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This Saturday’s Sweetie Saturday Report is going to include 26 ways to use the words on your pages to improve response rates, but let’s just talk about three things you can do right here, right now.
1. Get to Know Your Target Market & Craft Your USP…Over and Over AGAIN!
To many, the concept of a target market seems pretty simple and it’s something we often define for our business as soon as we start it. More people struggle with the concept of USP, but give it a bit of initial thought when they start their business and then leave it at that.
If you gloss over these two concepts for your business, it will be much harder to promote your business and to sell your products and services. The best converting sales copy creates a real connection to your reader and it’s tough to connect if you don’t really understand them.
If you can only connect on a superficial level, you can expect mediocre results. If you know what makes your target audience tick, you can connect on a deeper level and expect better results.
Not only should you strive for understanding of these two things on an ongoing basis for your business, you should also realize that for EACH PIECE of marketing material you produce, you have a slightly (or sometimes dramatically) different target market and USP.
For example, if you sell baby products - your target market for your breast pumps will be different than for your baby formula products. If you’re a life coach - your target market for your self-guided workbook will be different than your full-service higher-end coaching offerings. Every product, every article, every blog post has a different target. Understand that and you’ll get more out of your offers.
2. Tell Stories
Relate to your audience by telling relevant stories. Again, your readers will react more if they feel a connection to you or your company. Stories can also make abstract ideas more concrete. Tell your own personal stories, share case studies. Stories can be painful stories with happy endings, they can be humorous or whatever is appropriate for your particular offer.
Blogs are the perfect place for stories as are sales pages, emails and anywhere you attempt to connect with your readers.
3. Make Offers - ALWAYS
Although effective selling can be subtle, it should never be completely passive. Always make an offer to your readers. If it’s a sales page, offer them the product and give them compelling reasons to buy it. If it’s an email, you can tell them about a product, a free offer or whatever you’d like - but give them the direction to do SOMETHING. If it’s an article, guide them back to your website to sign up for a free report, newsletter, etc. If it’s a YouTube video, give them a call to action in the context of the video.
If you take the time to create all these promotional materials for business, it seems silly to just hope or expect readers to make it back to your website. It doesn’t always have to be a hard sell or even for a paid product - but get your audience used to taking action, so they’ll do it when it really counts.
Just a few ideas for now (I’ll be back with 26 ideas on Saturday). These 3 may be new to you or maybe not…but if you’re not doing them, try them out, you might be surprised.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Very interesting on #1. It’s true, target market can change per product, even if we don’t consciously think about it. Maybe if we did think about it consciously, our copy could be more powerful.
May 16th, 2008 at 6:07 am
I hear you on #1. I am struggling with this now. I am developing a product for the person that wants to quit their job and make a full time living online. But, I’m a little confused when writing my sales page.
Who is my target market? People like me -entrepreneurially driven, hate the 9-5, are serious about making a living online, frustrated internet marketers, etc. They all are different but the same.
I really need to narrow this down.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Definitely, Tiffany.
Lisa, there are definitely a lot of things to consider.
One of the key things are the contents of your product. You say “full-time living”, but I assume it’s a business - as opposed to a telecommuting job type thing, right? That definitely makes a difference. Is the product for complete beginners or “frustrated internet marketers” or possibly both (sometimes it can overlap).
One nice thing is that it’s easy to observe your market - you can see them on this blog, other blogs, forums, etc…so you can what their struggles are and help define who exactly your market might be.
I think you honed in on an important thing and it’s your market’s FRUSTRATIONS. That’s really important. They “HATE” the 9-5. They’re “FRUSTRATED”. If you can tap into that it will make your copy more powerful.
That’s just a few things off the top of my head. Obviously, I haven’t seen your product, I don’t have access to any list/audience you have already built up for yourself, etc. so it’s tough for me to pinpoint it for you, but I do hope the suggestions are helpful.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:10 am
This is really good, thought provoking stuff. I need to revisit my USPs and work harder on sharing WHY I think people need what I have to offer. Looking forward to Saturday’s report!
May 16th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Okay, I’m good…no great…at #2. Number one is a bit tricky because my core target market is grandparents, and how many grandparents search the web for toys, gifts, and books for their grandchildren? I’m hoping enough parents will find my site and clue grandma in. Am I being unrealistic?
May 16th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Thanks Char!
Linda, do you mean you’re having trouble reaching that target of grandparents because they’re not online? If so, I assume you have determined this to be your target based on your offline efforts. Is that correct?
It’s possible that your online audience might be different and that’s something to consider, but not necessarily.
Personally, I think there there are plenty of grandparents online. They come in all ages, as you know, but young or old, they are online. The key is to understanding how they use the Internet and catering to their special needs, if any.
For example, if you think that they aren’t necessarily very net savvy - make your website more newbie friendly. Include audio instructions and really take your visitor through the whole process, so they know how to use your site and feel welcomed by a REAL person.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Linda,
You might also want to think about targeting the homeschooling market who are always looking for new and interesting things for their children.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Linda, (great name!)
There’s a social network called Eons (eons.com) you might want to tap in to… it’s like a “myspace” for seniors… I’m sure you’ll find a lot of grandparents there…
Just a thought…
Linda =}
May 16th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Thank you all for your suggestions!
