Copy Writing to improve SEO

Copy Writing to improve SEO

By Contheosius your SEO expert

“Suppose a grocer should advertise fine, fresh codfish and his rival across the street advertised the largest, sweetest, absolutely the best codfish ever caught, with scales as large as quarters and meat whiter than snow—the finest yielded by the Atlantic Ocean.
Which grocer do you think will sell the most codfish?”
-Richard Hamilton- (Press agent of the late 1800s.- P.T Barnum often used him to write copy)

The right Words Can Bring You Riches. Because Google loves original content. Make sure what you sell is mentioned in your articles to improve your SEO.

Earlier on I taught you that you are in the marketing business and not in the business of providing products or services. Using words to achieve your aims is the single most important activity any business ever performs.

When you write classified’s, postcards and tweets your space is limited you will obviously not write a lot. But practicing your long copy will give you the foundation of writing, and you will be able to trim the fat effectively for your quick marketing media.

Before you start writing your copy you must adapt these boring but necessary policies:

General rules of copy writing and important tips.

Only ONE person will read your advertisement or letter at a time, this is the rule:
Keep it personal, speak or write to the individual. Use words the reader can understand no matter what the education level and use them in the same way you would speak to somebody. For heavens sake don’t bore the individual. Make it fun and interesting.

Long sentences are acceptable and maybe even desirable. However, in most marketing scripts, you need to remember two rules:
Shorter is better.
Variety is good.
So you’ll find that in copy writing that sentences tend to be short, but that there are enough long sentences to provide some variety.
Note, I am talking sentences here, not the length of the body copy. This can be as long as needed.
If a sentence is trying to say more than one thing, then break it up into two or more sentences.

Think of your material as a short story:
Who are you writing the story for?
What is their problem or need for self-fulfillment?
How can your product or service help or provide?
What should you say about your product or service?
How should you say it so that it will lead to a sale?
How can you create an intense desire for the target to own the product?
How can you do it in such a way that the target badly wants to buy it, and you are not trying to sell it?

Know the prospect. (If you find this difficult, try to think in terms of  the guy with the bad breath, the girl who feels insecure about her dry hair and likes to be pampered with a body massage – so don’t talk nonsense, of course you know the prospect – it is you, your wife, your grand parents, the salesman who sold you the car – address the problem or desire they want addressed)
I can write about this until the cows come home. If you don’t know the client, then you won’t be able to complete any of the other steps. Period, end of story, no need to deliberate any further. Cheers.

The more you know about (the needs and desires of) and your client, the better off you’ll be.

Know your product or service
Dismantle the product and study it with tweezers and a microscope. Understand it inside out. Why was the product or service first introduced? How many happy customers are using it? How much does it cost? Where is it produced? How is it made? How does it compare to the competition? What do people think of this product or service? What was it originally designed for? How do they perceive the price?
When composing your ad, begin by listing all your product features in one column, then opposite, list the corresponding product benefits.
People buy for emotional reasons and justify their purchases with logic.

Speak to their problem or circumstance
You have to address the problem or situation experienced by the prospect.
Go through your benefits and see which ones fit with the consumer needs discussed above and concentrate your message around solving those problems with your product benefits!
Then add a little logical reinforcement.
Most people buy for emotional rewards and then look for logical reasons to justify their purchase.

After dramatizing the emotional rewards of your product or service, include a little bit of logical reinforcement.
It helps your prospects act on their impulse to buy. For example:

Offer a special reduced price-if they buy NOW.
-(Logic:”Clever decision. I saved money.”)
Include a brief testimonial from other customers.
-(Logic:”Safe decision. Others liked it.”)
Mention a few facts supporting the value of your product.
-(Logic:”Smart decision. It’s the best money can buy.”)

Tell them how you will solve their problem or improve their circumstance, using proof.
Anyone who is still reading is fairly qualified as a good possible prospect.
Now, before you waste any more of their time, tell them how you can help them with their problem or desire.

Provide proof by:
Providing customer testimonials.
Giving them real-life examples of your product or service in action.
Draw parallels, metaphors, analogies, or otherwise tell a story about your product/service.
Proof is the substance of your argument. If you can think of your headline as the big promise of your product or service, providing proof is in effect saying how you will fulfill the promise.

Without proof, your offer will lack credibility. However, proof isn’t enough to make the sale.

