Module 1 Flashcards
Difference between Benefits and Features
Benefits: “What’s in it for me?” Describe why something is useful to someone. Solve a problem for someone.
Features: Details about the product
Why do clients love features?
Features give companies a way to showcase the new details about their products.
When benefits are like magic…
Consumers will buy a product based on the benefits - not based on the features.
How do you figure out the benefits of a product?
What’s the purpose of the product?
How does it make lives better?
What problem does it solve?
How does it help the consumer? And how does that help them? And how does that help them?
Deep benefit thinking
Benefits that involve the emotion behind why someone would want to use a product; can be used to craft the most effective message
How to identify the deep benefit?
- Identify the benefit.
- Think about your target market. What are their hopes, needs? What are they secretly afraid of? Put yourself in their shoes.
- Identify how your benefits address those deeper issues.
Customization - benefit or feature?
Customization is just a feature; a benefit would be saying “They decrease foot pain.”
Why don’t health club people make the sale?
Because they don’t actually ASK someone to purchase. Don’t forget to actually ask for the sale!
Copywriter as the compass for the consumer
Always show the customer where to go within the copy…make every step smooth and sensible
How many steps can one person take?
A person take only take one step at a time - they can’t email, message, sign up, repost, etc. all at once. Decide which is your highest priority and make that the most clear.
CTA
Call to action - don’t split the consumer’s attention. Make your highest priority CTA very clear!
Needs to start with a verb.
Brand Voice
The words, style, intonation and sounds a brand uses in their copywriting. What the brand would sound like if it were a person.
How to identify brand voice
Tone guide…or…
Look at already completed pieces:
If this brand were a person, how would you describe it?
What words would it say/not say?
Phrases would it use/not use?
What words pop up again and again in the copy?
How to write brand voice
Collect all current collateral.
Write one line and try it several times using the descriptors you have gotten (or created). Do many different versions of one line in as many different styles as you can. See what fits the best. Use that style for the rest of your piece.
How to create brand voice
If this brand were a person, how would you describe it?
What words would it say/not say?
Phrases use/not use?
If person, who would it be?
Car does it drive?
Favorite bands? TV shows? Music?
Get to know the voice like a best friend.
How to identify your audience
Demographics, target audience, sex, household income, education level, profession, hobbies, habits, magazines, books, cars, patterns…what sets this group apart from other groups.
How/when/why will they encounter your brand? Used daily/weekly/sparingly?
How to dig deeper to identify their needs
Put yourself in their shoes…
What are their daily problems? What really bothers them? Daily challenges?
Most frustrating part of lives?
Fears? Loves?
What would they change about their lives? What would stay the same?
How to cater your message to their needs
Copy needs to be in the brand voice, but using words your audience can relate to.
Don’t talk down to your audience!
How to handle multiple audiences
(Remember bank example)
You can/will have multiple audiences, but you can’t talk to them all at once.
Main touchpoint (website home page) should be in the basic brand voice, and speak to the general company
Outbound messages, or specific pages of a site can be tailored to a specific type of audience member
Different types of media
Ways to deliver a message
Banner ads, videos, emails, direct mail, social media, newspaper ad, etc.
How different types of media constrain
Consider space, which will affect the copy you can create
Consider where people will actually see the project.
Remember the copy’s context. Where will it be seen (high attention place vs. low attention place)
How different types of media free you
Limits can make it easier to whittle your own message down.
How to work within different media types
Start BIG and then whittle down to match the space for your media type.
What is copywriting?
Writing that aims to sell or get a consumer to take some sort of action.
Two types of copywriting
Direct response and branding
Direct response copywriting
Designed to get an immediate response; used to generate sales and drive traffic
Hard sell - wants immediate action
Online ads, direct mail
Branding copywriting
More about establishing the image of a product, creating awareness; exposes people to a product/company and elicits a certain feeling
Soft sell - immediate action would be nice, but looking to evoke an emotion and feeling toward the brand (they are looking to get people to want to buy-in to that feeling)
Glossy magazine ads, TV ads
