WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO DO BEFORE YOU WRITE ANY MARKETING
COMMUNICATION -- FLYER, PROPOSAL, AD, COVER LETTER, ETC. OR
DOING THE HOMEWORK THAT PRODUCES THE MARKETING COMMUNICATION
THAT GETS YOUR PROSPECT TO BUY WHAT YOU'RE SELLING
By Dr. Jeffrey Lant
All of a sudden that familiar feeling comes over you...
you've got to have a new brochure... there's that deadline
for the ad... you promised you'd have that flyer done by,
when?
You sit down, write as fast as you can, rush through the job
just to get it finished. You give your finished work a
perfunctory perusal, realizing that it may not be great, but
at least it's done. And off to the printer it goes. Isn't
this just about the size of it?
BUT THIS IS NONSENSE. AND YOU'VE GOT TO STOP "WORKING" LIKE
THIS.
Let me remind you of something: you don't create a marketing
communication -- any marketing communication -- because
you've got to; you create a marketing communication because
you want to get a designated prospect to take immediate
action, an action which leads, now or in predictable
sequence, to a sale of your product or service. Marketing
communications produce sales, and to get these sales is the
only reason for producing marketing communications. YOU MUST
NEVER FORGET THIS!
Getting The Sales You Want From Your Marketing
Communications
To get the sales you want from your marketing
communications, all you need to do is follow this simple
series of steps:
- ask yourself who you're talking to, who you're trying to
get to take action;
- determine what you want this person to do;
- write down what these people get from you when they take
action (the benefits);
- create an offer that makes them want to take immediate
action;
- gather testimonials that prove that others have benefitted
when they have used your product/service;
- if you're selling a service, give reasons why people
should trust you to work with.
Let's examine each of these simple steps.
Who Are You Talking To? Who Do You Want To Take Action?
Marketing is about action. It is not about the objective
presentation of information. It is not about educating
prospects. It is about motivating designated groups of
people (your prospects) to take the fastest possible action
and so do what is necessary to acquire what you're selling.
So, I ask you. Who are you selling to? Be as specific as
possible in answering this question.. or, rather, these
questions:
. your prospect's age
. sex
. education level
. income
. job title
. geographic area, etc.
You cannot write any effective marketing communication
without knowing precisely who you're talking to. Consider
this analogy. Suppose you were placing a personal ad seeking
the most significant other in your entire life. Would it
matter to you if the person were a man or woman, old or
young, living near or far, hetero- or homosexual, brown eyed
or blued? Of course it would matter!
You've got to bring this same level of specificity to the
creation of all marketing communications. The person reading
your brochure, your ad, your cover letter or proposal has
got to be able to look at that document and say, "Hey,
you're talking to me!" There can't be any doubt that he's
the prospect... that he knows he's the prospect... and that
he knows you're talking to him. Thus, one good way of
starting to write a document is to write down the name of
the person you're writing to (or at least his job title). As
specifically as possible. Thus, instead of writing
"nonprofit executive," it's better to write "executive
director of nonprofit hospices in Middlesex County,
Massachusetts." All the latter are, of course, in the former
category; but the former category is far too broad to give
you the specific focus that you need, the focus that lets
the prospect know you're talking exactly to him and to no
one else. Good marketing, remember, is specific marketing.
Determine What You Want Your Prospect To Do
Take a look at most ads or flyers or brochures. The first
problem is that they're about the marketer rather than about
the prospect. Second, it is not absolutely clear what you
want the prospect to do... and when you want him to do it.
This is fatal.
Your prospect has to know that you want him to:
. return your response card;
. send in a check;
. request a free one-hour appointment;
. walk through the door and buy a red tie at your twenty-
four hour sale.
The best marketing documents focus on getting the prospect
to do just one thing. And on telling him when he has to do
it.
The best marketing communications have both elegance and
simplicity. They say, "Hey (designated) you. Here's what you
should do... and here's when you should do it." That's all.
Remember, each individual marketing communication can have
only one point. Getting the prospect to do this single thing
at the earliest possible moment is what the document is all
about.
