for ideas when writing copy, try these tactics the next time you’re writing a sales letter or creating online content. First find out what’s going on in the mind of your prospect and then see how best you can use one or all of these to move your prospect from fear to trust and get the cash register of your business ringing.
About the author: Farhad Khurshed
An Exponential Copywriter, I guarantee to triple the leads for a business and double the sales within 12 months through a unique combination of offline & online direct response marketing, emotional trigger copywriting and social media initiatives.
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