Product description copywriting should absolutely tell prospective customers the info they need to know. Things like material, quality, size, etc. All those features that will influence a person’s buying decision.
But consider all the product descriptions we encounter when we’re shopping for something. What will make yours stand out compared to all the rest?
Personality. Creativity. Something unexpected, like fun sentences and turns of phrases instead of the same ol’, same ol’. Some products are famous for their descriptions (like The J. Peterman Company). But I’d be willing to bet most products are famous for having boring descriptions.
Don’t be boring or predictable with your product description copywriting. Taking the time to craft thoughtful, funny, whimsical, engaging, or creative product descriptions will resonate with customers, even if only on a subconscious level. Yes, product descriptions should reflect the brand you’re writing for. (Otherwise, there will be a massive disconnect.) So, if the brand has yet to develop its brand voice, focus on that first. Then, have at it with your product descriptions.
Product Description Copywriting Example
My nephew recently ventured into the world of e-commerce, and he asked me to help him write some of his products’ descriptions. Here’s a before-and-after. See what you think.
Here’s the “before” product description
Here’s the “after” product description
Notice the description still covers the same key features, but it does so in a much more interesting and memorable way.
Are you new to copywriting? Here are my go-to resources.
I use Amazon Affiliate links. If you use one of the links to buy something, it won’t cost you more, but I’ll earn a small commission. I only recommend stuff that I believe in. I own both of these books.
Before we discuss how to get testimonials from clients, we should examine why we should bother in the first place. If you’re cynical-minded, you might wonder if testimonials matter since businesses are only going to post glowing words from their clients and customers, right?
Here’s the thing: Even if our logical minds realize this, our emotional minds are still influenced by people’s experiences. And this is even more true on review sites like Yelp, Trustpilot, or Rotten Tomatoes.
Bottom line: Business testimonials and reviews serve as an important signal that the brand, service, or product is real and legit.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. 🙂
Below, I tackle the following questions. (Click on a link to jump directly to that section.)
Also, I can’t recommend this book enough: Using Behavioral Science in Marketing: Drive Customer Action and Loyalty by Prompting Instinctive Responses by Nancy Harhut. NOTE: It’s an Amazon affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission if you buy, but it won’t cost you more if you do. I own this book, and it’s incredibly insight, especially when it comes to things like social proof and customer testimonials.
What are testimonials? Are they the same thing as reviews?
A person gives “testimony” to the benefits they experienced using your products or services. People will sometimes use the words “testimonial” and “review” interchangeably.
Technically, business testimonials are usually managed by the business itself. The business asks its customers or clients to write testimonials via email and uses them in various marketing channels, like the website.
If the testimonial is less than positive, the business doesn’t have to post it. The business has editorial control over the content (like fixing typos or condensing the quote).
Reviews, on the other hand, are typically posted by the person writing them on places like Trustpilot, Yelp, Google, Amazon, Rotten Tomatoes—you get the idea.
Reviewers post the good, the bad, and the ugly. Barring something egregious that violates the platform’s policies, businesses don’t have much recourse for negative reviews aside from responding (which isn’t always a good idea—more on this in a moment).
Businesses can benefit from having both testimonials and reviews.
On the company website, the business can post testimonials it received directly from a client or customer. Reviews on places like the company’s Google Business Profile and Trustpilot happen organically.
However, it’s also not unusual for businesses to add a module to their site that draws in reviews from other sources, such as Amazon product pages (this is common in the B2C world).
For the purpose of the article, I’m primarily referring to business testimonials—the ones that the company directly asks its customers or clients to write. But I’ll touch on customer reviews, too.
Why do advertisers use testimonials?
Testimonials and reviews can be extremely persuasive, even for folks who pride themselves on being rational and logical.
It turns out that most of us don’t make buying decisions based on logic—at least, not in the beginning. We’re emotional creatures at heart, and emotions drive our decisions.
So even though our logical brain might point out that a business will only ever post positive testimonials on its site, our emotional brain doesn’t care. We need to hear about other people’s good experiences with the business, product, or service.
Why? We don’t want to make the wrong choice. Knowing that other people have already worked with this company or bought the product helps our brains feel comfortable with our decision to buy.
