Copy at the Point of Customer

Copy. . . at the Point of Customer Contact

What Makes Great Copy

“People buy based on emotion, then rationalize the purchase decision with logic. ” To reach consumers on these levels, Copy reaches prospects on three determine your audience’s BFD profile: different levels: §§ Beliefs – What is their attitude Intellectual – Weakest level; solely based on logic towards your product? Emotional – Taps into emotions §§ Feelings – How do they feel about such as fear, greed, love the major issues in their lives? § Fearful? Nervous? Confident? Personal – Most powerful level; uses “you” to connect with § Desires – What do they want to consumer accomplish? What change do they want to see that your product could help them achieve?

Good copy does three things: Identifies Informs Persuades

The Copy Checklist ü Does it have short words, sentences, and paragraphs? Does it fulfill the promise you made in the headline? ü Does it align with your business’s goals? Is it easy to understand? ü Is it interesting? Is it visually stimulating? ü Is it relevant to your audience’s BFD profile? Is there a consistent voice throughout? ü Does it integrate corporate branding strategies? Is it believable? ü Is it in an active voice? Is it free of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes? ü Have you given buyers all the benefits for an easy Does it call readers to action? purchase decision?

The points of customer contact E-Mail Catalogs Flyers Websites

Persuasive Catalog Copy Three years ago, a new CEO at the women’s appeal store, Cold Water Creek, came in looking for a way to save money. After dramatically reducing the number of catalogs printed and mailed out, sales began to plummet—even Internet sales, because the catalog had been driving customers online. Coldwater Creek reverted back to sending out a large number of their catalogs, sparking a rapid turnaround. 1 1 Tim Feran, “Despite the prevalence of digital media, catalogs remain a huge part of retail business, 2012. ” 2012, The Columbus Dispatch, 05 Aug.

Persuasive Catalog Copy More than 12. 5 billion catalogs were mailed to U. S. homes in 2011 and 89. 6 million Americans bought an item from those catalogs. –The Direct Marketing Association The Two Jobs of Catalog Copy: • Interest the reader so they want to see the product in person. • Help them remember your product’s name and why they want it.

Persuasive Catalog Copy Tips for Great Catalog Copy • Use your hot spots. These include the front cover, inside cover, • Keeps sentences crisp, clear, and concise back cover, center spread, and pages adjacent to order form • Use an active tense to encourage customers to take action • Make ordering simplistic • Watch out for redundancy • Use colorful, specific description words • Make the information stand out with large headlines, subheads, and bursts

Persuasive Catalog Copy The Beauty of Crate & Barrel uses only key copy elements throughout their catalog. Instead, they rely on vibrant pictures, limiting copy to motivational introductions and selective, benefit-driven callouts.

Persuasive E-mail Copy “Communications should be personalized and not one-size-fits-all. You’ve got to determine who each person is and where do they stand out. ” – Nick Swinmurn, Zappos Founder

Persuasive E-mail Copy The Subject Line The Four U’s of Subject Lines: §Useful – Is the message valuable to the reader? §Ultra-Specific – Does the reader know what is being promised? §Unique – Is it unique and compelling? §Urgent – Do they feel as if they need to read it now? Elements of a Successful Subject Line: Action Language – Words such as “take, ” “buy, ” “listen, ” and “reserve” let readers know exactly what they can do by opening the email. Personalized – Highly segmented emails have a 39% better open rate. Think about ways to make the subject line stand out to a specific target audience. Clarity – Subject lines should be clear. Readers should see at a quick glance what the email will be about and why it relates to them. Email Copy Tip: Using ALL CAPS in a subject line can be interpreted as screaming when being read online.

Persuasive E-mail Copy Popular Subject Line Terms

Persuasive E-mail Copy Did You Know? 27% of emails were opened on a mobile device during the second half of 2011, up from 20% during the first half. The Message Should… Establish Relevancy § Personalized § Convincing § Recalls why readers are getting an email Be in Second Person § Focus on customer, not brand § “You” and “your, ” not “we” and “our” Talk about Benefits § Identify why product is worthwhile § Benefits vs. features Be Simplistic § Summarize in a compelling way § Keep copy on-point Describing the benefits of the shorts, not the features

Take Action Start making copy about Caring for Customers Engagement Education EFFECTIVE content is created by: §Research §Focusing on the story and key issues §Targeting and tailoring to audience §Involving the consumer