By Merrill Clark:
As a business owner or manager, I’m sure you know just how important it is to WOW your clients with excellent customer service.
Learn from my shockingly good (and bad) customer service from companies I would never have expected it from…
Customer service is what separates the men from the boys.
It’s often the difference between keeping a valuable customer happy…or handing Continue reading
I’m sure you’ve seen websites and ads that include inflated or unsubstantiated claims about their products, services, and companies.
For example:
“We’re the leading parts distributor in Southern New Hampshire” or “Rockingham County’s #1 Auto Dealer”
They’re just empty fluff words written to fill up space…
And because you see them so often, you may even be immune to them.
It seems like every business inflates their claims of being the best – but should they?
I don’t think so. Who cares or believes claims that just aren’t true. Heck – they don’t even sound real.
What you, as a business professional, need in your marketing materials is tp provide proof that differentiates you from your competition’s claims. In other words, actual, valid proof about the claims you make.
• Third party endorsements
• Valid statistics
• Success stories
• Before & after comparisons
Start using these in your sales copy today and deliver the proof your prospects want to see.
Let me know your comments!
If you want my help in writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with,
e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
If you’re a New Hampshire business or sales professional, you may be making a fatal mistake while delivering your sales message to prospects.
You see, when you delivering a sales message that sounds like sales pitch — or if you sound or act like a salesperson — your message is doomed.
Think about it…do you know anyone who wants to listen to a sales pitch?
Deliver a compelling message
Fortunately, you can easily fix this. All you have to do is change your message so you’re delivering an educational message instead of a salesy one.
Just educate your prospect about his problems and the solutions you can provide.
Offering free, relevant information that helps your prospect’s ability to solve their problem or how to get more help goes a long ways in establishing trust and credibility.
Let me know your comments!
If you want my help in writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
But sadly, it doesn’t get used near enough. And the result – weak, wimpy copy that gets poor response.
And nobody wants lousy results…
So what can you do to get more successful ads and sales copy?
You use emotion as the key to unlock the door to advertising success.
It’s been shown over and over that people make purchases based on emotional reasoning…then look for logic to support their buying decision.
For that reason – make sure your sales materials such as ads, sales copy, and web copy appeal directly to the emotions of your reader. Get into their head (I’m not saying to be dishonest) by getting their emotions riled up. Make them feel something…angry, excited, scared, whatever – but trigger some sort of feelings.
Then, back it up with some logical reasons they should buy. Then they’ll be able to justify their purchase to their spouses, friends, or bosses.
Of course, in order to do this effectively, there are a couple of other tips you should keep in mind.
Let me know your comments!
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.If you want my help in writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
I’m sure you’ve heard all the usual ways to market your business:
Space ads, postcards, sales letters, websites, and on and on.
But have you tried networking groups that give you the opportunity to give and receive qualified referrals on a more consistent basis?
There a many referral groups around, but one that’s provided me a good source of prospects is BNI.
BNI is an international organization with chapters in about every area of the country.
They have weekly meetings and are structured in a way that’s been proven to be effective at maximizing the member’s time and number of referrals given.
The investment is affordable, and you do have to make a time commitment to be at each meeting and to meet and learn about the other members.
“Givers Gain” is the motto, and the group is built on relationships, trust, and giving.
Basically – the more you give – the more you get.
So if you’re looking for a way to network that seems to be head and shoulders above any local Chamber of Commerce meetings, consider visiting a local BNI group. You can find local chapters and more about it at www.bni.com.
Let me know your comments!
If you want my help in determining what your USP is, why people should do business with you instead of someone else, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Here’s a quick story of two different local businesses that mailed out sales letters to potential clients in their city. They both offered the same service to their clients, but…
Company 1 talked about how great the company and the service is, and included a decent offer to get the reader to respond.
Company 2 took a slightly different tact. Their letter had an attention-getting headline and described a problem the reader most likely had.
Then…they included a quote by John Doe from XYZ Company, a well known local business, explaining how Company 2 had recently solved their problem by reducing expenses by 32.5% in less than 60 days.
They talked about how their service would help reduce expenses and the benefit it would have. And two paragraphs later, they included another testimonial from a happy client.
The letter from Company 1 didn’t include even one testimonial.
Think about it – if you received a letter from 2 companies selling the same thing, assuming you needed their service, which one would you respond to?
The one that talked about themselves, or the one that included “proof” from actual satisfied customers that their service was great?
These days, advertisers can say anything, which makes people super skeptical. But the testimonials are the proof that people need. And many times, that proof is what’s needed to convert your prospect to a customer.
So the moral of this story is this:
Always include specific, actual testimonials in every marketing or sales copy you write.
Any thoughts? I’d like to know.
To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Exactly what is a USP anyway?
In the marketing world, it stands for Unique Selling Proposition.
And what it means to you is this:
It’s the one memorable benefit that will compel your customers to buy from you instead of someone else.
I guess it’s kind of like a tag line – but it goes much deeper than that.
Your USP is what differentiates you from your competition. It needs to be unique, and it must be the special reason why that says to prospective clients: “I want to do business with you.”