Think about it. Have you ever mentally crossed off a service provider from your list because it didn’t have many (or any) Google reviews? Or, as you debated between two similar products on Amazon, did you lean toward the one with more positive reviews? You’re not alone. That’s how it works.
We humans want to know we’re in good company and that other people have already tried and tested the product or service.
This concept is known as “social proof,” a psychological phenomenon in which people copy or are influenced by other people’s actions. It was coined by American psychologist Robert Cialdini in 1984 in his book Influence: Science and Practice. (The book link is an Amazon affiliate link. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small commission if you buy, but it won’t cost you more to do so.)
A good example that people of a certain age will likely remember is the “4 out of 5 dentists agree” testament that Trident used in its advertising. Who wouldn’t trust dentists about gum recommendations, right?
In the digital era, social proof like testimonials and reviews are important trust signals on long-form landing pages selling products or services.
Reviews help 90% of online shoppers make buying decisions. Next time you’re on Facebook or Instagram and you encounter an ad for something, click over to the landing page. I can almost guarantee two things: It will be a long scroll, and it will have reviews/testimonials sprinkled along the way.
Bottom line: Advertisers use testimonials because they understand we humans are influenced by other people’s experiences with the product or service.
How to get testimonials from clients. Plus, how to ask customers for reviews.
Here’s the thing: Asking people for testimonials and reviews isn’t a one-and-done task. Businesses should always ask customers and clients for reviews and testimonials.
For e-commerce, this process is often baked into the post-purchase workflow.
Anyone who’s bought something from Amazon has likely received one of these emails.
For other B2C businesses, following a multi-step process can help encourage more customer reviews:
Verbal reminders: Encourage sales staff to deliver lines like, “If you liked our service/product, we welcome your reviews on places like Yelp and Google.”
Visual reminders: For businesses with physical locations, have signage that reminds people that their feedback and reviews are welcome. You could include a QR code that people can scan with their phones and write a review. This can work well in places like hair salons, car dealerships, restaurants—you get the idea.
Text reminders. One of the biggest challenges in getting people to give reviews is timing. Happy customers are usually very willing to talk about their experiences, but their good intentions can easily melt away if the review process is difficult. People are married to their phones, so sending texts with a link that brings people to the primary place you want a review (like Google) can improve conversion rates big time.
Here’s an example of a text testimonial request that I received. And yes, it did prompt me to write one right then and there.
Not all businesses necessarily have a presence on popular review sites like Yelp or even Google. Should they still solicit customer reviews? Short answer: YES.
My business is a perfect example. I’m a freelance copywriter. I work with small business owners, marketing agencies, and marketing managers within companies. I display customer testimonials on my site.
How to get testimonials from clients. Here’s my process:
When a client sends me an email and mentions how much they like my writing or working with me, I’ll respond with a “thank you for the kind words” and then ask if I can use their words in a testimonial for my website and other marketing materials.
If a client verbally expresses how much they like working with me—or something specific, like “You ask such good questions”—I’ll follow up with an email repeating what they said. Then, I’ll ask for permission to use their words as a testimonial.
I always give people the option to use their name or not (or a partial name, like “Jessica B.”)
Most people are fine with me using their name and title. Occasionally, they might need to get permission from their boss or the company’s legal department. That’s when things can go sideways. But in almost all cases, I can simply leave out the name and use something like “Marketing manager for a health and wellness company.”
If I know a client is happy with my work, I can also ask them to write me a LinkedIn Recommendation. I can then use the recommendation on my website.
How to request a testimonial from a client – real examples
Here’s an example of an email testimonial where I asked a client if I could use some of her kind words on my website.
And here’s her response.
Don’t be afraid to give people direction. Here’s an example of me asking a client to write a testimonial about a specific skill.
Here’s the result of that request.
How to use customer testimonials
Don’t stockpile your customer testimonials into a “testimonials” page on your site and then forget about them. (It’s OK to have a repository, but not everyone will visit that page. Not to mention, a laundry list of quotes doesn’t make for riveting reading.) Instead, get as much mileage out of your testimonials as possible.
