In working with a new client on a direct mail piece, I was reminded of a tried-and-true creative technique for capturing the attention of your audience: the P.S.
Use the P.S. (literally postscript) to summarize your key point and call-to-action. This single sentence is your opportunity to restate your proposition in a way that will grab your reader’s attention.
And, more importantly, the P.S. will be read by up to 90 percent of those who open the mailing. Enough said.
I’m constantly asking my clients who they’re trying to reach. When it comes to effectively communicating, you must know who you’re talking to. You wouldn’t talk to a first-grader the same way you would talk with a college professor, right?
Here’s a tip for getting inside the mind of your audience:
Go to where your customers are and silently observe. Watch what they do and how they do it. Read the emails they send customer service. Eavesdrop on their conversations with each other.
Refrain from making assumptions. Resist the urge to lead. Don’t ask questions (just this once). Simply watch and listen.
I promise you’ll come away with a new perspective about what their proverbial “pain points” are, but you’ll also have fresh insight into what motivates and excites them.
I’ve been paying attention to how everyone from clients to clergy and teachers to toddlers communicate. And one thing I’ve noticed is that those who incorporate a personal story (theirs or someone else’s) capture — and retain — their audience’s interest.
Telling a personal story (and by personal, I mean sharing an experience related to what’s being shared with the audience) helps create an emotional connection between you and your audience. It puts your message into context but it does so in a way that’s relevant, engaging and memorable to the reader or listener.
Need some inspiration for how to infuse a little human interest into your copy? Read a newspaper, listen to a sermon, visit with a former soldier, or ask a child what they want to be when they grow up and why.
From pseudodictionary to unword, the web is replete with sites dedicated to made-up words. TV personalities and sitcoms are famous for them, too. (Think Rachael Ray’s “fantabulous” and Archie Bunker’s “groinocologist.”) Made-up words have no doubt helped define pop culture for the better part of the last few decades.
Using made-up words is especially fun among family and friends. Our favorite is “musharoni pizza,” short for half mushroom, half pepperoni. It came about purely by accident, but it stuck and is now a standard at our house most Friday nights.
But take heed: made-up words have little to no place in your web copy. Words like “customerization,” and “dimensionalize” are not so much clever as cute and do little in the way of optimizing search or helping customers understand who you are and what you have to offer.
And, while you’re at it, be wary of overused words such as “solutions” and “optimized.” Best way to do that is to speak to the benefit of the customer … not to yourself or your company.
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