On the 10:40 Rickmansworth to Baker Street service you’re flicking through a magazine you purchased at the train station. You see a grey page with white writing and a single photograph – an interior shot.

If this were the headline what would you be thinking?

"Beginning to see the light"

What’s your brain doing now?

Mine?  Nothing.

The meaning of the words – to suddenly understand something – gives me nothing to imagine, no question to answer, no reason to read any further.

How about you?

So why would a company choose such a disastrous headline?

Does it demand attention?  No!

Does it engage you?  No!

Does it resonate in any way?  No!

It does NOTHING.   Absolutely nothing.  If you’re anything like me you’d just zone out if your eyes roamed across the page and you’d be gone forever.

I’m guessing that’s a very costly ad they’re running.

Next comes the opening paragraph.

"When George Cornish saw this Edwardian villa within a stone’s throw of the Mumbles it inspired him immediately."

What?

I don’t know George and I don’t care about him or his Mumbles.  As a reader, as a customer all I EVER want to know is "what’s in it for ME", not you, dear business owner.

Would you have any clue that this ad was trying to sell you a kitchen!

Why are you wasting my time?

I have a life to lead, I don’t have time to read about George’s "moment of illumination" as the ad drones on about.

Tell me why I should read your ad.  Tell me why I should buy my kitchen from you. Tell me why I should believe you.  Tell me what your guarantee is.  And above all, paint me a vivid picture of how my life will change thanks to your kitchen.

If you can’t tell me that then don’t expect me, your target customer, to lift a finger to call your Fulham telephone number.

But wait… it seems, that "each kitchen you install is a complete original, individually created for one owner and one place".

So why not tell me so up front?  Why not push my hot buttons – the ones that inflate my ego fit to bursting?

Your clients enjoy feeling individual, special, distanced from the crowd.  The word elite comes to mind.

Cater your copy towards the appropriate emotions.

What would they be?

Pride?  Partly

What else?  Why does your client want to be individual?

How about fear?  What does she fear?  Being lost in the crowd?  Why does she fear being lost with the Joneses?

For the same reason we all want to own anything unnecessary.

We want to be appreciated.

We want to be noticed.

In fact we want to be loved.

If you can find a way to make me, your target customer, to see myself being loved more by buying your kitchen then you’re going to sell a whole lot more kitchens, Mr Cornish.

But are you sure that’s your target customer?

Maybe you’re, instead, appealing to the connoisseur.  The one who takes pride in learning about wines, foods, herbs and spices.  The one who appreciates the beauty of a well-crafted piece of wood.  The customer who is in awe over the love, effort and detail a craftsman offers through his work.

What hot buttons would you push then?

Respect?  Partly

What else?  Why does your client want a beautifully crafted hand made kitchen?

Might it be the feeling he gets owning the time and effort of another man?

Might he like to glow over the details?

Might it make him feel powerful?

Might it make him feel respected?

Might it make him feel envied?

Might he be mistaking envy for love?

Marketing is about knowing your customer – intimately.

Rachel Goodall
———————-
Clear Passionate Copywriting

www.rachelgoodall.com
skype rachel.goodall
rachel@rachelgoodall.com

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