Why you are different (Your U.S.P).
So you have to tell them how you’re different from everyone else providing the same product or service. Maybe you use only the freshest, purest mountain water. Or maybe you offer a loan while repairing. Pick just one thing that makes the offer stand out, and really be bold about telling the customer about it. Don’t provide too many things that makes the offer different, because no one will believe you. One thing is easy to remember, and you want them to remember you when they need to buy what you sell.

Get them to act now.
Don’t forget to tell them what to do. Do they pick up the phone and call? Come down to the store? Visit a web page? Return a coupon? Write in for a special report? Fax you an order sheet?

What is the incentive for their immediate action? Are prices going up in a week? Do you only have a few items in stock? Are you clearing out the store to make space for summer stock?

Write with energy, be enthusiastic, people will pick up on the energy in the ads, they will respond based on what they feel from the ad.

Contrast: This is a handy tactic for showing more than one side of a story. You can use words like these to signal your readers:
But
However
Notwithstanding
In contrast
On the other hand
Despite
Although
Still

For example:
In contrast to Jane who was on the plump side, Mary was built like a Greek goddess .

Drill down into more detail: Most people are geared to go from general to specific when it comes to learning new things, so take advantage of this situation. Structure your writing such that you lead them deeper and deeper into your piece:
Furthermore
Also
Besides
Even
Further
Still more
Too

How long should your copy be?
“Your copy needs to be as long as is needed to make the sale, and not one paragraph more.”
-Paul Myers-

“There’s no such thing as copy that’s ‘too long’ but copy that’s ‘too boring’.”
-Gary Halbert-

“The truth about long copy is that, first of all, there’s abundant, legitimate, statistical, split-testing research to indicate that virtually without exception, long copy outperforms short copy. Some significant research has been done that indicates that readership falls off dramatically at
300 words but does not again drop off until 3,000 words.”
-Dan Kennedy-

In other words, if the copy seems too long, it’s probably not because of the length, but rather, because at some point it started to bore you.

“The person who says ‘I would never read all that copy’ makes the mistake of thinking they are the customer. And they’re not. We are never our own customers. When your message is matched to a target market that has a high level of interest in it, not only does responsiveness go up but readership goes up, too. The whole issue of interest goes up.

The conclusion you can draw from that is this: Those who are not interested in your product will not even read 20 words. Those who are, will want to know as much as possible.

It can be long. In fact it can be very long. You will not read something if you are not interested in the subject. But if you are, you will want to know as much as possible about the subject or product you want to buy.

Don’t be long-winded, and don’t add copy just for the sake of making it long. Keep your eyes on the end result. Sales. Tell your story and provide as much information as is needed to make the sale.

And not one word more.

Lessons from history.
Bruce Barton was a celebrity in the 1920s. He was a bestselling author, confidant to presidents, master copywriter, philanthropist, congressman, and co-founder of the largest advertising agency in the world, BBDO.

Barton’s expertise for writing ads:

1. “first, that a man is interested in himself; second, that he is interested in other people. Our formula for “Every Week” (a magazine) was Youth, Love, Success, Money, and Health, all things in which people are vitally interested.”

2.When he edited magazines, he used provocative titles to stir up controversy and interest. Examples included, “Why I never hire any woman under 30,” “How my wife has hindered me in business,” and the other side of the question, “How my wife has helped me in business.” These interesting headlines guaranteed readership.

3. The visualization.
Barton did not expand on this. But I think he was referring to the layout of any advertisement. He said, “A picture is worth two pages of type, and a headline is worth almost all the rest of the ad put together.” For Barton, the illustration, headline, and body copy made up the layout, or visualization, of any sales piece. Remember you are a small businessmen – you normally don’t have the money to waste on the space a picture will take up. (Unless of course you sell a product “As seen on TV”)

4. Writing the copy.
“The introduction can be eliminated almost always. The mind starts cold when you begin to write, and you don’t get into high gear until the second or third paragraph. Cut out the introduction, and then you have a good hot start.

5. Adjectives.
“After you finish a piece of copy, go back and cut out all the adjectives. Henry Ward Beecher’s father was once chairman of a committee to draw up resolutions on slavery. One sentence in his resolution read: ‘It is an outrage.’ Some one suggested that it should read: ‘It is a terrible outrage.’ Beecher said that was the way he had it in his first draft, but he had cut out the word ‘terrible’ for the sake of emphasis.