A USP could be:
For example…here’s Dominos Pizza’s USP
“Fresh pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less – guaranteed!”
Ironically, many companies have a USP…but they either don’t know what it is, or they can’t put it into words.
So if you don’t have one, or don’t know what it is – spend some time figuring it out. I’m not saying it will be easy, but it will certainly be time well spent.
One thing’s for sure: Having a USP and putting it to words can give you a giant leg up on your competition, because you’ll have something special to offer your clients that your competitors can’t.
All you have to do is to use it in your advertising and marketing and watch the sales roll in.
What do you think?
If you want my help in determining what your USP is, why people should do business with you instead of someone else, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Think about it, you wouldn’t (generally speaking) try to sell dirt bikes to an audience of 65 year olds, would you?
This topic came to mind recently while listening to a conversation between my 52 year-old wife and my 85 year-old neighbor (we’ll call him Bob for security reasons).
My wife was singing high praises to Bob about how much she enjoyed Dr. Oz’s new TV show. She likes his topics about maintaining a healthy lifestyle so you’ll live well into your 90s.
Then she asked my neighbor Bob, a friendly old soul, if he watched and liked Dr. Oz.
His response shocked her:
“HELL NO, I can’t stand the guy!”
So she asked him why.
“I’m 85 years old and he keeps talking about ways to live till your 100. And I don’t want to live till I’m 100. He’s got no idea about how us older folks feel about that topic, and obviously he’s never bothered to find out or he wouldn’t keep harping on it.”
The light bulb flashed in my head.
It’s just like marketing – you need to intimately know your audience to successfully capture and hold their attention.
In this case – the show seems to be more focused towards 53 year old women than 85 year old men. And my guess is that’s how the good ole’ doctor planned it.
Obviously, Bob hated the guy – but then again – Dr. Oz didn’t really have anything to offer that was important to him.
So the moral to this story – KNOW THY AUDIENCE and FOCUS YOUR MESSAGE ACCORDINGLY.
What do you think?
If you want my help in determining the best way to reach your market, or want help figuring out exactly who your market is, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Do you use the holidays to keep in touch with your best clients.
If you own a business or are a sales professional, you already know that maintaining great customer relationships is one of the secrets to keeping your hard earned customers from jumping ship to your competitors.
And there are countless tips and techniques to help you do just that.
One of the easiest and most affordable ways is to simply keep in constant touch with your clients.
Many studies show sending something at least once a quarter, but preferably once a month is a great way to keep your company at the top of their minds.
Not to sound like a mother hen here…but Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner (I sure don’t know where the summer went), and you should be using them as a reason to give your customers another “touch”.
Cards are nice, but why don’t you take full advantage and instead of just sending the card…
Insert a “special time-sensitive” offer inside. Something like a 4 day Thanksgiving sale with some great offers.
You can use ‘em to build traffic and sales. I mean – you’re already paying for the card and postage, why not enclose a special coupon, too.
Anyway – mother hen signing out.
Start sending and start selling today.
Think about this – How many Thanksgiving cards do you get? Be bold – Be different!
Your thoughts? I’d like to know.
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
Yellow pages, newspapers, magazines all profit from running space ads.
The advantage of a space ad is that it’s small. The disadvantage of a space ad is that it’s well…small.
There’s only a certain amount of space you can use, and in a small ad, you have to make every square millimeter count.
One of the biggest mistakes people make with space ads is that they try to sell too much in it.
If you’re selling something that’s $20 or so, your space ad may work (assuming it’s a great headline and offer)…
But – if your product is more expensive, people need more compelling sales copy showing the benefits and reasons why they should buy – and with a small ad, you just don’t have the room to do it. (Unless of course, you’ve mortgaged the house for a full page ad)
So my tip of the day for powerful space ads is this:
Instead of selling directly from the ad, use the space to generate qualified leads that have an interest in your product or service.
No selling – but strictly lead generation – get them to contact you…
Write a powerful headline that gets prospects to call you or email you, or go to a special web page on your site.
Offer them something of value for free, such as a free report with information about your service or something along those lines.
For example:
A lawyer could use this headline – “10 crucial things you need to know before you hire a lawyer”.
“Call today for your free report”
Then create a 2 or 3 page report describing 10 things people should look out for before hiring a lawyer. Things you don’t do that other lawyers do or vice versa. And then at the end of the report, offer a free consultation to the reader.
Now you’ll get pre-qualified leads that you can continue to market to because you know they’re interested in getting a lawyer.
My rule of thumb is: The more expensive your products or services are, the more you should use space ads to generate leads – not go for the throat to make a sale.
Build the relationship first. Then make the sale.
And the great thing about this lead generation idea is you can use it for any space ads or even postcards – basically anyplace where your ad space is limited so much that you couldn’t possibly write great copy that would make the sale on the first go round.
Any thoughts? I’d like to know.
To get more information about writing effective sales copy, about this post, marketing advice, or about my direct response copywriting services, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140.
And visit www.webcontentNH.com for help with Website design, writing SEO copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies.
To your marketing success!
Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter
