Businesses today need to tease maximum value out of every dollar spent but the issue is especially acute when it comes to promotion: every word people read about your business contributes to their perception of it and that can translate into dollars earned or lost in the blink of an eye.
It also means entrepreneurs today must be especially vigilant when developing their websites, brochures, newsletters and reports. Clear, strategic language is key, and while many factors contribute to great writing, it s particularly important to focus on your audience not your own business in crafting a promotional document. Here are a few tips on how to approach the job:
1. Know your audience
Start by gathering as much information about your target audience as possible age, marital status, education, occupation, income and number of children (if any). You need to know the biggest challenges and greatest joys members of your target audience face as well as any other details that could affect their need for your product or service. It may sound like a lot of work, but when you sit down to write, you need to have a precise idea of your readership in order to ensure you select words and phrases that are consistent with how they live their lives. Miss this step and you risk disconnecting with your audience before you ve even grabbed their attention.
2. Features AND benefits!
Once you have a handle on audience specifics you can also key in on how, exactly, your product or service can help prospective customers solve their problems and achieve their goals. This means going beyond listing all the great features of what you offer and explaining how, specifically, you will improve people s lives. In developing a relationship with your potential customers and clients, you want to highlight the fact that you understand what s important to them. Your written sales and web materieal is the most powerful way to show that you get it.
3. Look for contrasting ways to express yourself
Few audiences are completely homogeneous and they won t all filter experience the same way you do. For example, some people get excited about achieving goals and others love solving problems. The difference is subtle but very important.
Some people key in on the importance of the big picture and others look at details. Some people are highly procedural and others do things on the fly. We all default to what s comfortable for us but we are not our market. As you write, try to incorporate as many of these contrasting ways of accessing experience as you can in order to maximize your appeal. I usually layer these contrasting points of view into my work after I ve finished my first draft.
Keep in mind that a promotional document is not about what YOU feel is great about your product or service it s about what your audience needs, wants and cares about. Remember that you aren t just writing about your company, product or service, you are writing about how what you offer can solve your target audience s problems and meet their most pressing needs.
Writing on its own can t take the place of a solid marketing strategy. But a marketing strategy that lacks intelligent writing is not as effective as it could be and that means lost opportunity for the entrepreneur who needs to make every word count.
Author Resource:-
Susan Crossman is a career writer who promotes excellence in communication through writing with clarity. Her freelance writing services include web content, newsletters, reports, speeches and other custom documentation. For more details, please visit her website at http://www.crossmancommunications.com
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