Strapline

Copy - Content - Marketing Communications Planning

Thursday 29 January 2015

What's in it for me?

This is one of the key questions that rattles round the heads of those who engage with your business or organisation.

Not just for the first time but every time.

And how individuals answer the question is important, because in many cases their not thinking of the benefit to the business or organisation they work in - they are thinking of protecting their position, status, existing suppliers, friendships, etc.

In many cases the biggest problem is how we protect the status quo

There's an old adage - "nobody got fired for hiring IBM".

If they did a great or crap job it was fine because they were perceived as the best of the best.

So when your're putting a set of messages together to position your business, organisation or even an idea, you need to consider the weird way we are wired.

Copywriting services are not well understood outside of large organisations and creative agencies. Prospects and existing clients get very protective of what they have approved and paid for in the past. Everyday I see appalling full page ads in local and national publications. I recognise that I could easily improve them. I could make them work harder and produce significantly better results.

But if I contacted the perpetrator of the ad and told them it was poor - it would be a short conversation, because there was nothing in it for them but humiliation. Even though the next ad would be so much better.

As a starting point, take your latest brochure or ad or landing page and ask yourself - Whats in it for them? What is the standout benefit?

Sometimes it's best to focus on them and not on what you are promoting.

The headline on the Simply Great Copy site is "Thanks for popping by - how can I help you today? Since I changed to this headline the time spent on the site has increased, with more page views and interestingly significantly more returns.

There must be something in it for them!


Image courtesy of scottchan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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