Summary: Have you ever been on the receiving end of a salesman trying to sell you something that you don’t really need? Do you remember how you felt? If you’re like me then you tried doing or saying anything to escape from the presence of that salesman (short of punching him in the nose before running the other way). Then why, when you put your marketing message together (whether it’s an ad or video or website) do you try to appeal to a mass audience rather than create a laser focused solution to a customer’s problem? The first thing to remember before putting the first graphic on the page or the first word on the paper is “who is my target customer” and “what problem am I trying to solve”. Without answering those two questions you’ve just lost any chance of your customer taking action. I try to put myself in the shoes of the customer and imagine how my message will be received if I heard it from another sales person. Does the message sound like a sales pitch or does it sound like this other person (or ad) truly understands my problem and has a real solution? When putting your ad together or writing your copy try to imagine yourself sharing this valuable information you have with a very close friend. How does that conversation sound? What kind of words do you use? What kind of tone do you take when talking about your information? Try to emulate this interaction with your close friend through your copy or ad and you will be light years ahead of your competition.
