8:39am
Saint Paul
Effective marketing can’t target everyone.
Even things that are commodities—like food—shows ads with a mother (or occasionally a bumbling father—which only exists in the ad to sell to the mother).
Which is why the “Five Question Words” you learned in grade school are still important.
(I remember my grade school classroom with these 5 words, each in a speech bubble, laminated and taped to the classroom wall.
I don’t remember the grade. I don’t remember the teacher.
But I remember those words… and being frustrated that there are more than just 5!)
So before writing your sales letter or ad, make sure you answer these:
• WHO is the ad for? (Even if the offer is for everyone, the ad itself cannot be.)
• WHO is the ad from? Personal messages work better than a corporate voice.
• WHAT does your offer solve?
• WHAT is the opportunity?
• WHAT is the outcome?
• WHEN will the solution be evident?
• WHERE can a buyer find your product or solution?
• WHY are you interrupting the reader?
• HOW will that ad read?
• HOW does your solution work?
Answer those and you have 80% of your research done.
By the way, you were lied to.
Like I mentioned earlier, there are other question words beyond the 5 your teacher told you.
And the last one on my list is still powerful to sales writers.
• Whence: means “from where”
• Whose: means “of whom”
• How much: a non-count quantity
• How many: a countable quantity
• Which: indicates a limited choice.
This last one is most useful.
People like to pick between options.
If you say “Buy this widget” their options are to buy it, or to not buy it.
But if you say “Widget X costs $49 and Widget Y costs $69. Which do you want?”
…well, then the choice is now between those two options.
Even though “not buying” is still an option, framing your offer this way gets people thinking about which option meets their needs.
Anyway…
If your ads aren’t getting the results you hoped for, make sure you know the answers to the questions at the top.
You don’t have to answer those questions in every ad or sales letter. Maybe you do answer them, maybe you don’t—but the answers should shape your subconscious before you start writing.
Now, go mine some gold.
Jeffrey