Ready to rock your marketing world? Your copy should not be compelling – that’s right – it should not be compelling … at least, in specific circumstances. For instance, your copy should not be compelling to:
- People who are never, ever, in a million years, going to buy from you. Why should you care if they are mentioned, moved, or motivated by your marketing copy? If they’re not going to buy, you’re wasting your words.
- People who are neither decision-makers nor influencers. For instance, your ad might make a retail employee think that your product is the best thing since sliced bread, but if that person has zero influence or say in a purchasing decision, they are not your target.
- People who can’t afford your product or service. Quite frankly, if you make someone salivate over your offering but it is way out of their price range, they might even feel like you pulled a bait-and-switch on them.
It’s not uncommon for a company executive to want a marketer to write to one or more of these audiences. The reasoning is usually, “Everyone can use our product!” (No, they can’t.) “These are the people who will benefit from our service!” (That may be true, but if they aren’t the buyers or influencers, it doesn’t matter.) “We want people to know that we’re best-in-class!” (If they’re in the market for a Volvo, don’t have them test drive an Audi.)
When you write to people who are not your target market, you often end up watering down your copy so that it isn’t compelling for anyone – including the people you really want to reach. Or, you are compelling, but to the wrong people … again, totally missing your market.
So don’t worry if your copy isn’t compelling to all people all of the time. It shouldn’t be. It should only be compelling to the people who are your ideal customers.
Author: Paula Marolewski