“Adjectives are like the leaves on a switch. They make the switch look pretty, but if you want to hit a blow that will cut, you take off the leaves. Literature that cuts has very few adjectives. The greatest things in life are expressed in one-syllable words; love, hate, fear, home, wife, child.”

6. A purpose.
“We should never write an ad without the idea that something is going to happen. What do we want the reader to do? Write with the conviction that he is going to do something when he gets through reading—go to the store and buy; clip the coupon and mail it. And remember the power of the direct command. Don’t say, ‘If you would like this beautiful booklet, we will be glad to send it.’ Say, ‘Sit down right now and fill in this coupon.’ People want things made easy; they want you to make up their minds for them.”
There is the language of pictures or how things appear, how we see or view them in our mind as well as out there in the real world.

Second, there is the language of sounds or what we say to ourselves and what we hear on the inside.

And third there is the language of feelings, like when something wonderful grabs hold of us and makes us feel warm and special inside.

But not just the little benefits – the big picture benefits.

Chances are, there’s a dramatic story in your product, and how it benefits people. But you may be too close to it to see it clearly. Or perhaps you take it for granted.  But if you could take a step back – you might be able to see it with a different perspective.

Look at your product from a distance?
Look at the big picture.
What are you really selling? Is it software, or a better, faster way to do your job? Is it life insurance, or is it perfect peace of mind? Always keep in mind the old marketing example that when people buy a drill, they don’t need a drill. They need a hole. They would like to make the hole in style though. Explain to them how easy and precise they are going to make the hole.

Keep asking “And that means?.”
You need to get to the ultimate benefit, which is almost always the most important. For example, if you’re selling toothpaste, the obvious benefit is clean, fresh breath. But is that the ultimate benefit? Do people want clean, fresh breath simply for it’s own sake?
Maybe, but here the ultimate benefit is healthy teeth and gums for many years. It also promotes self confidence not having to walk around with stained rotten teeth.

Eliminate the benefit.
A great way to get to the ultimate benefit might be to pretend your product doesn’t exist. What would people have to do instead?

Use emotional appeal.
People buy for emotional reasons and justify with logic.

Demolish the five basic objections prospect might have within your copy:
I don’t have enough time.
I don’t have enough money.
It won’t work for me.
I don’t believe you.
I don’t need it.

Activate your writing.
Whenever you write the words “is,” “was,” “are,” or “to be,” train yourself to stop and change them to something more active. “The meeting is tonight” sounds dead; “The meeting starts at 7 PM sharp tonight” feels clear, direct and alive. “Pieter Goosen is the finest promoter in the
country” doesn’t convey the excitement that “Pieter Goosen creates corporate events that you will remember for many years” does.

Tell them something they don’t know.
Fascinate your readers. The more you tell, the more you sell. Long copy usually works better than short copy, as long as the copy holds interest. After all, people read whole books. They will read your copy IF it interests them.

Tell them why.
Max Sackheim, famous for the long-running ad “Do You Make These Mistakes In English” and originator of the book-of-the-month concept, says this: “Whenever you make a claim or special offer in your advertising, come up with an honest reason why, and then state it sincerely. You’ll sell many more products this way.” Dr Cialdini found in research that the word “because” is extremely powerful when used to persuade. Strange thing is that one can actually use the word “because” just like a child – without further expanding after the “because”. People like to know “why” – so tell them.

Seduce the prospect to continue reading.
Keep your reader reading any way you can. Questions, unfinished sentences, involving statements, sub-heads, bullet points, quizzes, all work. These techniques also handle the skimmers who just glance at your copy, as well as the word-for-word readers.

Call a spade a spade.
Be specific. Whenever you write something vague, such as “they say,” or “later on,” or “many,” stop and rewrite those phrases into something concrete, such as: “Neil Goosen said…”, or “Saturday at noon” or “Seven people agreed.” Don’t say cat when you can say Siamese.

Testimonials.
Get as many testimonials as you can. The more specific, the more convincing. In short, deliver proof that your claim is for real.

Remove the risk!
Give a guarantee. Less than 2% of your customers will ever ask for their money back, so offering a guarantee is a safe risk.

Ask for the order
Sales copy should SELL. At the end of the message remind them to order now “if you snooze you loose” – make it easy for them to order.

