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Why are you the right answer?

November 24, 2020 by Leigh Baker

When you’re writing website copy, it’s all too easy to focus in on what you do and how you do what you do.

But in a world of nearly 2 billion websites, you need to do more than tell people about your solutions.

You need to tell them why YOU are the best people to deliver that solution to them.

As expert website designer Greg Merrilees says:

When someone visits your website, these are the questions they’re asking:

* What do you offer and do you have a solution to my problem?
* How will I benefit from your offer?
* Do you have proof that your solution works?
* Why should I choose you over your competitors?
* Does your website look credible and trustworthy?
* What action do you want me to take?
* Do you have a clear pathway on how you will solve my problem?

Clear vs Clever — Why Clarity Wins Every Time! – Studio1Design

Your website is not really about you

As I discussed in a previous post, winning copy is all about your customer – even when you talk about your business and what you do.

You’re convincing when:

  • You show your deep understanding of your customer’s problems.
  • You demonstrate that you’ve solved that problem for others through performance metrics, social proof and case studies.
  • You show up as generous, with useful, helpful content that helps them understand their problem better.
  • You demonstrate your authority and expertise – whether it be through qualifications, awards, speaking, books, podcasts.
  • You explain how your process works.
  • You explain your Unique Selling Proposition for meeting your customers needs – and more.
  • You show up as real people delivering your real solutions – through photos, video, stories.

So whether you’re writing your own copy or preparing to brief a copywriter, think about this question:

“What do our ideal prospects need to
KNOW about us
in order to LIKE us
and TRUST us
to deliver their solution?”

sales funnel

Filed Under: Marketing, Stories and storytelling, Web copywriting Tagged With: benefits, solutions, website copy

Winning copy is all about your customer

November 23, 2020 by Leigh Baker

Back in 1991, a computer programmer called Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web – an online web of information. Thirty years on, your website is the online shopfront of your business.

Meanwile, just three years earlier (after 12 years of research and 35,000 sales calls) Neil Rackham published the sales classic Spin Selling. It’s as valid today as it was in 1988 – because people don’t change nearly as quickly as technology does.

The basics of selling are still the same – and it’s all about the problem you solve. People still have needs they will pay money to fill – and businesses have solutions to those needs.

But before your customers interact with a sales person, they interact with you website. So it can be useful to think of your home page as your shopfront – and your landing pages are your sales people.

And the principles of SPIN selling are a useful framework for developing your website copy.

Why use SPIN?

Way too many web pages are written by product experts extolling the features of their products. That’s back to front.

It’s the equivalent of walking into a car showroom and having a pushy salesperson ear-bash you with a stream of technical specifications. The chances of you buying a car from this dealer are probably pretty low.

SPIN reminds us to put the customer first and ask:

  • Who are is my customer and what is their context? (Their Situation)
  • What are my customers problems and what is the ongoing cost to them of not solving their problems? (Their big Problem)
  • How does having that problem impact my customers over time? (The Implication)
  • What needs to happen to solve their problem and what will they experience when it’s solved? (How you supply their Needs & the payoff they get.)

You can’t have a conversation with every customer who visits your website – but you can structure your home page and your landing pages to demonstrate that you understand them AND that you have the solution they need.

So lets take a brief stroll through the 4 SPIN steps…

Situation

What are the circumstances your customers finds themselves in?

  • Are your customers people who love to drive hot cars (and you sell them mag wheels and performance suspension)?
  • Are your customers tech-dependent SMBs (and you offer IT managed services)?
  • Are your customers budding property investors (who need investment loans)?

Problems (Pains)

What are the problems your customers experience in those circumstances?

  • Do those lovers of hot cars struggle to find truly unique wheels that look exactly right on their vehicles?
  • Are those tech-dependent SMBs continuously struggling with mis-matched, slow systems?
  • Are those budding property investors facing a wall of indifference from mainstream lenders?

Implications

What does that problem MEAN for them? What continues if nothing changes?

  • Will those car lovers feel dissatisfied every time they see someone else with the same wheels they’ve got?
  • Will those SMBs continue to experience severe productivity problems, along with endless frustration and poor staff morale?
  • Will those property investors pay too much to a big lender? Or wait for years to get a start on their wealth-building plans?

Need & Payoff

What do they need and how will filling that need payoff in their lives?

  • Would the sports drivers enjoy “the ride of their life every day”, knowing their vehicle looks unique – and handles like a dream?
  • Would those SMBs be able to get more done with fast, reliable, integrated systems?
  • Would those property investors be able to start their portfolio earlier and earn financial freedom sooner?

How well can you tell the story of your customer’s situation, the problems they know they face and the problems outside their awareness? Can you paint a clear picture of their lives without a solution?

How well do you tell the story of why they need you and how they’ll benefit from what you do?

Does your website talk too much about YOU?

Take a good look at your copy from your customer’s perspective. Is it talking about them and their situation and their problems? Is it talking about the benefits they experience and what it means for them?

Or is it talking about your expertise and the features you offer?

Do you have a website that’s about as much use as the sandwich-board outside your office – or is it an engaging introduction that says:

  • We know who you are….
  • We know what you’re struggling with…
  • We know how you can get what you want (or need)…
  • When you work with us things will be better because…

Want to know more about SPIN?

SPIN Selling is the result 12 years of serious selling experience – so it’s about way more than this 4-step process. It’s book that’s well worth studying in detail. There’s a good summary in this Hubspot article: SPIN Selling: The Ultimate Guide.

It’s not the only tool out there – but its 4 basic steps are a nice framework for building anything from a landing page to a video script.

If SPIN doesn’t do it for you, find another tool that helps you let go of “what we do” and take the customer perspective. (Or find a copywriter who asks you about your customer’s problems, not just your solutions.)

Copy for online sales

Filed Under: Communication and Learning, Marketing Tagged With: copywriting, Customer first copy, landing page copy, SPIN selling

What can you learn about copywriting from “the tale of two billboards”?

November 30, 2018 by admin

This is a lovely marketing story on lots of levels – so it’s well worth reading the full Medium Article “Stories From the Field: A Tale of Two Billboards” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Communication and Learning, Marketing, Web copywriting Tagged With: call to action, slogan

Connect to the dream – not just the benefit

August 10, 2018 by admin

This recent Fast Company story on branding caught my eye “How better branding is pushing Kenyan teens to use contraception”   It’s a great reminder that we may sell products – but we ALWAYS sell something more. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Marketing, Web copywriting

7 questions to answer BEFORE you hire a copywriter

May 14, 2018 by admin

Copy writing can get expensive if you don’t have your marketing purpose clear.

The more time you invest in marketing clarity, the less time and money you’ll need to spend getting your copy and content fit for purpose. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Marketing, Web copywriting Tagged With: marketing, Time management, value propositions

Recent Posts

  • Why are you the right answer? November 24, 2020
  • Winning copy is all about your customer November 23, 2020
  • Speed blogging – the fun way to do content July 17, 2020
  • A quick copy hack – last to first May 5, 2019
  • Copywriting = daily learning February 1, 2019

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