Say it, don’t spray it: How great writing can grow your business
This article is a companion piece to Copywrong to Copywriter: a handbook for anyone who feels like they can’t write to save themselves.
Every time we open a browser window, we walk into attention combat.
We are pummelled with messages, emails, articles and ads, each attempting to grab our attention and wrest it from our control. In this mess of noise, how is your small business going to stand out?
For most the answer is marketing. Which is a great place to start—don’t get me wrong—but the problem with marketing is that many small businesses approach the job of selling through the act of ‘shouting’.
When it comes to marketing, ‘shouting’ is when you write as if you’re standing on a corner yelling, ‘Buy my thing!’ while you jump up and down waving a great big flag with your logo on it.
Sure it gets attention, but it doesn’t feel good, and for most people, it doesn’t feel right either.
So how should a small business avoid shouting? And what role can words play in building a long term, sustainable approach to marketing for your business?
Stuck in traffic
It’s very common for small businesses to dream of large spikes in traffic (and by traffic I mean hits to your website, likes on your Facebook page, or people through your doors).
It’s particularly common to dream of the type of traffic that comes from mass advertising or reviews in the media, and for good reason — it’s impossible to scale without getting lots of high-quality attention and the increased demand that goes with it.
You obviously need as many people as possible to see that you exist — if they don’t know that you’re a business, they won’t even consider getting excited about it, let alone hand over any money.
But focusing on a major spike in traffic, rather than on creating a business worth talking about, is where small businesses go awry. Before you can think about traffic, you need to think about gossip.
Becoming a business that people talk about
When someone tells their friends, family or colleagues about your business, it means you’re doing something right.
Either your product does exactly what they expected it to do and more, or they enjoyed the experience of interacting with your business so much that they thought it was worth talking about. If you’re doing both, you’re on your way to long term success.
Becoming a topic that people talk about should be the most immediate goal of any business that wants to stand out.
If people are talking about you, it doesn’t just mean you’ve gained their attention, it means you’ve created a unique product, experience and identity that gets people excited. And if you can enter the private world of casual conversation and popular gossip, you’re on track to get much more than just a spike in sales to go with your spike in traffic.
It’s the way you speak, not the way you spike
If people don’t have a reason to continue talking about you to others, you will be yesterday’s news the moment the spike in traffic is over. And it will mean you will pay more for your advertising in the long run.
If you’re going to deliver value over a long period of time, you must create a unique and memorable identity, then use every opportunity (whether it’s traditional advertising, public relations, online advertising, email marketing or shareable social content) to build and solidify that identity with your audience.
In other words, each new spike in marketing should build upon the last, continuing to tell your story, build your unique identity, and give people a reason to want to talk about you to their friends and family.
So you’ve got their attention—now what?
Marketing performs many functions, but most small businesses only use it to ‘get people through the door’.
You may have a unique identity, and people may have a reason to talk about you, but can you follow through on the rising expectations? What happens after they’ve stepped into your store? Well to answer that question, we need to talk about love.
The funnel of love
If you’ve read anything about marketing before, you’ll have read about funnels.
At their most basic, a funnel describes the steps a customer goes through in the purchasing experience, from discovering you exist to checking out and beyond.
I’m not about to give a lesson on funnels — for the most part, they’re unhelpful for small businesses and incredibly boring — but I am going to introduce you to my own, more exciting, three-step funnel: the funnel of love.
The funnel of love demonstrates how marketing is much more than shouting on a street corner. There’s a journey that your customers go on, and any short spike in attention needs to be followed by other different interactions.
When all or part of your business is online, you can’t always be there in person to follow up on the ‘attention’ part of the funnel. Your words need to stand in your place, ready to guide the customer on what to do next, then thank them on the way out.
Step 1: Getting their attention
Use words to grab people’s attention and draw them into their world.
- Have something interesting to say
- Have an interesting way of saying it
- Keep it short and punchy
- Build on your unique identity.
For example: Ads (online and print), Social media posts, Email marketing.
Step 2: Guide them through the process
Make the entire experience as delightful as possible — as if a helpful, intelligent and thoughtful friend was guiding your customers through the process.
- Be one step ahead of your customer
- Anticipate their needs
- Understand what worries them and have an answer prepared
- Guide them with language.
For example: Web copy, Product descriptions, Micro-copy.
Step 3: Saying thanks
Reinforce how much you appreciate their business.
- Be gracious
- Add more value after a sale has taken place
- Provide more information and relevant links
- Show your gratitude in words.
- For example: Success messaging, Confirmation emails, Product packaging and returns.
A final word on authenticity
It’s one thing to use words to show you’re unique. But if you push it too far you might come off as insincere, deceptive or affected. Be yourself, and just remember: say it, don’t spray it.
Wanna know more about copywriting? Get the book.
Copywrong to Copywriter is a handbook for anyone who feels like they can’t write to save themselves.
If you think you’ve got the wrong tone of voice, don’t understand the ins-and-outs of grammar or just don’t feel confident writing about yourself without sounding like an idiot, read this book.