Here’s how to display testimonials on a website and beyond.
Website home page. Home pages tend to be the most trafficked pages. Having that all-important social proof in the form of a customer testimonial or review is essential. Here’s an example of one B2B business:
Service/product pages. Same idea. Social proof is essential. If you’re wondering how to display customer testimonials on your website, adding a review plug-in automates the process.
Landing pages for paid ads. If you run ads on places like Facebook or Instagram, think about where you’re sending people to. Those landing pages must look great and read well and convincingly—and the latter is where reviews come into play. Luckily, products exist that can help you create high-converting landing pages.
Contact pages. Reinforce how fabulous the company is and reassure the person who is about to make contact that they are indeed making a smart decision.
Team pages. If you have bio pages for employees and testimonials that speak directly to the employee, add a snippet of that review to the person’s bio. I write for a urology practice, and that’s the strategy we follow for doctor bios. Here’s an example.
Social media. Have fun and get creative with how you share snippets of reviews. Here’s how one of my clients does it:
Corresponding case studies or customer stories. Using real quotes in case studies is what brings the narrative to life and makes it feel more real.
Lead nurturing emails. Businesses send nurturing emails to marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), people who are a good fit for the business’s product or service but are not ready to buy yet. Using short quotes from real customers can be a great way to prime MQLs for sales-qualified status.
Email signatures. Another way to increase the number of eyes on your reviews is to add a phrase from a stellar review or testimonial with a link to more reviews or testimonials.
Print collateral, like marketing brochures, print ads, and signage at events or in-store.
Product/service videos. You could do a video montage of reviews or highlight some of the more glowing reviews.
Asking for testimonials: tips, tricks, and pitfalls to avoid.
It never hurts to ask.
The worst that can happen is someone will decline (often due to legal reasons) or they never respond to your initial ask. I think it’s perfectly OK and fair to follow up once. (Emails get lost, and good intentions fall by the wayside.) But don’t hound. If someone doesn’t respond to your second request, move on. (And try not to take it personally. Easier said than done, I know.)
When you ask for a testimonial, make it easy for people to say yes.
Your approach will be different depending on the type of business you have. If you’re a solopreneur like me, you’ll likely email people with a request. That’s how I get 100% of my testimonials, and they’re usually based on something the client has said in an email.
I’ll piggyback on the email where they shared some nice words. I don’t revise—I want the words to sound authentic—but I’ll condense as needed or fix any obvious typos or glaring grammar errors.
Take advantage of marketing automation. This is especially important if you’re in retail, e-commerce, or some other B2C business. Automation can make it easy to send reminders to customers via text and email. Products might come with default messaging but always customize it.
Be careful about incentivizing reviews.
Have you ever been offered something in exchange for “an honest review”? Here’s one I got for a recent purchase.
I have no doubt this company means well. (And they aren’t US-based.) But this can get tricky. Chances are someone who takes you up on it will be more inclined to write something positive, which is great for the business. But remember, people rely on authentic reviews to make their buying decisions.
The FTC has some good guidance around this. It says, “If you offer an incentive for a review, don’t condition it, explicitly or implicitly, on the review being positive. Even without that condition, the review should disclose the incentive, because its offer may introduce bias or change the weight and credibility that readers give the review.”
Never do anything deceptive, like pay for fake positive reviews. You also shouldn’t pay someone to write bad reviews about your competitors.
Customer testimonial templates
Here are some templates you can use.
Email template #1 for a client – this will work well if you work 1:1 with the client
Hi [NAME],
I’ve enjoyed our work together and appreciate the kind comments you’ve made along the way. Would you be willing to write a short testimonial that I can use on my website? It doesn’t need to be long at all—just a couple of lines would be great.
I can use your name and title or anonymize it if you prefer.
Let me know what you think.
##
Email template #2 for a client
Hi [NAME],
You recently sent an email with a lovely note about my work, and I was wondering if you’d be okay with me using the quote as a testimonial on my site.
Here’s what I’d like to use: [INSERT QUOTE + THE PERSON’S NAME, TITLE, COMPANY]
If you don’t want to use your full name or company name, I can anonymize it to this: [Example: Jessica B, marketing coordinator in the beauty and wellness industry]
Let me know what you think.