Use words that stir a bit of magic.
Announcing, astonishing, exciting, exclusive, fantastic, fascinating, first, free, guaranteed, incredible, initial, improved, love, limited offer, powerful, phenomenal, revealing, revolutionary, special, successful, super, time-sensitive, unique, urgent, wonderful, you, breakthrough,
introducing, new, and how-to.

The psychological impact of the words and phrases you use.
And consider the connotations of the words you use: “workshop” sounds like work while “seminar” sounds like fun. “Read” sounds hard while “look over” sounds easy. “Write” sounds difficult while “jot down” sounds easy.

Emotional Words.
Words are not messages in themselves. They have different meanings to each of us. While many words can be used to communicate a single message, the words you choose can dramatically alter its emotional impact. In copy writing, the meaning behind the word is more important than the message:

“Cost” versus “investment;”
“Beautiful teeth” versus “beautiful smiles;”
“Skinny” versus “slim” or “slender;”
“Products” or “services” versus “solutions;”
“Cost-effective” versus “return on investment;”
And “house” versus “home.”

Positive Words.
Avoid using negative words. Say what it is, not what it isn’t. Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of the bestseller “Psycho-Cybernetics,” states that the brain is a goal-seeking organ – it needs a goal in order to function. For example, if I told you *not* to think of a yellow balloon, you will have hard time since your brain needs a goal – it will naturally picture what it is supposed to avoid because the mind can not function when blank.

Instead of saying “inexpensive,” say “economical;”
Instead of saying “this procedure is painless” or “pain-free,” say “there’s no discomfort with this procedure” or “it’s quite comfortable;”
And instead of saying “this software is error-free,” “bug-free” or “foolproof,” say “this software is very stable.”

Get pumped up!
Show your excitement for your product. If you aren’t pumped up about it, why not? Enthusiasm sells.

Rewrite and test ruthlessly.
Test. Test. Test. A change of one word can increase response 250%. Sackheim tested his famous ad at least six times before he found the headline and format that worked. Most copy isn’t written in one day. You have to write, rewrite, edit, rewrite, test, and test again. Keep asking yourself, Would I buy this product? and Have I said everything to make the sale?

Instantaneous satisfaction!
Make it possible for the buyer to be able to order immediately – supply a Telephone number or a link on your web space from where they can order.

Sincerity sells.
Don’t offer fluff, mislead, or lie to your prospects. Tell them the truth.  While rarely done, it actually helps sales to admit a weakness or a fault. Remember the ad, These neckties aren’t very pretty, but they’re a steal at a nickel each! Tell the truth in a fascinating way.

Get them to take action.
Use Words that Speed a Sale. When composing ads for publications, or writing a sales letter, make sure that you ask for an immediate order – and tell your customers or clients precisely how to order. And, for a prompt response, choose words that suggest urgency.

Here are some words and phrases that will give you an urgent tone:
Only a limited quantity available
Priority
First come, first served
Last chance!
This special only until 30 December.

And to summarise again.
Write the headline (the most important part);
Add qualifiers (e.g., sur headlines and sub headlines);
Create the opening or introductory paragraph;
List the features, advantages and benefits
Expand on key items for the main body;
Integrate headers at every two or three paragraphs;
Incorporate story blocks (i.e., highlighted stories, remarks or sidenote’s, which all aim to give the reader a break and at the same time reinforce key benefits, reasons, urgencies, etc);
Create the offer and boost its value (such as by adding bonuses, premiums, discounts, options, packaging, comparisons, etc);
Build credibility and believability (such as by adding background information, testimonials, proofs, factoid’s, guarantees, etc);
Close with a call-to-action statement;
And plug some “PS’s” at the end to restate the benefits of the offer, emphasize the sense of urgency or add a bonus not yet offered.

and remember…
Cheapness is never a strong appeal or motivater to buy. People like to be able to afford the best. If you let them feel that they are cheap they will resent you.

A headline of an advertisement is far more important than any picture. Space is very expensive so rather spend a LOT of time getting the ideal headline than wasting money on a picture.

People don’t like to be sold, they like to buy.

People want it to be their idea when they buy.