What Your Prospect Gets From You When She Takes Action
Now ask yourself, despite the fact that you want the
prospect to take immediate action, why should she? What's in
your marketing communication that makes the prospect want to
take the action you've determined she should take in the
period you've determined she should take it?
At this point, you should take a look at some brochures,
flyers, cover letters, or proposals in your office. You're
going to find -- as I, to my chagrin, regularly find -- that
the marketers who created this garbage have focused their
documents on themselves... not their prospects. They tell
you about who they are, what they're selling, where they
went to school, provide a picture of their establishment,
give you a corny logo, etc., etc., etc. This is the worst --
and most typical -- kind of marketing.
So that you don't provide it, and waste your money and your
prospect's time (if they decide to give you any, which is
highly doubtful), write down just what the prospect gets
from you. Start each sentence with these two words, "YOU
GET..."
Now, I'd like to share a secret with you. Each "you get"
needs to be as specific as possible. Thus, you can't write
"you get thinner." This doesn't differentiate you in any
serious way from all the thousands of other products that
may help the prospect get thinner. The best marketing
documents are specific documents. Using this illustration,
they tell you how much thinner you'll be when you use the
product/service.
But, you say, I can't promise results. I have no control
over the prospect's habits. I don't want to make a promise
that I can't keep. Fine. Then put in some "weasel words,"
words like "up to," "as much as," "nearly," etc. These words
say, in effect, "If you follow the directions, you can
achieve results this good, but I can't guarantee them
because I can't be there every minute to oversee what you're
doing." Get it?
Now let the juices flow now. Don't inhibit yourself. Write
down every benefit the prospect gets when she uses your
product/service. Just remember to start each benefit with
the magic words YOU GET....
Now, arrange the benefits in priority order. For the
person/group you've targeted, which benefit makes the most
sense? Which benefit will get this person's attention
fastest? Which benefit does she want now? Of course, there's
a certain amount of subjectivity in all this, but it's not
entirely subjective. You know your market, right? You should
constantly be asking your prospects which benefits are more
meaningful to them. By asking, by surveying, by deducing,
you'll soon come to know which benefits your prospects are
attracted to first, which second, etc.
Creating An Offer That Gets Your Prospect To Act NOW
If you look at most marketing communications, the person
who's created it acts like it doesn't matter to him when the
prospect responds. Take a look at any professional
brochure... or proposal... or flyer. Is there a reason to
act NOW? Or is it as if the marketer simply didn't care
whether the prospect acted today, next week, or ever? Sadly,
it's the latter.
But not for you! You've got to create an offer, a
circumstance that the prospect will find sufficiently
attractive that makes him want to act NOW -- not later.
In my book CASH COPY, I've listed dozens of offers that you
can use. Here are just a few:
. two for one
. free sample
. extra amount of the product
. special premium.
What's important to point out about the offer is that it
needs to be a benefit in its own right... and it needs to be
available for a limited time only, to a limited number of
people only, in limited quantities only, etc. In short, it
must be desirable in its own right... and it must be limited
in one way or another. Don't make an offer that's open-ended
and don't hesitate to put some time into making your offer
as attractive as possible.
It's important to keep in mind that a large percentage of
people who decide to purchase your product/service will be
doing so to get the offer as much as the product/service
itself. If you want them to take faster action, therefore,
you'll stress the offer... which means positioning it
prominently in all your marketing communications.
Gather Testimonials Proving That Others Have Benefitted When
They Have Used Your Product/Service
Please remember that your prospects are nervous. They have
limited amounts of money (and even less of it in
recessionary times) and have made bad buying decisions in
the past. They are thus cautious about investing their money
in what you're offering. Do they really need it? Or are they
about to be ripped off -- again? This is where testimonials
come in.
A testimonial is your opportunity to say to the prospect,
"Look, here's a person just like you, who had the same
problem you have, but who has gotten meaningful benefits
from our product/service." Testimonials diminish prospect
anxiety ... excite prospect interest about what he can
expect when he uses what you're selling.