##
Ideas for automated messages requesting customer testimonials
Email subject line options:
Let us know what you think
Your opinion matters
Tell others about your experience
Care to share a review?
Tell the world about us!
Love us?! Tell people!
Body copy that could work for emails or texts
Hi [NAME]
Honest reviews help get the word out about our products/. They also help our team improve.
We’d love to know about your recent experience with us. Care to leave a short review?
Here’s a link to [Name the platform, like Google, Trustpilot, etc.]
How to write a testimonial
For a person: [Name] is a [adjective] [title]. She/he is especially skilled in x, y, and z. [Include final recommendation].
In action: Robyn is a talented copywriter. She’s especially skilled in writing long-form content, snappy emails, and SEO website copy. I highly recommend her for any writing projects a small business might have.
For a business, service, product: [Business, service, product] is a [adjective] [category]. [Short explanation of your experience with the service/product.] Final recommendation.
In action: Awesome Movers is the best moving company I’ve ever used. I’ve moved a lot over the last decade, and this company, hands down, has the best price and the most talented movers. They easily disassembled a complicated office desk and reassembled it in my new home office. Can’t recommend them enough.
How NOT to respond to a review – true story
Even though reviews can help (or hurt) a business, remember that they are first and foremost for prospective customers.
If you decide to respond to a review publicly, well—that response is public. Responding to less-than-stellar reviews in a way that doesn’t appear defensive or out of tune is challenging—if not downright impossible simply because people read things in different ways. You might think your tone is fair, but someone else reading it might think you sound defensive.
If you do respond to negative reviews, here are some things to think about.
Most platforms have protocols for flagging reviews that violate their policies. Carefully review the protocols and only flag a review if you’re 100 % certain the review violates the policy. Note: Someone leaving a strongly-worded negative review isn’t a good reason to flag it.
If you respond to someone who had a bad experience with your business, product, or service, sound human. Responses like “I’m sorry to hear about your experience” aren’t effective because you’re not apologizing for whatever the customer’s grievance is about. A response like that almost makes it sound like the person’s grievance is all in their head. And sure, it might be. But that’s just it. The review is from their point of view, their experience.
Don’t leave comments like “I’m sorry to hear this. We’d like to learn more about your experience. Please contact us to tell us more.” You might think that shows you’re being proactive, but you’re not. You’re putting it back on the customer to take the next step. And it’s even worse if you leave a phone number that leads to an automated main line. And it’s truly even worse if your responses to negative reviews are automated or you say the same thing in every review you respond to.
Want an example of how NOT to respond to negative reviews?
And finally, here’s a “funny” experience that I had with a handyman. He kept bugging me to leave a review, which was surprising because we had a rough start to our engagement (he was always late, and one time, he blew up at my partner and me in a highly inappropriate manner). His work was OK enough, and because I’m a fellow business owner who gets how tough it can be out there sometimes, I wrote a four-star review (which was generous—I almost made it 3.5).
And guess what? He had the gall to question why we didn’t give him five stars. Yes, really.
See the text exchange below.
Obviously, don’t do something like that. 🙂
Bottom line: Getting customer testimonials and reviews is important to your business. But how you ask for reviews is also important.
https://etrobbins.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/robin-bradley-logo-300x105.png00Robyn Bradleyhttps://etrobbins.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/robin-bradley-logo-300x105.pngRobyn Bradley2010-11-08 10:00:072025-01-27 17:16:14How to Get Testimonials From Clients (Email Scripts Included)
Dear Copy Bitch: We’re an HVAC company, and we keep encountering marketing consultants who say we should abandon direct mail marketing altogether. But here’s the thing: our direct mail pieces convert. The ROI is great. Still, I wonder if this is just an anomaly, and if I should get out while I can and redistribute my marketing dollars elsewhere. We have an optimized website, we add engaging content regularly, and we’re delving into social media. Should we put all our focus in those things, or is it okay to still have some of our marketing dollars going towards direct mail? What say you, oh wondrous Copy Bitch? And if you do think there’s still a place for direct mail, can you give some examples of effective direct mail pieces? Thanks for the great blog!