Differentiate your product and service. Even if you spend a month or more to find your unique difference you must have this to stand apart from your competition. If your competition markets as well, then you are at war (less the blood and guts – in the illegal drug trade the war is for real though) and you need to make yourself different. Al Ries and Jack Trout says it bluntly in their latest book – “Differentiate or die”

Test your copy:
Does it have a good feel?
Do you want to buy?
Are you seduced or repelled?
Read it out loud. Does it flow and convince?
Read the copy out loud. Why? if you verbally trip, then you need to edit or rewrite that section of the story.

Layout of your copy.
Graphics, fonts, and layouts don’t sell, but they can help bring attention to your sales message. If you create a display add, you do not need to fill every bit of space with words. Leave some white space – the add must also look pleasing to the eye.

You MUST have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Your (USP) Unique Selling Proposition is of the utmost importance!

Why you need a Unique Selling Proposition badly.
What we learn from Jay Abraham the renowned business expert in regards the U.S.P should not be taken lightly:
Most small business owners don’t have a U.S.P, they tend to blindly copy what is happening in the marketplace. There’s nothing unique; there’s nothing distinct. They promise no great value, benefit, or service – just “buy from us” for no justifiable, rational reason. And mostly they do it by trying to offer a better price.

Are you eager to buy from a firm that’s just “there,” with no unique benefit, no incredible prices or selection, no service or guarantee? Or would you prefer to deal with a firm that really makes you feel special and know what they talk about when it gets to their products and services?

If there’s no difference between you and the next guy except price, you can’t win. Why would you want to play the game of minimum profits?

It’s no surprise then that most businesses, lacking a U.S.P, merely get by. Their failure rate is high, their owners are bored, and they get only a small slice of the cake. Other than a possible convenient location, why should they get more business if they fail to offer any appealing promise, different feature or special service?

In today’s business world you must be different to attract the bigger share of pie. To quickly find out who and where you are in the minds of your clients look at your advertisement in the yellow pages, or the last advertisement you placed (if any). Does it say “me too” just like the rest? Ten to one it does.

Here are some real-world examples of U.S.P’s that made fortunes for the businesses that created them.

Coke – “The Real Thing.”
Avis – “We try harder.”
L’Oreal – “The most expensive hair colour in the world.”
Kellogg’s Raisin Bran – “Two scoops of raisins in every box.”
Standard Bank – “Simpler, Better, Faster” (Do you think they live up to this U.S.P?).
“M&Ms melt in your mouth, not in your hand.”

Your U.S.P is your company or product slogan – it is what you and your staff should live by, it is the pivot that your company, advertising and marketing revolves around. If you cannot find a USP for your company, find one for the product or service you concentrate on.

The U.S.P must be an advantage the customer really cares about. Not one that, although a difference, is trivial. You must differentiate your company or product to survive!

I hope it is not just a “better” price.

For your bakery it could be something like ‘King Louis Bakery, Home of the 12 Inch Monster Koeksister”

The U.S.P is a slogan or thought that will distinctly set you and your business favourably apart from every other competitor. It is something that your target market should remember when they need a product or service of the kind you offer.

Creating your U.S.P requires some serious thinking and brain-storming. Many people don’t like to think, but I think you should take the trouble and work on it until you get it right. The idea behind this is that when you solve your particular U.S.P, you will attract clients from what you perceive as your competition. That’s why it’s so important to spend time thinking about it. Testing it. And re-working it until it conveys what you want.

The U.S.P is exactly what it purports to be. It’s a concise statement of what you uniquely offer your customer. What is it that differentiates you? What is it that distinguishes you from your competitors? What is it that your customer gets that he or she doesn’t get anywhere else?

When you have your ideal U.S.P then you are unique, and by definition, you have no competition! That’s when you enter the realm of naming your own price.

Creating your U.S.P.
State your difference in terms of benefits to the prospect. Your uniqueness can be anything.

When you’re thinking about your own U.S.P, be creative. It can be location, 24 hour availability, better ingredients, better processes or faster delivery. Keep this in mind. If your U.S.P has emotional appeal and people can remember it easy then it will attract the target market you have in mind.

Think like a detective investigating a crime. Start with the known to uncover the unknown. This is what you are after, the unknown difference your competition does not know about.

Here is how to create it:
Write a paragraph of your new U.S.P. If one paragraph is not enough fill the page if you must. Once you have laid down the broad terms of your U.S.P start editing.  Cut out the general statements, and focus only on the clearest, most specific promise you could possibly hold out. Then, rework and edit away the excess verbs or unclear statements until you have a clearly defined, clearly apparent Unique Selling Proposition that a customer can immediately remember and act upon.

