When you’re trying to convince someone to click your ad, open your email, sign up for a demo, or read a blog post, it can be hard to settle on the right messaging.
How do you boil down everything your company or product does into a handful of words? What’s going to capture your target audience’s attention and get them to actually act on your offer?
It depends on who they are. Your messaging needs to adapt to your audience. What are their needs, goals, fears, and problems? How does your product or service help with those things?
In other words: make it about your audience. If you want your marketing assets to convert, they need to show your audience that you understand them, clearly communicate your offer, and let your content demonstrate your credentials.
Here’s what that means.
Show You Understand Them
Your audience isn’t interested in you. They’re interested in what you can empower them to do.
There’s a time and a place to talk about your company history. But that time and place isn’t in your banner ads, landing pages, or sales emails. In these marketing assets, every word counts. And you need to apply every word to the overlap between your audience’s needs and the benefits of your product or service.
This helps you present your offer in the most relevant, helpful way.
Take pastors for example. They want to do things like:
- Preach biblical sermons with meaningful applications
- Help their congregation grow spiritually
- Minister to people in crisis
- Increase giving
- Reach more people
Each of these desires come with nuanced questions, challenges, and expertise. If your product or service helps pastors in any of these areas, that’s what your copy should focus on. Not your ratings. Not your experience. Not your company history.
Show them that you understand what they’re struggling with and that you have a solution.
Clearly Communicate Your Offer
One of the biggest questions your marketing needs to answer is: what’s the point? If your audience isn’t sure what’s going to happen when they click or what your product or service actually does for them, they’re not going to convert.
That’s one of the greatest dangers of writing marketing copy that focuses on your organization instead of your audience: it takes too long to get to the point. Shifting the focus to your audience shows you understand them and it helps you cut to the chase.
If your marketing isn’t converting, ask yourself “What are we actually offering people?” Then ask yourself “How long does it take to understand that’s what we’re offering people?”
Let Your Content Demonstrate Your Credentials
It’s easy to say things like “we have decades of experience.” But that doesn’t automatically demonstrate expertise. And it might not even set you apart from your competition. Instead of using every ad to plaster your credentials all over the Internet, demonstrate your expertise through the way you talk about your audience and their needs.
It’s one of the most basic (and challenging) rules of writing: show, don’t tell.
If you make video ads, that could be an opportunity to actually teach your audience something that helps them do their job better, save time, or grow in a particular area.
On your landing pages, tease out the specific things you’re going to show people through your demo or white paper.
Your experience is absolutely valuable. But only because it has taught you things other people don’t know, and you’ve created a better product or improved your service. So let your experience show through the things you say and do.
Engage Your Audience
When your assets perform poorly, it could be an indicator that your messaging isn’t relevant enough. Whatever metrics you’re focusing on, your marketing copy will be so much more effective if you focus on your audience.
If your messaging isn’t converting, remember:
- Start with who you’re talking to.
- Identify their problems and aspirations.
- Speak into the overlap between those things and what you do.
- Show your expertise.
That’s how you craft relevant messaging. And that’s how you engage your audience.
