An honest way to stand out in a crowded market
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This is the second post in the acting VS copywriting series where I look at tactics from the stage and how they relate to writing persuasive copy.
An honest way to stand out in a crowded market
(ACTING VS COPYWRITING SERIES)
Joe Schreifer from Agora Financial (one of, if not the biggest financial publication companies in the world) once said on a podcast ‘Copywriters are the fuel to the fire of all sales’.
If you hadn’t realised by now, copy is pretty much the backbone to any business. And when I say business, I don’t mean something that’s a just hobby disguised as a business but something that actually generates revenue.
But in this new age of internet marketing, where most businesses are now online and are competing for customers and clients, how can you stand out from the crowd? By writing copy that has the power to drive an endless supply of sales, if done right.
The secret to charming savvy audiences.
When I was an actress, I studied the Meisner Technique. This method of acting was all based in ‘truth’ to allow an authentic performance. It uses the actors focus on the moment to reveal truthful responses to the situation at hand. Rather than hamming it up to portray an emotion, the emotion is honestly felt and conveyed.
One of the ways for actors to practice this method is to sit with another actor and do repetition of exercises back and forth. Not using any pre-learned lines, but focusing on the other person and saying what you see.
A slight rise of an eyebrow…
Actor 1: “you just raised your eyebrow”
Actor 2: “I just raised my eyebrow”
… back and forth until another moment appears that is noticed and commented on.
This gets the actor in the practice of
focusing on the other actor,
noticing what is happening in the moment and
calling it out.
With audiences who are used to reading sales copy online, they can quite often become jaded or cynical, or what is known as ‘sophisticated’ to the offer. How sophisticated an audience is depends on how often they’ve heard your kind of spiel before. This can make it hard to stand out resulting in existing in a sea of similar offers, with the chance of being overlooked.
So how can you stand out?
Take a leaf out of Meisner’s book and
focus on your customers needs,
address what is specific to them in this moment and
call out what you believe they’re thinking.
Let me break it down…
Do your research.
Take time to research your target market and find out what they are struggling with, what their pain points are and what they need to resolve their problem(s). When you convey this in your copy - that you understand their problems - you can fully address their needs.
Be timely.
Understand what specifically is going on for them at this moment. Have they tried other things before? Why is now the time they need to deal with their problem? Be specific in how you can help them and why now is the best time to take action rather than putting it on a to-do list. We’re not talking about creating scarcity around your offer, we’re talking what is the cost of them NOT taking action now?
Address their objections.
This is one the most powerful things you can do in your copy. If you’ve done your research into your target market, you’ll likely know their state of mind and how urgent it is to fix their problem. However, before anyone puts any money down for anything, you have to make sure you’ve addressed all their objections. Do this in your copy, not just by having an FAQ section but by ‘sitting down’ with them, like a friend would and say…
“Look I know you’ve tried things like this before and you may even be thinking… can this really work for me when everything else has failed?… I get it. I really do. But today I’m gonna show you why this is going to change your life”
Call out the objection. Say things like “I know what you may be thinking right now”.
And go on to address what might be holding them back. This allows you to show your ideal customer that you understand them inside and out - not just their needs but why they might be hesitating. You can show them that you can be trusted and that you can help them.
So, in future when you’re writing your sales copy, remember:
BE. LIKE. MEISNER.
Focus on your customers needs
Be in the moment with them by getting specific
Call out their current beliefs (and address them)
Related articles: Acting Vs Copywriting
An honest way to stand out in a crowded market (this post)