Use your U.S.P in every marketing aspect of your business, such as your logo, business cards, direct mail and display advertisements. Get your whole staff and all the partners involved in this. Bring in the cleaning lady and ask questions. Get everyone involved. This is serious for the future of your marketing plans. You MUST create a U.S.P, come hell or high water.

These questions and ideas will help you to find your U.S.P.

Identify the primary hurt, frustration, problem, or threat, of your current market that you can solve. Once you know who you are, who you benefit, and how you can tell a convincing story to the right market then you have the basics of your U.S.P.

  • What do you want to be identified with in your company?
  • How do you want to leave your mark on society?
  • What do you want to be famous for?
  • Exactly who is your target market,
  • What are the most important benefits your customer really wants when he/she purchases your product or service?
  • What is the single biggest benefit the customer gets from your product?
  • What is your greatest marketplace strength?
  • What would your customers say is your greatest strength?
  • What is the main complaint of customers in your industry?
  • Where is it your competitors fear to tread? How can you exploit that for a competitive advantage?

What if you find no real difference between your products and your competitors’? Tell consumers something about your products that’s never been said before. This is a particularly effective way to create a U.S.P.

Develop a new claim, even if that claim is true for your competitors’ goods or services. The first one to make the claim will be the first to reap its benefits, because consumers will remember whoever was first to bring them news.

It can refer to who you are, what you do, how you do it, where you do it, or for whom you do it. All of these areas are potential U.S.P material.

For example, if you run a computer repair shop, don’t write that your technicians inspect every computer thoroughly before returning the machine to your customer. Write: “Our team of 11 technicians are all Microsoft certified and have at least five years’ experience doing what they do. On average, each technician has inspected 50-60 computers each week per year, so they have seen at least 12,000 computers in their experience; they’re bound to have seen a situation similar to yours. There are 12 steps to our inspection process and we use a checklist to ensure accuracy, which we then give to you when the job is done.”

Is this a U.S.P? Not yet, but it’s close. Now, imagine that your competitors in the computer repair business are all slashing prices by 10% to 15% during the same month. Their ads are in all the newspapers and on television. How do you compete? You counterattack with your U.S.P. It might read something like this: “Your computer won’t leave our workshop until it passes 12 quality checks, done by our certified technicians, all with at least five years and 12,432 computers worth of experience.”

Get the picture? Your U.S.P is right under your nose. All you have to do is take the time to look around your business and find it.

  • Traits about your product or service that you can examine to create a winning U.S.P.
  • Price – Do you offer the lowest/highest price in your industry? (why?)
  • Value – Compared to your competitors’, is your product or service worth more? Does it save customers more time or money? If not, can you package or bundle several products or services together to create high value?
  • Design – Does your product or service look better, or different?
  • Convenience – Is it easier to buy from you than your competitors? Are you open for business 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?
  • Service – Will you come out to fix or repair products at no charge?
  • Performance – Can customers expect better, faster, cheaper performance using your product or service?
  • Reliability – Does your product perform 99% of the time? 100%? Will it last for 10 years,  25 years? Does it need little or no maintenance?
  • Technology – Is your product or service more advanced than your competitors’?
  • Experience – Do you have more years of experience than your competitors? More importantly, what does this mean for your target market?

The point is to focus on the one area, or need that is currently lacking in the market place, provided you can keep the promise you make.

If you decide your U.S.P is that your company offers the broadest selection of products or services “instantly available” or “always in stock,” but in reality you only stock a small range and you order on demand, then you’re falling down on the promise of your U.S.P, and your marketing will probably fail. It is critical to always fulfill the “big promise” of your U.S.P

If you don’t honestly believe you can deliver on your U.S.P, pick another one to build your business on. Just be sure it’s unique, different and that you can fulfill it.

Remember, the U.S.P is the center around which you will build your success, fame, and wealth, so you’d better be able to state it clearly. If you can’t state it, your prospective clients won’t see it. Whenever a customer needs the type of product or service you sell, your U.S.P should bring your company immediately to mind.

Clearly conveying the U.S.P through both your marketing and your business performance will make your business great and success inevitable. But you must reduce your U.S.P to its bare essence. Cut it to the bone.