–M.H., Atlanta, GA
ANSWER: The death of direct mail has been greatly exaggerated, methinks. A good direct mail piece can still work — and might even have a greater chance of working today, thanks to the fact so many people are abandoning this marketing method (i.e. if done right, your piece has a great chance of standing out since there are fewer pieces of junk mail, at least in my mailbox).
Now as my regular readers know, I drink at the Altar of HubSpot, and I worship Saint Godin. HubSpot is all about inbound marketing, but it recognizes that outbound marketing tactics — like direct mail — still have a place in a company’s marketing plan. Saint Godin is all about what works and what makes sense for your business and, most importantly, your customers.
So, in essence, you’ve answered your own question: your direct mail is working, people are responding to it, you’re seeing conversions, and you’re experiencing great ROI. You have marketing dollars invested in inbound marketing efforts as well. Sounds like you have the right mix right now. The key is monitoring and measuring results. What works today might not work two years from now. But it sounds like you’re well aware of that.
So what does work? Here are three direct mail pieces that were delivered to my mailbox that caught my attention (for the right reasons):
A free DVD of the Oscar award-winning movie Smile Pinkifrom Smile Train, a charitable organization that I support. Who wouldn’t love to get a free movie in the mail? And this movie has a great way of reaching other potential donors, since I’m bound to share it (and talk about it, like I’m doing here) with others.
Coupon booklets – I always thumb through the coupon booklets I get and often use the restaurant coupons.
The book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?by Seth Godin. He didn’t send me his latest book because I ordered it. He sent it to me because I’d bought books from him in the past and he thought I’d enjoy it. Of course, I’d planned on buying the book on my own. I hadn’t placed my order yet, but in the letter that accompanied the book, Saint Godin said that if I already had Linchpin, then I should pass on this extra copy to someone else who could benefit. (Is the guy brilliant or what?)
Here’s a piece of snail mail that caught my attention for the WRONG reasons:
TruGreen and Lowe’s sent me an over-sized postcard with a coupon for $29.95 off my first custom lawn treatment. Problem is, I’m in an apartment building. All of us in the building got this postcard. Someone wasted marketing dollars on a mailing list that included apartment numbers, a field that could have been easily filtered out, had someone been paying attention to the details.
https://etrobbins.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/robin-bradley-logo-300x105.png00Robyn Bradleyhttps://etrobbins.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/robin-bradley-logo-300x105.pngRobyn Bradley2010-07-07 07:37:412024-08-03 09:35:03Does Direct Mail Still Work? (Short Answer: Yes)
Note from The Copy Bitch: I wrote this post in 2010, meaning SEVEN years ago (as I sit here reviewing it on 7/9/17). I was talking about “authentic copy” and “honest marketing copy” seven years ago, and now I’m screaming it at the top of my lungs. Be real, people.
The other day, I had a frank conversation with a client. I said, “Is your product really all that different from your competitors?” The reason I was asking was simple: it was a standard product. I’d gleaned that much from our conversations and competitor research.
He was honest. He said, “When comparing this product across similar tiers/companies, no–we’re NOT different.”
So the challenge I posed to him was this: “So WHY should people work with/buy from you instead of your competitors?”
He didn’t have a ready answer.
But I probed further.
Turns out that many of his competitors are newer companies. There’s no telling how long they’ll last or if they’ll last (although they might). My client’s company, however, has been around for 20+ years (although dealing with a sister product–not the newer product he was trying to sell, but still). The product he was selling requires ongoing tech support. It’s not a “one and done” type of sale. In addition, my client had plenty of experience working with the target audience he was going after (restaurant owners and small retailer owners)–he’d been doing that for years with his main business/other product.
OK.
So I recommended an honest message. I recommended truth. “Hey, our products aren’t much different from our competitors’. The software is pretty standard across the board in regards to the technology. Pricing is similar, too. Sure, you might get a discount here, a free trial there, but at the end of the day, the products are pretty much the same. So why should you buy from us then? Well, what you WILL get from us is security–we’ve been around for 20+ years. Many of our competitors are newer companies. We’re not suggesting they’re going to go under. But what we ARE saying is that you can count on us being here for ongoing tech support. We’re not going anywhere. Plus, we’ve worked with people in your industry. We already get what your challenges are, so we’ll set up the system to work with your business.”
