Copywriting

copywritingThis week I got to crack open the “copywriting” tips I’ve collected over the years. There are a lot of people out there who know a lot of cool stuff.

Anyway, I got an e-mail this week from a friend who made a flyer for her business. The flyer pretty much said “Huge Promotion” at the top and then in different colors listed a bunch of deals on her services.

I believe one said:

“The Business Platinum Plus now only $25.00 a month for the first
three months”

And then it continued to list other “deals”.  If you’re going to create a flyer like that, make sure you send it to one of these two groups ONLY:

1. those who fully understand you, your offerings and the benefits AND have already expressed an interest in buying.

2. people you’ve already spoken with who don’t care about the benefits, they’re just waiting for the great deal you told them about.

Flyers that list deals are really not sales pages, they’re more like “updates” to a previous conversations. What “deals” flyers don’t do is create a reason to care about the deal. The reader needs to already care for them to be effective. For instance, if you’re flying to Hawaii next summer and sign up for a “fare” alert e-mail, you care already, now you’re just waiting for the right price.

From a copywriting perspective, deal flyers are missing things like social proof, expertise, and simplicity. If you really do have a great “special” consider adding some copywriting elements into your flyer, like:

     “My clients asked me to make sure I told you about this great
deal we are offering new clients. They really love our
Business Platinum Plus plan and are encouraging their friends to take
advantage of this great deal”.  (That’s Social Proof in two sentences.)

We’ve been serving businesses for 23 years and are currently
serving 12,000,000 customers nationwide – while maintaining a A+
rating at the Better Business Bureau. That’s a lot of  happy
customers. (That’s expertise and authority).

We’ve never offered a deal this good and are doing so only till
October 31st. To take advantage of these offers, all it takes is
one short form, and we’ll help you fill it out. (sense of urgency
and simplicity).

Compare these deals to what you’re paying for the same service,
now!”

I’d still only send that to people who know what the Business Platinum Plus plan is, but you’ll get a much better response – than just a list of deals.

And if the group doesn’t know what the Business Platinum Plus plan is, perhaps you’re better off, becoming the expert in their eyes first – and then selling deals, later.

If you’d like to see more about “becoming the expert”, read this post about “Dog the Bounty Hunger.

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