Once you have your U.S.P the battle is not over.
Integrating your U.S.P into your display advertisements is not enough. You must integrate it into every form of your marketing. When your salespeople call on prospects, everything they say should clearly reinforce your U.S.P They should explain the U.S.P to the customer in a clear, concise message. Even when talking to the client.

When you adopt a powerful, new, and appealing U.S.P, it gives new life, new excitement, new interest and new appeal to the marketing plan. You are suddenly different, instead of just being another company you are now on the customer’s side, and not just in it for the money.

However, remember this proverb: You cannot appeal to all of the people all of the time. In fact, certain U.S.P’s are designed to appeal to only one segment of a vast market. There is a huge difference between those who buy quality and the bargain seekers, and you probably can’t reach them both. Which do you want to stake out as your market niche? – I find that the bargain hunters and ultra price pushers are most of the time the clients who also brings you your biggest head aches.

I repeat. Don’t adopt a U.S.P that you cannot deliver. Study the market potential of various U.S.P positions in terms of volume, profits and repeat business.

For example, the highest marketing area may be in the exclusive, expensive U.S.P, but the biggest money may be made in the discount-market U.S.P There’s a place for both, but if you try to do both, you will probably not succeed. Remember too, that your U.S.P is giving advice, assistance and superior service; it can’t stop with mere sales talk. It must become total company policy. If someone calls in with a question, the people answering the call must be able to answer every question that’s put to them. The same goes for every person who deals with that customer on the floor, from the cashier and the delivery person to the service or repair people. You and your employees must live, breathe, and act your U.S.P at all times.

Teach your staff to use the U.S.P
It will be extremely good practice to write a outline of your U.S.P for your staff, how you’re trying to carry it out, and how everyone can project that U.S.P to the world. Make their cooperation a condition of employment. The entire company must adhere to the U.S.P

Talk to your staff, write scripts, hold contests, and reward people who distinguish themselves in promoting your U.S.P Set an example so that your staff can see the U.S.P in action.

Follow up after sales.
Always follow-up (incorporating the essence of your U.S.P) after a sale, even when it is a regular customer. You enhance the customer’s loyalty and value to your business by following up after the sale. A follow-up call, letter or postcard drastically reduces or eliminates cancellations, returns, refunds, complaints, adjustments and disputes. The follow-up call reassures customers of their good sense to purchase from you.

Good marketing requires that you give customers good reasons for their emotional buying decision. There is a formula for success, and the U.S.P, is a vital part of that formula.

Depending on the business, you should offer frequent special promotions to your customers by mail, telephone or in person. Everyone wants to feel appreciated. By offering your customers genuine, specially priced deals or first choice, you make yourself special to them. At the same time, you enhance your customers’ perception of your Unique Selling Proposition.

If your U.S.P is service, Then give them extended service at a better price.

Never underestimate the profit you can make on special offers. Acquiring new customers usually costs a small fortune. This way you make profit without taking out money to get new customers.

But once you deliver your product or service in a satisfactory manner to your customer base, you can continuously rework and resell at a very modest cost per sale. When you have a list of customers who have already shown their willingness to spend money on your products or services, it costs very little to go to them with additional products and services.

Your real wealth comes from repeat business which will only happen if every aspect of your business is an extension of your U.S.P

You can send a personal thank-you note, or a letter to customers. Don’t under estimate the value of holidays. Christmas card, birthday cards. Valentines day and the list of marketing opportunities goes on forever.

Above all, never, ever forget the fact that U.S.P is all about the client. It is not about you or the company.  The U.S.P is not about bragging or exaggeration.

So what do you do if you are in the “once off” business like selling Garage Doors, Swimming Pools etc?
Take heart, even if you are really reliant on new sales and new clients most of the time there is hope for you once you’ve created your U.S.P. You will even generate regular business from builders and developers, as well as getting most of  the new business out there in your target market. A U.S.P (if true of course) can read something like this:

“In the 16,577 pools we built last year, there was never a leak” or “We supply 64% of all garage doors in Centurion”.

YOUR USP IN SUMMARY:

  • Your USP should be a promise to customers, NOT just being a statement. “Promise” emphasizes the action and commitment behind a USP.

  • Integrate your USP into various aspects of your business, including marketing, sales, and customer service.

Devox created a complete and free copy writing course for you to succeed in your online venture.

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