If you’re a business owner the chances are you get frustrated that your marketing doesn’t deliver results. You’ve spent thousands on a website, regular emails to customers, professional business stationery and brochures, but you’re not seeing the results you’d hope for or expect.
Don’t worry – you’re not alone. Many small and medium businesses have the same frustration. The problem isn’t that they fail to communicate; it’s that they fail to connect with customers.
Copywriting and marketing communications – what you say to your customers and the methods you use to reach them – is vital for any business. But it’s not good enough to simply communicate and provide information about your business. You need to engage and connect with your customers and potential customers. If your copywriting and marketing communications truly engages and connects you can increase your revenue and grow your business.
So how do you do it?
There are many ways you can improve the way your business connects with customers through copywriting and marketing communications and most businesses can use these methods:
Know your target customer
It may seem commonsense but if you want to connect to your customer or potential customer you should know a fair bit about them. Try to list as much detail as possible.
What are your customer’s feelings?
Once you’ve identified who your target customers are, it will make it a lot easier to think about what their major problems and challenges are. What are their pain points? In other words, what do you think may be driving them?
What are the benefits for customers in using your business?
When many businesses are developing the content for their websites, email marketing, etc. they’ll mostly focus on the features of their business. We’re accountants that provide taxation services, we’re finance brokers located in Melbourne, we’re family law specialists, etc. etc. The issue with this approach is that it means little to the customer. It’s all about you, you, you and it needs to be more about them, them, them!
The key, then, is to focus on benefits rather than features, particularly benefits that will be sought after by your target customer. Sometimes it’s difficult to know the difference between a feature and a benefit, particularly when it’s your own business, so you really need to step into the customer’s shoes.
How does your business differ from similar businesses/competitors?
List all the ways that you may be slightly different to other, similar businesses. For example, you might provide the best service, the lowest prices, free delivery, premium products, etc. List all the ways you do business that may be different to other businesses and add as much detail as possible.
Using the information
Now that you’ve listed this key information, use it in your copywriting and your marketing communications methods to connect with your customers.
Use your understanding of how customers may be feeling to build empathy, tell customers the benefits of using your business, inform them of your unique selling points. By doing this you’ll be creating a better connection with your target customer and, hopefully, increasing your profits without spending extra on marketing.
Note: If you’d like to receive a 7-page guide on how to improve your connection with customers, complete the form on the sidebar of the home page and we’ll email you a copy – for free!