"The final copy was exactly what we wanted, fitting our length, style, voice, and formatting requirements."
Erik Griffin, SOHO Prospecting
TechPromo, May 2006
Marketing Newsletter For Technology Promotion
Plus This Quick Tip -
How
To Create A Case Study - The Best Way To Attract Customers
I got a call from a marketing agency about an online writing project they'd assigned. The news wasn't good. "I'm sorry, but the client just pulled the plug. I already sent a check for your first payment, so why don't you take a look at our web site and make a proposal to improve it? You can apply it to that."
I was a little skeptical at first. But it became clear that some editing to the agency's web site could really improve the content and its presentation.
The home page was an eye chart - filled with links and copy that summarized without inviting the prospect to read it. Once you got into it, the copy was overflowing with keyword phrases to attract search engines, and didn't read well. Beyond that, the page did a pretty good job emphasizing benefits to the prospect, but could use improvement.
There were good testimonials with specific improvement numbers - the best part of the home page.
The case studies page had brief paragraphs about what they'd done for each customer. Some lacked testimonial quotes, the best marketing tool to convince prospects. Others didn't present the great results customers got. (Click for case study tips.)
What Can You Do For Me?
It's not about
you - it's about the prospect. Yes, online content needs the key phrases your
prospects use to find you in searches, but that content needs to grab their attention
once they get there. You have two choices. Make it vitally interesting - or make
it very entertaining. The approach you choose depends on why they visit. Sometimes
you need both approaches.
Attract Attention In The Search
Business
audiences usually want just the facts that apply to them. You've gotten their
attention in the search summary they read before they clicked the link to your
site.
Many search engines use headlines from the top of your home page for the search summary. It's worth developing a useful, specific, unique headline, and setting it off in <h1> tags at the top. You may also want to use that same headline as the home page title.
Some search engines use the contents of the "description" META tag for your home page's search summary. So it's worth it to write something your prospects want or really care about, and put it there.
What Do Your Prospects Want?
An effective home page is a problem-solving
map for your prospects. It identifies their biggest problem. Then it promises
them a solution (yours) and explains how it works. It shows them the benefits,
proves your claims with testimonials, and asks for action.
The content needs to speak to the prospect personally, like an after-hours chat. Long copy works better than short copy if the prospect has a deep interest, but there's still an impatience factor.
Make It Easy To Respond
Make the
call for action 'above the fold', on the part of the home page that appears first
on their screen. That call can be a link to a sub-page or form about a specific
need you satisfy for them, but it should be within the first three paragraphs.
If there's one single action you're looking for, repeat the link to it about every
fourth or fifth paragraph in long copy. Your prospects may not look for it again
after they've read past it.
Give Them A Trail That's Easy To Follow
- And You'll Get More Orders
Think about the path you want prospects
to follow through your site. If they need to see online samples before they decide
to order, the only link on your home page should be to those samples. The link
on the samples page might show the terms of the sale. The terms page has only
one link, to your order form.
If your goal is to collect prospects' names and email addresses in response to a soft offer like a free white paper, the only home page link should be to the form that collects the information.
Extra home page links to 'About Us', 'Contact Us', 'Our Products', and other stuff shouldn't be there - unless they're part of the path you want your prospects to follow. If you've created an effective home page, all that information is there already - and you shouldn't need anything else.
Many internet marketers get increased response when they limit the prospect's choices. It may not be what everyone else does, but wouldn't you rather have great results instead of mediocre ones?
Mark Bohrer is a business writer and former engineer. He's based in Silicon Valley.
Testimonials
Boost Response
Testimonial ads are king. Marketing experts report as
much as 700 percent improvement in leads from ads that use them.
But your best response comes from pieces that don't look like advertisements, online or in print media. Case studies are one of the best ways to use testimonials in an article format - not an ad. You want to craft one to attract customers. Where do you start?
How To Create An Interesting Case Study
An effective
case study is the last step in a simple process. Start by choosing several customers
who were ecstatic about your business. Not all of them will be available or willing
to talk, but find at least two who are.
Choose A Happy Customer
The right choice will be plain - someone who came to you after a number of failed
alternatives, appreciated your attention to his needs, was knocked out by extras
he didn't expect, and got great results beyond his expectations. You need a customer
who loved his results - or your case study won't work.
How do you find that happy customer? If you're providing a high-quality product to solve their problem, you'll be surprised how many customers want to talk about the excellent job you did.
Advance Preparation And Research Are Essential
Next, arrange
a time to interview them. Tell them it'll be a quick 10-minute conversation. Explain
who will be calling, and give them an idea of what they'll be asked.
Do your homework - learn about your customer's products, history and markets. Visit their website. Look at their ads in trade journals or other media.
Ask
Good Questions
Prepare good questions ahead of time. What are good questions?
They'll follow this sequence:
It can help to have a third party do the interview. Customers will be more comfortable, and give more candid answers.
If you're recording the call, always let the customer know at the start. As you ask your questions, customer quotes will probably jump out at you. At the end of the call, thank your customer for his answers. You'll need the customer's approval for the case study before it's published.
Watch For Top Issues And Outstanding
Quotes To Support Them
Look at the replies - what would be most important
to any customer with similar problems? Then look at the quotes that stood out
- one or more of them may speak to that important issue.
The important issue gives you a focus for the case study. Now you incorporate all the sections - background, problem, search, find, solution, implementation, results - into a story, an interesting journey to a great solution.
The search pulls the prospect in. It's where he starts to identify with the customer.
Let
Them See How You Fix It
Installation snags make any case study more believable,
so don't skip them. Your prospects know no implementation goes flawlessly. Your
confident resolution of those challenges is a plus. If the customer points out
extra services they didn't expect, that's another big bonus.
When you've finished writing and editing it, run the finished case study by the customer for their approval, to avoid legal problems later.
Here's a case study I wrote for a marketing agency about one of their clients. It shows how important good quotes are - they almost wrote it by themselves.
All contents copyright © Mark Bohrer, Precision Copywriting |