As a copywriter, I have to be prepared for a number of scenarios when I deliver my completed copy to my clients. But one reaction that I often get is that clients often mistake their reaction to the copy as that of their customers.
So even before the copy is tested in the “real world” the client would, maybe, give his spouse to read the copy and takes her opinion as the standard for the prospective reader.
Then I’ll have to drill in his head, “You are not your customer!”
But what do I mean by this though? Mainly three things:
1. You are so familiar with your product or service that you’ll often assume that the customer knows too much. But you can never give too much information or be too simple in your explanations. Quite the opposite is possible though—that you overestimate the intelligence level of your customer.
Just think about the last time you made an important purchase. How much did you research and read up on the product before you made the final decision. As business owners we are apt to think that we’ll bore the customer by giving too much details but the opposite is often true.
I recently bought a new computer because I’ll be doing some online video production and I went to every review site I could find online before settling on a particular brand. Now if I had to read that amount of information otherwise I may have found it tedious and boring.
If your customer is interested in the product she’ll read every word you write—sometimes even if it’s boring.
2. The customer doesn’t care two hoots about you, only what you can do for her! I mean, I can write to flatter my client so that she’ll want to give me even more money than I ask for. And you see that type of writing on the web all the time. I’m talking about the boring “we” talk---how long they’ve been in business, all the awards they’ve won, how their product is the best, etc.—all about the company and nothing about the customer.
You think that the “sales letter” was supposed to sell THEM on how good they were! Talk to the customer in her language about things that interest her and you have a sale.
3. Sometimes you have to be outside of the box in order to think outside of the box. For example, I can often see added benefits for my clients’ products than they’ve shared with me because they are sometimes too close to the trees to see the forest.
In other words, I often imagine myself as their customers and brainstorm on what I’ll want from this product or service and so write from that perspective.
You have to listen to what your customers to find out just what they are getting from your product or service and then adjust your copy to suit those needs. If you listen, they’ll tell you how to improve your sales letter to sell even more products.
For example, most of my clients often tell me that they like my style of writing. That’s one strong benefit that no other copywriter has—“MY style of writing.” Because it’s from me, and I can’t be copied. A copy of me is NOT me.
But I like the style of writing of some other copywriters and don’t see anything special about “my” style. So, I’m also NOT my customer either!
The bottom line is that you have to ensure that you are reaching those you are trying to sell to, and forget the ego-caressing, trumpet-blowing kind of writing that reads like an award ceremony speech to honor your company.
Remember, you are not your customer!
