Have you ever gotten some fresh campaign copy in from your copywriter/agency/freelancer, read it, and wondered why it didn’t work? It should have been perfect:
- It incorporates all your messaging
- It targets the correct audience
- It includes all the features and benefits of your offering
And yet, it sucks. Why, why, WHY?
Well, take a minute, close your office door, and read the copy. Out loud.
Do you sound like the robot from Lost in Space?
If so, you’ve found your problem: Your copy is not conversational. Your copy is not warm. Your copy is not “listenable.”
In general, people tend to tune out things that are dry and not engaging (“Bueller. . .Bueller?”). The mind sits up and takes notice however, when it identifies a more human element in what it’s reading, hearing, or seeing.
Once your customers can “hear” what they’re reading and identify with it, your days of copy that is only great on paper may just be over!
I spent part of this week at a conference for women entrepreneurs. We talked a lot about the most effective ways to reach out to customers, and regardless of industry, the most popular and effective lead-generation techniques always came down to two things: Networking and social media.
Now when you think about networking, what do you think about? Back in the day, it was a bunch of guys in suits shaking hands, chowing on steak, and slapping each other on the back—but not quite hard enough to spill the whiskey.
Today, networking is social media. In a study done back in January, LinkedIn was found to generate the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%—almost 3 times higher than both Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%).
Whoa. That’s enough to make your ice cubes rattle a little bit. So my question to you, regardless of whether you’re male or female, is:
How spiffy is YOUR company LinkedIn page?
If you page either sucks or doesn’t exist, don’t feel bad. I’m as guilty as anyone of putting my corporate LinkedIn presence on the back burner while I do my “real” work.
Because growing your business can wait. . .can’t it? Uhh. . .
If you want some quick tips on nailing the low-hanging fruit that can really make a difference in your company’s LinkedIn page, go here now.
If you want to look at the world’s grossest candy bar instead, go here.
When is the last time your brand stepped up and showed your customers something new? I mean, other than the stuff you’re trying to sell them.
Now, before you get your panties all in a twist, I do realize that as a marketer/entrepreneur/whatever, your primary objective is to make money. Gotta pay the bills (and the staff) and grow the biz, right? Right!
However, if your audience sees you giving back, helping out, and going above-and-beyond to make a difference, they’re much more likely to go the extra mile to support you with their cash. Here are some organizations, large and small, that really get it right when it comes to giving back—and their growth and revenue figures reflect it:
Giving back doesn’t involve giving up profits. In order to justify the expectation that customers are going to buy what you’re selling, they need to care about your brand, and what it stands for—not just the products or services it represents.
When was the last time you did something that pissed someone off?
I was thinking about that today, and realized that there is fine line we walk when playing provocateur with our marketing. A lot of people trade on the risky, the controversial, or the just-plain obnoxious to get an audience’s attention.
But with marketing, how often can you realistically whip out the Lenny Bruce/Sam Kinison/Sacha Baron Cohen card and actually make it work? There are people out there who will tell you that as long as you’ve “gotten their attention,” you’ve been successful. But have you?
Now don’t get me wrong: I’m all about using provocative language—in a smart way, and with humor—to get the job done. But if you’re out there going at it, knocking the offensive, risqué, or obnoxious ball outta the park with every hit, it gets old for your audience. Fast.
Not to mention how exhausting it will be for you, thinking up something “controversial” to say every time you venture out into the market. I need a nap just thinking about it.
The bottom line is, it’s more important to be smart with your marketing than anything else. And yeah, keep on giving ‘em a poke with the edgy stuff, but just do it every once in a while. Keeps your audience on their toes and interested, but stops short of becoming an eye-roller of a cliché.
Now I’m off to go procure some illegal sparklers. Happy 4th, USA!
