Are your customers hearing what they want/need to hear?

Business owners often overlook key components to effectively selling products and services to customers. Rather than just telling customers what your business has to offer, you should consider letting them know how your product or service will help improve their lives. Its important not to assume customers will automatically correlate your product with a solution. When creating your marketing materials consider the customer first. Customers need to know how your products or services will help them and its up to you to give them this information.

Ask questions, get answers, and get started.

Asking questions is the key to figuring out where you need to go with the content of your marketing materials. Before I begin to write any marketing and promotional copy I run through an exercise I call POWER POINTS. Power Points are vital to creating successful copy because

What you say is just as important as how you say it. Even more important, your words must speak directly to your customers in a way that makes them respond.

Think of a marketing or promotional piece you want to create for your product or service (or a clients product or service) and answer each question with your business goal in mind before you start writing.

POWER POINTS to ponder before starting any copywriting project.

1) Who are we talking to?

2) What is the main point?

3) What motivates your audience/customers about this business, product or service?

4) What makes this business, product, or service unique?

5) What do you do better than the competition?

6) Whats your niche?

7) What do you hope to accomplish with this promotional marketing piece?

8) What do you want the finished product to look like (postcard, brochure,

catalog, direct mail, letter, print ad, etc.)? How will you use it? Who will

receive (see) it and how or where?

9) Do you have a positioning statement, slogan or tagline for your company

promotional materials? If not, have you considered creating one?

This exercise will help you start thinking from a perspective that will get results. Youll examine

What you want the promotional copy to do

Who you want to talk to

How you need to say what you need to say to get results

Remember, think of the customer first. It might help to think from the consumer perspective yourself.

What do you expect as a customer? What makes you more likely to buy a product or service?

From here you have a solid starting point to create your message. Examining the POWER POINTS will help you create more effective marketing materials and youll also need to take it a step further to explore your features and benefits.