There are times when the things we write are all about me and mine. My recent holiday greetings letter comes to mind. I wrote it to share our year with friends and relatives who are geographically distant.
This message is often the only communication we have all year. That seems silly. Why would people who don’t communicate all year even care what’s going on in our lives? I don’t know the answer, but I sure look forward to hearing about their lives once a year. Perhaps it’s just that we share a history or genealogy, and we want to know that life is going on for them just as it is for us.
Marketing messages, though, should have the opposite focus. The message should be about the people we are writing to. Now, this can seem silly, too. How can we write about people who we’ve never even met? How can we know their trials and tribulations? How can we convince them that our product will solve their pain or problems?
Beyond the technology and science of marketing comes the art of the message. The copywriter must delve into the lives of their prospects. Imagine their happiest moments and worst nightmares. Then craft a message that resonates with their desires, so they will buy your solution to their problems.
If your solution is the only one of its kind, this can be rather straightforward. If your product is one of many that can help solve the problem, you’ll have to find the difference – the shining star – that makes your solution outshine the rest. This difference can be obvious: lowest price for example. It can be more subtle: sustainably sourced and produced. The second example will appeal to a smaller audience, but this group will be a more faithful following.
The product, the audience and your marketing goals will determine whether you want to form a relationship with your customers or just sell the inventory you have.
Since selling to repeat customers has a higher ROI than acquiring new customers, it makes sense to nurture the relationship. You have a history. Is it enough to contact them once a year or only when you want to sell them something? Are they that invested in your history to hear about you or do you need to give them value to keep them interested?
Value is the key to successful marketing content messages. Whether you deliver your messages via email or social media, providing value is the key.
What can you give your prospects and customers that costs them nothing more than their time? What can that gift provide you in terms of your relationships?