We are about to save you a ton of time and make you a bunch of money.
But first…
Remember ole Helen of Troy? That lady got a bunch of people killed.
Prettiest lady in the world, or so they said. And Troy took her.
Now, Troy had this delusion that its walls could not fall.
Invincible.
So the Greek King in hot pursuit of Helen just decided to send a giant sized rocking horse as a “gift” for a so-called truce.
Not so fast.
Once the horse was inside the city gates, that’s when it all got sideways…
Texas Chainsaw sideways…you know the rest.
Troy didn’t know what hit em and your sales copy could be suffering from the same thing.
Watch your back young marketer.
Just coz you know fancy words and like to type a lot doesn’t mean you’re winning customers.
There’s a few Trojan Horses to look out for so that you don’t ambush yourself…or your sales funnel.
Trojan Horse #1 – Guessing At Your Copy
When you guess at copy or “think you already know” what they need to hear…customers bounce.
High converting copy cannot happen unless you know a few customers by first and last name.
Once you get that far, you’ve got to ask them great questions.
Here’s a few that I’ve used lately in a different vertical that got me some smokin’ hot copy…
…as if the customers themselves were writing the stuff.
- What’s your deepest fear?
- What do you want more of?
- What do you want less of?
- What do you wish you were doing on a Saturday morning when you’re not supposed to be working?
- If you could know one skill, magically, what would you pick up immediately?
- What do you wish could be done for you completely?
You see what I’m doing there? I’m peeling back their scalp and crawling into the mind of the customer.
The answers they give you will simply be solid gold to draw from for your sales copy…
…using their own words is the best way to deliver your message.
Trojan Horse #2 – You Think You Make The Rules
Oh, so you know better than the customer huh? Well, unless you’re Steve Jobs…think twice.
The customer is the one with the money. They are holding the gun in this standoff. They make the rules.
Your copy doesn’t exist to elevate your product or service. Its purpose isn’t to change their deep beliefs about something.
Stop trying to change the rules with your words. Instead, help them realize that you can give them what they want.
Fact of the matter is, they may want the wrong thing…but your job isn’t to change their mind.
Your job is to give them what they want or find another customer.
Trojan Horse #3 – Writing About The Wrong Problem
Rule #1 in copywriting is to appeal to their “bleeding neck” problem. Literally imagine your customer with both hands to their neck…trying to hold it together.
Now, pretend they just bust through the doors of the emergency room and you’re the doctor.
They also have a sprained ankle.
You immediately start treating their ankle while they bleed out at the neck…
Your offer will be D.O.A.(that’s dead on arrival if you never watched Clooney on E.R. in the 90’s).
Sure, the ankle was a problem, but not THE problem.
If you want to convert customers, you have to agitate the biggest problem they are dealing with right now.
Anyhoo.
That’s all for now.
Go ye therefore and don’t screw up your copy with these subtle, yet common mistakes.
And don’t steal a foreign princess expecting that her mad husband won’t come after her…
Cause he will. With chainsaws.
I enjoyed this post so much. I’ve read so many of these things, but not quite in the way you put them. This link is definitely going in my weekly magazine. I also like the fact that you have 3 actionable items. With my attention span, I love short, to-the-point posts. Thank you.
All the best,
Leslie
Thanks Leslie! Tell me more about you. What’s your business/magazine about? Tell us more about what you’re up to:)