Words sell. It’s as simple as that.
Whether it’s an ad, a brochure, a LinkedIn post or email, the art of wordsmithing can be used to not only help you connect with your customers and targeted prospects, but to generate more interest and more sales.
Often misunderstood, wordsmithing is not just about brochure writing and proof reading. It is the creation of marketing messages in any medium that can raise the temperature of a prospect and spur them into action.
Here are five ways to help you get better results from your writing whether it be in print or online.
1. Write For Your Clients Not At Them. Research your clients and find out why they selected your firm. What words and phrases do they use to describe your company?
Examples…
“They were the only one with Novus 500 sprayer that can do 500 impressions per minute the others can only do 250.”
“They did a lot of research about us and were able to cut our expenses by 25% no one else made the attempt.”
“We were impressed with their portfolio of work especially with companies similar to ours in size and revenue. They have an outstanding reputation as indicated by the awards they have won.”
Take these golden nuggets from your customers. Then go beyond keywords to demonstrate your value in clear, concise statements.
2. Know The Value of Your Product and State It. Does your product or service solve a particular problem? Are you communicating those details in your messaging?
Everyone has a list of product benefits. State them in a way a prospective customer will notice and find interesting.
3. Tell A Story. Good marketing begins with good storytelling. Can you drive home your message with an interesting example of how you helped a company or individual with a specific solution for their problem?
Example…
We help you save money.
Ben’s Widget Company had a high amount of overhead. They found they were spending 30 per cent more on widget making than the industry average. Ben was looking for ways to produce his widgets more efficiently and invited in a number of companies to address the problem. Our firm XYZ Manufacturing has a widget maker that can produce widgets at twice the speed of Ben’s equipment and cut man-hours and reduce costs. He was instantly impressed and gave us the P.O. for the equipment. Shortly we were able to help him reduce his costs by not only 30% but 40% and give him a great return on investment.
4. Adjust for Different Audiences.
Some of your customers may skew older, others younger. These differing customers and prospects may require differing methods of communication.
Older customers may prefer print products. These give you the opportunity to use more words and expand your message with case studies and more detail.
Customers of a younger vintage may prefer social media and online communication. This requires shorter messages. Often a visual can help get your point across.
No matter the vehicle key words and phrases should remain basically the same. The goal is to maintain consistency as your messaging successfully differentiates your firm from your competition.
5. Test for Best Results.
The right words can sway elections, reposition an entire industry (see “gaming” vs. “gambling”), and put new life into a product or service.
However some phrases work better than others. It is best to try a few versions of your newly created messages and measure the difference.
A small change, such as adjusting one word in a sentence, can often lead to big results.
