Seven Easy Ways to Boost Your Marketing Copy

Print or web. Catalog copy or corporate blog post. The right words in the wrong order (and visa versa) can have a dramatic impact on your marketing efforts. Here are seven easy ways to improve the effectiveness of your marketing copy:

1. Avoid vague, bloated language. Many times it can obfuscate your point and reduce the efficacy of any value-added synergies (see what I did there?). Instead, speak plainly—drawing on words that you'd use when talking with a friend or co-worker.
2. Speak to people, not at people. Try phrasing sentences in a way that invites the customer to open up a dialogue about your company, product or service.
3. Educate your reader. Penning a list of product features only tells half of the story (and sometimes much less). Make sure that your copy communicates the value of the product or service, as well as how the customer's life will be positively impacted by their purchase.
4. Be consistent. If you're telling the company story through a first-person account, the chances are good that you'll want to use the same voice in your descriptive copy as well. There are some exceptions to this, but largely it's considered to be a good rule-of-thumb.
5. Make yourself available. Unfortunately, due to spam emails a lot of companies have chosen to hide their email addresses behind contact forms. But email isn't the only way to reach out. Post your phone number conspicuously on your site (and blog), and invite your viewing audience to use it. Encourage comments and responses to your blog posts. Budget a little bit of time each day to answer questions and respond to customer concerns.
6. Be Authentic. By addressing customer comments in a public forum, you're projecting an image that says, "I have nothing to hide." Yes, there may be issues that you end up resolving offline, but by keeping most things out in the open—even complaints—you're giving every customer (and potential customers) a glimpse of your standards and how you operate. Provided that you manage it well, this is probably the single most effective way to create trust for you and your brand.
7. Invite the Customer to Take Action. A simple call-to-action is one of the most basic, yet underutilized tools in small-business marketing copy. Once you've armed your customer with the information that they need to make an informed decision, invite them to take action. It can be as simple as "Learn More" or "Contact Us", or as detailed as "Call 831-887-0111 to set up a free consultation."

Thanks for reading! I hope that these simple tips will help you to improve the impact of your marketing copy. If you have questions about this post or want to talk about improving your company's direct marketing efforts, I invite you to leave a comment below or call us at 831.887.0111.

—Jason @ Ideavise