I get it, you’re looking to improve your writing for the web or writing for flyers and brochures, but you don’t want to hire a freelance copywriter. You want to do it yourself. No problem. I hope this helps.
Basically, I want to point out two key little tips that can drastically improve your business writing. One is selling benefits and not features and the other is about changing your writing from being focused on you or your business to being focused on your customers.
Sell Benefits Not Features
A feature is a description of something, while a benefit is the advantage of that feature. The benefits can vary from emotions, monetary gains, security or time savings.
BMW, for example, understands that their customers buy their car to feel valued, rewarded, cool and successful and that they praise them. The BMW buyer needs to understand what the features are; however, it is the benefits or feelings of those features that make you open your wallet. This is how he can do this for his business.
When writing copy for your business, just remember one simple thing. Always ask yourself, “Why should my clients care about this?” You can also ask questions like “How does this ultimately help my clients?” Freelance copywriters will always tell you that this is very important.
It takes a lot of hard work, however, in the end you have copy that is completely customer focused. Here is another example:
You have a dog grooming service and you are proud to be able to go to your client’s house to groom his dog; a mobile service. Mobile service is the feature. For it to become a benefit, you need to ask yourself, “Why should my customers care about this?” You may find an answer like “They save time and can relax at home.”
Make your customers the center of attention
In other words, start using the word “you” instead of “us” or “us.” Your customers will love you because your website, flyer, brochure, or newsletter will look like you’re genuinely interested in them. Be careful though. This is much more difficult to do than simply write about yourself. Here are some examples to help you.
Self centered: Kitchen Plus is a customer friendly company and we pride ourselves on fast delivery.
Focused customer: You’ll get all the advice and support you need, plus 2-hour delivery when you deal with Kitchen Plus.
Self centered: Kitchen Plus has been established since 1995 and we serve the greater Sydney area.
Focused customer: You know you’re in good hands with Kitchen Plus because we’ve been around since 1995. Plus, you’ll always get your orders delivered fast as we serve the Greater Sydney area.
I hope these two tips have helped you. Remember, keep your writing simple and always remember your customer’s needs. Put yourself in his shoes and think about his needs before yours. After all, they are the ones who will buy from you.