See that?An honest message. A REAL message. Not sexy. Although in some ways (perhaps the same way I found James Comey very sexy during his testimony) it IS sexy.
Because the truth is sexy.
Authenticity is sexy.
Or refreshing, at the very least.
#gettingoffmysoapboxnow
Check out the original post from 2010 below.
Last month, HubSpot released some great news for me: a blog post titled “Calling All Content Creators: Marketers Spending More on Content in 2010.”
But the Great Content Proliferation of 2010 could prove problematic for businesses, and here’s why: now more than ever, what you say and how you say it matters. Yes, those two things have always mattered, but considering how fast The People can rebroadcast your messages via Twitter, Facebook, texts, and other social media, there’s A LOT of pressure on your words.
From my perspective, this means that “corporate speak” is a dying strategy when it comes to creating content, even in notoriously corporate industries. Stuffy, aloof, third-person, passive “Mistakes were made” ways of talking to customers won’t work when there are too many other CEOs who blog, tweet, text, and post status updates on fan pages in a conversational and familiar tone.
In other words: only real, authentic copy and messaging will rise above the endless chatter, not the platypus copy that results from well-meaning, but out-of-touch folks who red-line every natural phrase, who remove every bit of Chunky Monkey personality from the copy, who turn the copy into safe vanilla because it’s well, safe, even though it just won’t work in such a competitive vanilla-filled landscape.
You need to take risks with your copy, withyour conversations, if you want your business to stand out in 2010.
But let me be clear about one other important point: the only thing risky about these conversations is the fear I guarantee 80 percent of my readers are experiencing right now. What I’d really like to call this newsletter is “Ready for REAL Conversation?” But we’re not there. Yet.
So let’s forget the adjectives and focus on the word conversation. The following addresses many of the questions I get from clients and onlookers alike regarding this pesky word.
1. What is conversation? If you look it up, the keyword phrase you’ll see in most definitions is this: “informal discussion.” The very definition of the word gives you permission to have an informal tone.
2. Why should my tone with customers be informal? Conversational, how I love thee! Let me count the ways! Informal methods (active voice, contractions, shorter words, shorter sentences) make your message easier to understand and retain. The formal method (no contractions, passive voice, $5 vocabulary words, longer complex sentences) involves more time and thinking. Need another reason? How ’bout this: because The People are accustomed to it now more than ever, thanks to 140-character texts and tweets. More? Okay, I saved the best for last: because it works.
3. So you’re advocating the dumbing down of society? Not at all. I advocate that people read widely (fiction and nonfiction) and that they read balanced arguments about issues. But b2b and b2c copywriting should not sound like Proust. Why? Because reading Proust takes time. Ask yourself this: how much time does your audience have to read, understand, and remember your message? Not much, since they’re busy working, going to meetings, cooking, shuttling kids to soccer practice, working a second job, paying bills, shopping, sporting, and reading Proust. (Okay, I doubt most of your customers are reading Proust. Which should tell you something. But they’re likely doing those other things.)
4. I don’t believe you.
That’s okay. The proof is in the conversions. The best thing you could do is a split test (also known as A/B testing). Sending out a sales letter? Have two versions–a “professional” version and a “completely conversational” version. See which one converts better. My money is on the conversational one. You can do the same testing with email newsletters (start by testing subject lines) and website landing pages.
5. But conversational isn’t my style!
So what is your style? Pedantic? I doubt it. Listen, there are different levels of conversational (and the level you opt for will depend more on who your audience is rather than who YOU are). You don’t need to go the full monty the first time out of the gate. I understand–and accept–that not everyone, nor every business, can get away with using a well-placed “horse shit” in their copy. But a bunch of businesses can. And the ones who can’t could still have clean fun with “horse manure.” (Face it: “manure” is a funny and memorable word, especially when used in business writing.)