Linda
May 16th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Before I say what I have to say; some of my comments could seem to be aimed at you. They’re not. I wouldn’t be commenting here if that were the case. You’re obviously a decent person who tries hard to treat people fairly. My objections are not to you, or to what you do as such; they are personal reactions that concern me because my target market is likely to share those reactions.
Some of this is easy for me. I am my target market; I’m not personally comfortable selling anything I don’t want, need, or really like myself.
I’m a fiction writer who’d really like to just make a living at that so I could develop my skills as far as possible. I don’t even care how much I make as long as I can scrape by. But authors whose books you can find in any bookstore, and who keep getting publisher contracts, still can’t live off what they earn.
That’s where the problems come in. Writers are generally broke.
And we tend to think things through more, see more sides to things, and have very uncommon attitudes. The more someone tries to get me used to taking action, the greater the chances they’ll annoy me. I won’t take action until I’m ready. Nearly every standard technique that is taught for selling, for keeping customers calm, and so on, has an opposite effect on me. I feel manipulated, and that infuriates me.
I understand the techniques you advise work for a lot of people, and a lot of people don’t mind them. But they won’t work nearly as well on my target market. Mostly, they make me itch to write satire that will ‘inoculate’ others against them. (Being a writer and being an independent thinker aren’t completely equivalent, but there’s a whole lot of overlap.) I don’t even know if you’ve ever encountered a situation like this before, but if you have any advice, I could really use it.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Well, Wandering Author, I’d agree the “starving artist” crowd is hard to sell to…and probably not the ideal market. That’s something everyone has to consider in their own business, but it looks like you have thought about that. But when it comes down to it, if they don’t want to buy, they don’t have the money to buy…you’re going to have a hard time.
To know how to sell to them, we probably need to know what you’re selling. What products are you selling to your market?
May 16th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Writing books and guides, a few T-shirts I’ve designed myself. That’s all at the moment; if I find more opportunities I like, then I’ll add more.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Wandering Author, I too am a writer and have written adult fiction and childrens’ fiction and non-fiction. I’ve been published in both categories. But these days, getting published a second time isn’t any easier than the first. If you insist on being independent, I suggest you self-publish and find a way to sell yourself as a speaker. But I’m gussing you don’t want to sell yourself. So there you are.
Personally, I’ve gone the route of self-publishing my childrens’ fiction, tied it in with a gift, and started my own toys, gifts, and books business. It’s a lot of work and I’m just starting out so there’s not much coming in, but I love having more control(reponsibility) over my working life.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Linda, thanks for the suggestions. I may try my own personal twist on what you’re doing. I wish fountain pen companies had affiliate programs.
As for speaking, I think a lot of writers are much better at the written word than they are as speakers. There are exceptions; Winston Churchill comes to mind. But I’d be a terrible speaker.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Linda has a very good suggestion and the route she is taking is taking is what I see many other authors do in order to increase their income - they find something else that is lucrative and use their publicity as an author to gain clients and customers. It doesn’t have to be speaking, but could be some kind of coaching, courses or anything else appropriate for your market.
But back to you, Wandering Author. Do you mean that you sell books and guides that teach other people to be published writers? Is that the reason YOU are part of your target market?
If this is the type of stuff you’re doing, certainly there are plenty of hopeful authors that are willing to spend money to learn how to do it for themselves. They will pay for books, coaching and other help - but you might have to go outside your comfort zone to reach those people.
But if you want to stay in the market you’re currently trying to work with, try to dig deeper on how they spend their money, what appeals to them, etc. Can you possibly reach people who would buy your target market gifts? Or can you appeal to their frugality by offering some kind of club card, discount opportunities, etc?
Also, in your initial comment on this entry, you insisted that most of what I’d suggest would be laughed at by your target market - but have you really looked at the 3 suggestions above? The first two are hardly in your face marketing and the third, doesn’t have to be. Offers can be phrased in a number of ways, but if you don’t make them, you won’t know what REALLY works for your audience.
I understand your struggle because I know what authors can be like, but you love doing what you do and you obviously don’t have huge material needs or desires. Still, you want to earn a modest living and there is no need to apologize for that. I just worry that you’re holding yourself back because you’re worried what people might think. You’ll never please everybody, but if you don’t get your products out to people - you won’t please ANYONE, if that makes sense.
May 17th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
First of all, thanks! You did come up with a few good ideas I hadn’t thought of, and yes, your summary of my situation is on target.
To answer your question, I’m an affiliate for a shop that sells books on how to become a better writer, and how to meet deadlines without as much trouble, that sort of thing. They are almost the only books I’ve ever found that offer practical, measurable help for writers who want to improve.
As for the three points, well, #1 is obviously a good idea, but as I say, I’m already there. #2, well, it is much harder to impress another writer by telling stories than it is to impress anyone else.
Although your ideas got me thinking; there may be a way I could ‘twist’ this to make it work for me. #3 - I guess when I reread it and reconsider it in light of some of your suggestions, there are ways I could use it. Your post seemed to imply something a bit more in your face - not unethical, not unfair, nothing like that, but enough pressure to turn me and most of the writers I know off.
Anyway, thanks again, and if any of the other writers I know who are hoping to find a way to keep on living
are interested, I’ll definitely send them here.