How can you find the right thing to say?
The most difficult question any marketer will face. The answer to this question does not lie within a formula, a guide, nor even science. The answer can only be found when the writer truly puts themselves in the reader’s shoes. In this blog post, I will attempt to outline my own process for finding this golden ticket idea. *If you want to skip my whole thought process, the end of this post is for you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please keep your hands and feet inside of the vehicle at all times. It’s going to be a bumpy one.
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“What can I say that will inspire my reader to take action?”
“What can I say that will make my brand stick out in the reader’s mind more than anything else they’ve seen today?”
These are the types of questions that spin through my head like a broken record - from the time I sit down until I am able to gut enough courage to begin writing. I start listing the benefits of my reader choosing my service over another.
Why is my service better than what they currently have? Why am I different from others? What is important to the reader? What do they care about most? What will get their attention? What do they WANT?
My biggest breakthrough was the realization that surface level benefits are not at all intriguing. It’s something almost anyone can offer. So I began taking a deeper look. Why do those benefits matter to my reader?
I began listing the reasons why those benefits matter. I started with something like “Get more results” and slowly evolved it into “Get the most out of your money.” Was this more effective? Slightly, but it was still missing a strong emotional connection. I made the mistake of assuming money was the most important factor to my audience. But what if my audiences’ top value wasn’t saving money? Was there something I was missing?
I began observing the behavior and interactions between small business owners in Facebook groups. Sure, money was an object. But they saw it more as an investment that they would get back, rather than a waste of money. So what could they possibly want?
Back to the drawing board, I suppose. I spent a couple more days watching small business owners promote themselves and interact with one another. How did they talk? What words did they use to describe their businesses? Most of all, what did they think about advertising?
What is the purpose of advertising? To grow a customer base, increase brand awareness, and maximize profit, of course.
PERFORMANCE. I jotted the word down in all caps in my notebook and began writing tag-lines, headlines, catch phrases, and the first two sentences of what my copy would look like.
Headline: Creative that converts. Creative that drives results. Discover better creative. Reach new heights.
Text/Copy (Support): Don’t waste a single cent on ads that don’t work. Nothing beats creative that stands out.
It felt like I was going in circles. I took a step back and started from the beginning.
Benefits —-> Why they care —-> Product features —-> Why they care —-> What they get out of it —-> What is the one most central benefit?
8 pages and 100 headlines later (more or less), I finally began developing stronger associations, deeper benefits, and using much more vivid words. “Discover unrivaled creative,” one said. “Harness the power of creative,” another proclaimed. “Wouldn’t it be nice to feel heard?”
The one thing every one of these had in common? They activated a deeper feeling of realization within the reader. Creative is the answer. It’s my differentiating factor, my specialization, and it is what will drive more results than what my reader already has. Saying the right thing had fully matured into a campaign about how it would feel like to accomplish this.
The benefits were no longer about what my service provided, but what feeling was derived from those benefits. Your creative content will outrival your competitors.
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In case you skipped my whole thought process, here are some takeaways for you.
Begin by listing the features and surface level benefits of your product or service.
Why do those matter to the reader? What are the benefits of those benefits?
What will the reader feel when using your product? When experiencing your product’s benefits?
Start writing. Whatever comes to mind first, just start writing. Waste as much paper as you need. Star, circle, underline, and highlight your favorite words and phrases.
Start forming headlines. Try to keep these under six words (I shoot for 3 - 4).
Eventually, your word choices should start becoming stronger. Your phrases should start to evoke inspiration and a feeling of discovery.
You’re almost there, keep writing.
When you can’t write anymore, take a break and come back to it. You may think of more during your break.
Come back and start combining your best phrases and strongest ideas. Tweak them. Make them roll off the tongue. Make your idea clear.
Click. Before your eyes skid by the last letter of the last word, you feel it. The rocks you’ve been throwing aimlessly in a dark room - one of them finally found the light switch.
This is the one. It activates the reader’s imagination to experience the vivid detail of your product’s benefit. They can picture themself there with your product, experiencing the rush of whatever feeling you invoke. A knot is tied between your brand and that feeling.
