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Five Ways to Improve Your Marketing Material with Fewer Words
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Author: Jeremy Cohen
Topic: Copywriting
Viewed: 55 time(s)
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You can sell more by writing less.
If you are like many small business owners you may unwittingly
suffer from ?too many words? syndrome. It occurs when your
marketing material features extra words that don?t contribute to
creating new business.
When your marketing material is too wordy you blur the clarity
of your marketing message. The less clearly your prospects
understand how you can help them the less likely they are to buy
from you. You want your marketing message to come through
without interference.
Too many words syndrome can rear its ugly head in just about any
copy. It?s been known to lurk in web sites, brochures, direct
mail and newspaper ads, to name just a few places it?s been
found.
There is no reason to fear, however. The causes of too many
words syndrome can be isolated and removed to improve your
marketing material.
Should you choose to inspect and upgrade your copy you will need
to know what to look for and what to do. Here are some tips to
help you spot and eliminate bloated copy.
In a nutshell, what you need to do is remove unnecessary words.
The first step is identifying them. Look for the words that
don?t contribute to one of the following goals:
Attracting Attention
Clients know what they want and are attracted to words that
describe their needs. When they read words that describe
something that concerns them they recognize something familiar
and take notice. Your ads will be noticed more often by focusing
your copy around words that that describe your clients? needs.
Describing Results
Clients buy results. They do not care about the fancy process
you use or that you are the leader in your industry. What they
care about is that you can provide what they need. You can sell
more when your copy clearly describes the results and benefits
you provide.
Conveying Value
Clients seek value. Your copy must help your prospects perceive
that they will get more for their money if the buy from you. You
can demonstrate value by offering something none of your
competitors offer or by doing something more efficiently. You
can also create value by giving away something useful in return
for your clients? business.
Creating Urgency
Clients buy when they perceive their need for your product or
service as being at least somewhat urgent. The urgency you seek
for your prospects can stem naturally from their current
circumstance or artificially from copy you create. If you?ve
done your job conveying value you have a better chance of
successfully prodding your prospects to buy sooner rather than
later.
One way to create urgency with words is to limit the
availability of your offer. Just be sure to truly limit the
availability of the offer you make. If you don?t, you risk
losing credibility.
Requiring Action
Before your clients buy from you they must be told what to do.
It?s unfortunate, but true. An excited prospect may choose not
to pursue a sale simply because he or she wasn?t clearly
instructed to do so. Be sure your copy includes explicit
instructions that are simple and to the point.
As you spot words in your marketing material that don?t
contribute to one of the five goals listed above delete them.
You will most likely have to do a small editing job to get your
remaining words to sound just right. The work is worth it.
While you scan your copy ask yourself questions like:
Does this word, phrase or sentence contribute to accomplishing
one of the five copy writing goals?
Would this sentence or phrase lose its meaning or be more clear
if I remove this particular word or phrase.
Are any of these word or phrases redundant in meaning?
When you?re done editing your copy it should be shorter than
what it was when you started. It should also be easier to read
and more crisply convey your marketing message.
What is your marketing message?
Copyright 2005, Better Marketing Results and Jeremy Cohen
About the author:
Jeremy Cohen, helps small business owners and professional
service providers improve response to their marketing, increase
sales and be more successful with his coaching service and
marketing guides. Download his FREE Business Building Marketing
Guide Collection: http://www.bettermarketingresults.com/
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