6. Okay, I’m not pedantic. But how can I do this conversation thing in my copy? Listen to me: you already do. You just don’t know it. The absolute best thing you can do is this: record yourself having a conversation with someone about your business. Do not secretly record the conversation a la Linda Tripp, since this would be illegal. Ask permission and then record yourself talking to your marketing person, business advisor, co-worker, spouse, dog, whomever. (The dog is the last on the list because you really do need someone who can respond to you in order for this to qualify as a conversation. And if your dog talks back to you, there are other things we need to discuss first.)
Record yourself long enough so that you forget you’re recording. Just talk. Relax. Enjoy the conversation. Listen to what the other person is saying. Then respond. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Here’s what I’m betting you’ll notice when you listen back: how natural you sound. How authentic. How–holy crap!–conversational. You’ll be using contractions, colloquialisms, and short sentences. You might even start sentences with “and” or “but,” no doubt causing your poor sixth-grade English teacher to roll over in her grave. And guess what? The stuff you’re talking about will probably be interesting, specific, and concrete as opposed to the vanilla “expected” copy so many business websites succumb to. Your conversation will have personality.
Now do this: transcribe the conversation. YOU do it–don’t hire someone. I want you to feel the words as you type them out on your keyboard. I want you to see how they look on the page. I want you to envision how certain phrases and paragraphs would look and sound in your sales letter, on your web page, and in a marketing brochure.
Then ask yourself this: what risk is there in that?
(Note: I suggest doing the above exercise even if you use a conversational copywriter like me.)
7. But there IS risk! What if someone reading it thinks I’m an unprofessional moron? Contractions won’t make you look like a moron. Neither will starting an occasional sentence with “but.” What will make you and your company look like an unprofessional moron? Misspellings and typos. Amateurish design. Unsubstantiated claims. Navigation that leads to the tenth circle of hell. Generalizations that waste my time. Hiding your contact info. Forms that don’t work. Sites that are blander than the vanilla ice cream that’s been sitting in my mom’s freezer since the Bush administration. The first one.
8. You say all this, but show me copy that works. Okay. Check out these sites.
Dear Copy Bitch: I have a copywriter working on my website copy, and she recently asked me who my competitors are. Here’s the thing: I know it’s a standard question, but we really don’t have competitors. No one does the work as well as we do. We really are different. How do I explain this to the copywriter? Her copy should be focusing on what makes us so great, right?
—Awesome Company, Boston
Answer: Sure, from your perspective your nearest competitor is so far behind you that there’s no way anyone would possibly opt for said competitor over you, right? That’s a fine and dandy attitude to have if you’re, say, eight and still thinking the world revolves around you. But how ’bout putting on your big boy or big girl pants and looking at it from your prospects’ perspectives?
Your prospects don’t know you’re the be-all end-all in your industry, and they certainly won’t “get” it just because you tell them so on your website. Your copywriter is smart for asking about your competitors. Why? Because it’s important to look at how your competitors are positioning themselves, their services, and their products so that you can figure out what they’re doing right (because they will be doing something right, I guarantee it), what they’re doing wrong (ditto), and how you’re really going to demonstrate your company’s unique qualities (i.e., your unique selling proposition).
Remember, your website (and any other marketing vehicles) should be about your customers and prospects first. Acknowledge their needs, worries, fears, and pain and then demonstrate how your company fulfills those needs, relieves their fears and worries, and eliminates their pain.
There’s an adage in creative writing: show, don’t tell. The same is true here. Telling me you’re the greatest and that any “so-called” competitor is a lying heap of horse manure won’t be as effective as showing me how well you take care of your current customers and what makes you different from the competition.
Pretending the competition doesn’t exist or isn’t good enough or is too far behind you to catch up is dumb-ass marketing. Don’t do it.
https://etrobbins.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/robin-bradley-logo-300x105.png00Robyn Bradleyhttps://etrobbins.com/website/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/robin-bradley-logo-300x105.pngRobyn Bradley2009-10-28 19:13:592017-08-21 07:08:59Marketing Tips: Yes, You Have Competitors (Even if You Think You Don’t)
I’ve been doing advertising copywriting for over 20 years. And even though I shouldn’t be shocked when someone overlooks something so basic as “understand your audience before you write,” I still am.
