Q&A time! How a little bit of questioning can help you improve your copywriting skills… [Tuesdays: “Write with the Pen of the Masters”]
In the book, “Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got,” author Jay Abraham said,
“The first step in navigating any journey through treacherous business waters is to exactly know what your strengths and weaknesses are… and how they relate to your competition.”
Knowing your business’ positives and negatives will help you achieve the rewards and payoffs you’re after.
As a business owner, marketer, or copywriter, it’s important that you get a handle on your brand’s performance so you can determine the areas you need to focus on to get to where you want to be.
Let’s take a look at this scenario:
If a child comes to you and says he doesn’t feel well, you respond by first asking what part of his body hurts.
When he tells you his head hurts, that’s when you start the process of thinking how to cure the ailing area.
In the same way, when you feel like your business isn’t doing well, you have to first assess what things you’re doing right or wrong in your strategy so you can direct your next steps from there.
Avoid acting on the situation without conducting an assessment because that might worsen your business’ problem!
Before you do something, ask yourself a few assessment questions first.
Note: Doing this “business health check” is not just for brand owners and marketers. As a copywriter, you may also use this strategy from time to time to help you identify your overall progress on your content and as a writer.
By answering a few queries, you’ll gain additional insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your business and even your copywriting career.
Which of my marketing or sales efforts brought in the bulk of my sales or clients?
It’s important that you keep track of your marketing efforts’ metrics to identify which among them generates the most number of sales or clients.
If that is content marketing, then you have to make sure that all the copies you publish for your brand are consistent in tone, format, layout, etc.
More importantly, your articles should offer your target market the information they need in a captivating and engaging way!
How can you do that?
By using different content marketing techniques such as storytelling, using literary devices, or applying the FAB formula―anything that can capture your readers’ attention!
Incorporating these methods in your copies will help motivate your readers to read your articles from top to bottom.
… and when you get your target market to read your content, you’re also increasing your brand’s chances of influencing these consumers’ business decisions!
Do I test the various aspects of my marketing and selling activities to make sure they’re producing the best and most profitable results?
At Valens Research, we make sure that before we publish any type of content on our website and social media pages, everything is reviewed and tested first in terms of grammar, layout, readability, and many more.
Why?
It’s because as a firm, we know the importance of conducting tests in our content!
Imagine this:
Let’s say you posted an unreviewed or untested article on your website and it turns out there are a lot of things to be fixed in terms of content and layout.
What will your readers think when they see that?
They might think you’re giving them unreliable information because your web page is unprofessional-looking.
While it’s possible to delete and repost an article on your website when anything goes wrong, doing a test beforehand eliminates such steps by making sure your copy is clean, polished, and ready for publishing.
The main takeaway?
Review and test your copies. That will make your articles look organized, professional, and compelling enough for your target market to read.
- How well-connected or how involved am I with my clients or customers in terms of copywriting?
There are a few reasons why it’s important to have positive and genuine business relationships with your target market:
One, it’s easier for consumers to choose a brand that makes them feel valued and cared for.
Two, having enough knowledge about your customers will help you write more straightforward and targeted copies.
Three, you’ll only be able to write compelling and effective content when you know who your target market is and what their pain points are.
As you establish good relationships with your business’ main customer segment, you’ll have a clearer picture of how to write your copies in a manner that piques their curiosity, captures their attention, and encourages them to keep reading and even come back for more.
Where does my target market come from specifically?
This question doesn’t simply mean knowing what place your customers are from.
This also includes knowing something about their educational backgrounds, careers, and other things that occupy most of their time.
Why is answering this query necessary?
One good reason is because this will help you better understand where your target market’s pain points are coming from and how you can use your brand’s products or services to help solve those problems.
Aside from that, knowing where your customers are from will help you learn their language, which increases your chances to communicate with them well through written words!
Think about this.
When you have sufficient information about your target market, you’ll be able to put yourself in their shoes and write your copies from their perspective.
Once your customers read your articles, they will have a positive impression about your brand because they will see and feel that you understand their problems and are committed to serving them.
That’s more plus points for your brand!
How can I completely describe what my business does?
You may describe what your business does by:
Writing about WHAT and WHY you sell. Elaborate on what your products or services are and mention the features and benefits of each of your brand’s offerings. Let your customers know why they should buy from you. That way, you’re helping them make a wise assessment about whether or not they should transact with your business.
Writing about HOW and WHERE you sell your products or services. Let your target market know how they can avail your offerings in case they’ve decided to buy from your brand. Do you only sell in-store, online, or a combination of both like the BOPUS (Buy Online, Pick-Up In-Store) system?
It’s good to include these details in your copy. Otherwise, consumers might lose interest in availing your products or services because they don’t know how to.
Writing about WHO you sell to by industry, commercial category, or specific niche. It’s a primary rule in copywriting that you make your content as specific and targeted as possible.
One of the ways to do that?
Identify the specific customer segment that your brand’s products or services are trying to address!
Doing this will not only help you get your message across through your copies but will also elicit a desirable response from your target market.
According to the book, “Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got,” including these 4Ws and 1H in your copies will make your message and call-to-action clearer to your readers.
Jay Abraham said in his book that by taking time to answer these questions, you’ve placed yourself ahead of your competitors who spend so much time working in their business but not on their business.
When you focus on your brand’s realities, strengths, and weaknesses, you also learn to better apply some income- and success-increasing principles to your business and career.
Who knows? These things might help you achieve greater success and earn more profits in a short amount of time.
Improve your copywriting skills and your business’ overall performance by answering these questions above!
You’ll see, applying these tips will guide you in writing compelling and effective copies for your brand!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Tuesdays: Write with the Pen of the Masters”
Who doesn’t find content writing to be a skill that requires a lot of practice and effort?
In fact, many people may even find copywriting very intimidating.
However, you can be a good writer as long as you have the right tools. You won’t always get things right the first time, but with enough time and practice, you’ll get the hang of it!
When you write a copy for any brand or for your company, your aim is to make an impact and…
…to get people to remember.
Getting people to remember means getting consumers to buy your product or to avail of your service.
And when you get your content to deliver the results you want, THAT is a great copy!
Every Tuesday, we publish content based on tips and insights from the masters of content writing, copywriting, and storytelling.
Become more familiar with ways to write great copy that helps you gain ROI from your efforts, drive profitability, and achieve your business goals.
Learn time-tested tactics that better capture the attention of your target audience, and maximize the benefits of great copywriting.
Hope you found this week’s insights interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s “Write with the Pen of the Masters!”
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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www.valens-research.com
