We’ve all been stuck in conversations that are one-way traffic. You listen and nod as the other person talks about themselves, unable to get a word in, until eventually you realise there’s nothing in it for you, and your mind wanders off.
Unfortunately, many businesses have the same problem. They are so busy espousing their own virtues they forget bad business copy is as annoying and unfulfilling for their audience as that one-way conversation. It’s so full of ‘we’ and empty of ‘you’ that readers glaze over.
If your brand’s heritage is a key selling point, fine. If you’ve made suits in Saville Row for 200 hundreds years or come from a family of Melton Mowbray pork pie makers, it’s justifiable, and gives customers confidence. If not, you’re wasting people’s valuable time.
Good copywriting jettisons hubris to concentrate on telling customers what they need to know – what’s in it for them. It tells them why to choose you, the benefits you bring, and the advantages over your competitors.
By telling customers what’s in it for them, instead of talking about yourself, you’ll turn your message into one they’re far more likely to listen to. After all, who are you trying to please – you or your customers?
Leave a comment