Your job, therefore, is clear: you've got to find people who
are 1) like the prospect you're targeting now. 2) You've got
to ask them what kinds of results they got from using your
product/service. 3) You've got to get them to say and/or
write these results in a testimonial that'll induce other
people like them to take action to acquire the
product/service, or, better, the benefits that can only come
through using the product/service.
Take a look at most of the testimonials you see. They say
things like, "Great product. I love it!" and are signed
"Mrs. G. K., Des Moines." Now I'd like to say in the
strongest possible terms that such a testimonial is a
marketing disaster. A proper testimonial says, "I made an
extra $3,000 in just 90 days by using this product -- and so
can you! (Name of product) gives you the results you want. I
love it!" And it must be signed by a real person who has
given you permission to use this quote.
And how many of these testimonials do you need? My rule of
thumb is that you should have at least two testimonials per
page of marketing communications -- or at least one in a
space ad.
Note: by asking for testimonials regularly, you will get
them regularly. Or when people say good things about your
product/service, write down what they say and get permission
to use it. Personally, I enter all these comments in a
special file in my computer and draw from it when I need
quotes for my marketing communications. I also send these
testimonials to people who are considering hiring me as a
professional speaker; they get a list of recent
testimonials, all fully attributed, that's over 7 feet in
length and is made up of hundreds of testimonial quotes. You
can believe the person getting this gigantic testimonial
finds it impressive, and I get a lot of comments on it!
Special Note For People Selling A Service
If you're selling a service, there's another section you're
going to have to worry about: your biographical details. If
you examine professional brochures you'll find that most of
them include a section listing biographical details about
the service provider, details about where he went to school,
how many years he's been in practice, his professional
credentials -- even details about his hobbies and family.
Now I ask you: if this information about the service
provider? Or about the prospect he's trying to get to take
action? Put this way it's obvious, isn't it? And to the
extent that it's about the service provider, it's futile and
pointless.
All biographical information must be refocused from being
about the marketer to being meaningful to the prospect.
Thus, say you've been in practice for 12 years. This fact in
itself is of no possible interest to the prospect. What's of
interest is that during these 12 years you've helped
hundreds of people achieve results like (now give some of
the results). Remember, the prospect wants the results you
can help him achieve; your being in business 9 or 10 or 59
years is of no possible value compared to the results you
can help him achieve. And it is these results which induce
him to call you, not your years of devoted service. So focus
on those results. Each fact in your biography must be
changed from an "I am" into a "you get" fact. You get a
person who's helped achieved these results; you get a person
with this professional qualification, as a result of which
you can get the results you want, etc. In short, each
element of what you create must be about the prospect, even
the biographical details about you!
Conclusion
After you've completed these tasks, then and only then are
you ready to create your marketing communication, whatever
it is, for only now have you shifted the focus of your work
from yourself to the only important person in the equation:
your prospect. You cannot make yourself rich. Only your
prospects, acting in sufficient numbers to achieve your
objectives, can make you rich. Never forget this. That is
why you must never again, no matter what the time
constraints, rush to put together any marketing
communication without having followed the steps outlined in
this report. Without completing these tasks, your marketing
communications will inevitably be focused on your company,
your product, your service... and not on your prospect. When
you have completed these tasks, however, you will produce
the kinds of client-centered marketing communications that
get your prospects to do what you want them to do -- even if
you have to work under the tightest deadlines.
***********************************************************
Join the tens of thousands of businesses worldwide profiting
from Dr. Jeffrey Lant's marketing methods. Learn the secrets
of creating documents that get your prospects to respond in
his 480-page book CASH COPY: HOW TO OFFER YOUR PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES SO YOUR PROSPECTS BUY THEM... NOW! ($28.95
postpaid) And create a marketing plan that helps you reach
your sales objectives with the new 2nd Edition of his 286-
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NEED WHAT YOU'RE SELLING AND MAKING SURE THEY BUY IT ($39.50
postpaid). Get both -- and a FREE YEAR'S SUBSCRIPTION to
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