Here’s a story I recently pulled out of the archives because it is still relevant today. Too many advertising copywriters and marketers still skip this important step.
Consider this scenario: Would you talk to a 20-year-old single guy living in Boston in the same way you’d talk to a 50-year-old woman with kids living in a Boston suburb?
No, of course, you wouldn’t. So imagine my shock when I got a call from a marketer who wanted me to write a headline for a print ad, the third in a series in which he’d created the other two. I asked him where the ad would be appearing, and he told me. Then I asked for demo info on the publication since this would give me a good sense of the audience we’d be speaking to.
And he said, “What do you mean ‘demo’ info? Oh, you mean demographics? I don’t think you’ll need that info once you see what I did with the first two ads.”
Um, how can I do advertising copywriting effectively if I don’t know who I’m writing the ad for? (Short answer: I can’t.) How do I know if I’m talking to the 20-year-old single male living in Boston or the 50-year-old suburban mom? (Short answer: I can only guess.)
OK, maybe you’re wondering why I cared about the publication’s audience. Shouldn’t I only be thinking of my client’s audience?
When I work with clients, we always discuss their audience, including their ideal buyers (sometimes referred to as the “ideal client profile” or ICP). When I write print ads for clients, I’m still writing to the client’s audience. But! Publications have their own audiences, right?
By asking about the magazine’s demo, I was trying to ensure that the audiences were indeed aligned. I also wanted to know if we were zeroing in on a specific portion of the client’s audience DUE to the publication they were advertising in. (As I recall, the client was a dental practice, which tends to cater to wide swaths of people, from the single dude to the mom with kids. That’s why I wanted to understand the publication’s audience. Were we talking to the single dude or mom? Because the messaging would be different.)
My solution? I went to the publication’s website, downloaded the media kit for advertisers (which is why it exists), read it, and sent it to the marketer along with my suggestions on images and headlines based on the people who actually read the magazine.
When you write a print ad, website, direct mail campaign, sales letter, radio spot, or whatever, you must understand your audience. This is marketing and copywriting 101.
This marketing guy’s failure with advertising copywriting gets even better.
This same marketer created a print ad for another local publication and wanted me to “spruce up” the copy. After asking him for the pub’s demographics, he sent me census data on the town in which the publication appears, as if that info would tell me who reads the publication. (As Dave Barry would say, “I’m not making this up.”) I once again went to the publication’s website and downloaded the info myself.
The ad that the marketer wanted me to spruce up included the company’s “credo” and a picture of the owner and staff. (I’m not sure why he called it a credo. It’s much more common to say the company’s mission statement.) The credo was written in a “We/they” format:
We see our patients as individuals with specific needs and goals; we believe in providing our patients with the best possible care—always.
The tone was really distant despite the inclusion of the first-person plural. I suggested turning it to “you,” as all good advertising copy should ultimately be about YOU, the prospective customer:
We see you as an individual with specific needs and goals; we believe in providing you with the best possible care—always.
Still not great, but this change alone makes the copy a bit warmer. However, the marketer said he wanted it to stay in the third person because “that’s how credos are written.” 😭😭😭
Oy. Where to even begin with this marketing disaster?
Second, always consider your audience. Even if your mission statement is written in third person on your site, THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR AD.
Finally, instead of using the mission statement, why not get a quote from a real patient that essentially encapsulates what it says?
Listen. There’s nothing special about a dentist providing “the best possible care.” I would expect that from any dentist. It’s not a differentiator, especially if you tell me that’s what you do.
But consider if a real patient was quoted in the ad with something like this: “Wow. These guys provide the best care. I was so nervous about my root canal, but they told me exactly what to expect, and it ended up being so much easier than I ever thought possible.”
Now, that would be compelling, wouldn’t it?
Bottom line: Always think about your audience first when writing advertising copy.
What matters to them? Why should they care about whatever it is you’re selling? (What’s in it for them?) What will motivate them to take action?
Answer those questions, and the copy will (almost) write itself.
Hey, are you new to advertising copywriting?
You’re in the right place. I share free copywriting tips here and on my YouTube channel.
