This post discusses my 7 best copywriting tips for connecting with customers. Use these copywriting tips and you’ll be on your way to speaking to your customers in a way they appreciate while adding value at the same time.
#1 – Be Clear About Who Your Products Are For
Before you even start writing copy you need to be honest with yourself and your team about what your product actually provides and who it is for and isn’t for. You don’t want to be everything to everybody. You don’t want to sell to everyone. It’s highly unlikely that your product is the best option for everyone.
Only write copy for the people your research says will love what you have to offer. Customers like these will become your unofficial brand ambassadors, your greatest sales force, and one of your strongest content marketing resources – as they’ll be happy to tell their friends about you and share your content online. I know it can sound strange to limit the size of your product’s market. Yet all you will get from trying to sell to everyone is upset customer, negative reviews, and negative word of mouth.
Overcoming these obstacles will cost you a lot more time and money than you made off the unhappy customer who will never be a return customer or quit after using your service for only 30 days. Customer acquisition is expensive. Don’t waist your money on short term customers.
#2 – Learn from Your Customers
Interact with upset customers and learn to understand their frustrations. Perhaps they’re not your ideal customer. If this is the case you need to understand how to dissuade them from becoming a customer in the first place.
Don’t take criticism about your product personally. Criticism is the most valuable thing anyone can give you. If taken constructively it will allow you to continually improve your products and show your customers that you really do listen and care. The act of listening and caring can turn a bad experience into a positive experience.
When you update your product be sure to update your copy as well. Let people know that you heard their feedback and acted on it. Don’t only do this on your website. Social media channels like Facebook and Twitter are great places to update your community with new features and improvements to your product.
On the flip side, highlight features of your product that receive heavy praise. These are the features people like most about your product so make sure to make those features prominent in your copy. This simple step can increase sales and conversion rates dramatically.
#3 – Update Your Customer Personas
Create a habit of periodically refining your customer personas. Unfortunately, those customer personas you created at the start of your first marketing campaign are usually not spot on. As you gain feedback and learn more about your target market be sure to update those personas.
Done already? Good job! Now you need to update your next round of content to speak to those more dialed in personas. If you’re business is new to the market review your website’s content on a quarterly to semi-annual basis. After a couple of years review on an annual basis.
#4 – Learn How Customers Interact with Your Product
Ask customers how, where, when, why, and with whom they use your products. Do this through email, giveaways, interviews, et cetera. Sometimes you will find people use your product in ways you hadn’t thought of. If you discover customers often use your product while tailgating then throw up a tailgating picture on the page selling that product. While discussing pictures – remember to think of images as copy too. After all, a picture can say a thousand words.
The better you understand the things mentioned above, the more vivid of a picture you can paint in your marketing copy and the more likely you’ll choose images that match up with the actual experience of using your product.
#5 – Create Useful Content for Your Customers
Content can mean a wide range of things – and I left it vague here for a reason. You shouldn’t limit yourself to conventional kinds of content. Great content could be something as simple as a guide on your site to proper care for your products.
If you manufacture cookware this could mean keeping a page on your site with temperature limits, cleaning recommendations, downloadable manuals, and repair information. Afterall, how many people throw away or misplace instructions? I’d bet a lot. What’s easier, digging through old file folders looking for a lost manual or doing a quick Google search and finding the information on the manufacturer’s website?
#6 – Feature Testimonials That Speak to Your Target Market
The best testimonials will connect on an emotional level. Does your product simply help someone “earn additional money” or does it allow them to “be proud that you can finally support your family?”
Testimonials can provide social proof as well which can lower their guard and open up to the possibility of doing business with you. Social proof is why getting reviews is so important. Whether you’re a running local business, a fashion brand, or a SAAS company getting testimonials and reviews is crucial to improving your conversion rates.
Great testimonials will often include visuals: smiling faces for a dentist; being able to surf again for a physical therapist; able to purchase first house for a mortgage provider… you get the point).
#7 – Define Your Brand Voice Across All Marketing Channels
Many new brands have trouble finding and defining their brand voice when they first start. You’ll want to do research on this before you start writing your copy. It’s never too late to start improving your branding.
Consider the tone of your copy – slang used, writing style, taglines, product feature descriptions, et cetera. The best place to start, as far as I’m concerned, is with your company’s mission, vision, and value statements. These 3 items should encapsulate your brand. Get these nailed down and the rest will be much easier.
Brand voice is a huge part of your overall branding effort and shouldn’t be overlooked. If you didn’t get it nailed down at first then there’s no time like the present to get started on it.
I hope this article featuring my 7 best email marketing tips has given you something fresh to think about and act upon. If you have any tips of your own please leave them in the comments.
