Does your marketing message stand a chance?

“Communication that doesn’t take a chance, doesn’t stand a chance.”

These pearls of wisdom were uttered by Carlos Segura, an award-winning designer and founder and principal of Segura, Inc.

His words really hit home with me. Why? Because all too often businesses want to take the safe and familiar route in their marketing communications, a strategy that results in bland copy that doesn’t connect (i.e., stand a chance) with their audience.

In one of my favorite newsletters, The Monday Morning Memo, Roy H. Williams (aka The Wizard of Ads®) gave some examples of copy that didn’t connect. He’s talking about ads but his comments hold true for any marketing communications:

1. The ad was so predictable that few people even noticed it.
SOLUTION: Get a new ad writer or remove the handcuffs from the one you've got.

2. Prospective customers noticed the ad, received the message and understood it perfectly. They just didn't care.
SOLUTION: Dump the irrelevant subject matter. Discover what people actually care about and talk about that instead.Good advice.

Before you unleash your next piece of written communication, ask yourself these questions:
• Is your copy free of technical jargon?
• Is it written in a friendly, conversational tone?
• Is it loaded with benefits, not just a list of features?
• Does it reflect the personality of your company and set you
apart from your competitors?
• Does it take complicated information and make it easy to understand?
• Does it talk about something your customer cares about?

Hopefully you answered yes to all of the above. If not, look back at point  #1 above—hire a new writer or take the handcuffs off the one you’ve got.

| Copywriting, marketing