By Steve Plummer
Have You Got Rip-Snortin’ Answers to These Four Questions?
Ok, so there are four BIG and important questions you must have absolutely cracking, killer, rip-snorting answers to if you want your marketing to work.
This applies to any marketing, online as well as offline. In fact if you nail these questions, you’ll get instant clarity that could result in big paydays, so stick with me here.
Why are they important? Because in our fast-paced world of ever-increasing clutter if you don’t get these right, your marketing risks being weak, ineffective and virtually pointless because no-one will take any notice.
Ouch! And it probably means a lot of money down the drain and a whole heap of time wasted.
So what are the four questions? In your head, quickly think of what these four BIG questions might be… quick, without reading on, just 10 seconds of thinking…
Right, here’s a quick pop quiz for you… did you think the questions would be something like:
- How long have you been in business? …
- Do you provide good service? …
- Is your product well presented? …
- Does your product do what you what you say it will? …
How many did you get right?
4 out of 4? 2?
STOP! WARNING Will Robinson… plain vanilla marketing coming up… weak message, poor response… DANGER… WARNING! WARNING!
Ok, so I got a little carried away but you get the point?
Your marketing can’t revolve around YOU, it must revolve around the market and what it wants… so how long you’ve been in business blah, blah is just that… blah.
The REAL four BIG questions you must answer are:
- Why should your targeted prospects read your stuff or listen to what you say?
- Why should your targeted prospects believe what you have to say?
- Why should your targeted prospects do anything about what you’re offering?
- Why should your targeted prospects act NOW?
These “four biggies” were pioneered by Maxwell Sackheim, a Russian immigrant to the US who spent 75 years in direct marketing. Nothing has changed, the questions are just as relevant today.
In fact Dan Kennedy suggests you put these up in your office in a prominent place so they guide you in your business… darn good advice.
Ok, so here are some quick pointers for each question:
Why should your targeted prospects read your stuff or listen to what you say? Because you have something to sell? Nope. Because you’ve been in business X years and offer great service? Nope. It all must be about them and what they get. So your headline must hit THEIR “hot” buttons… never never never use the word “We” (We’ve Been Creating Happy Clients for 10 Years kinda thing) but try to sneak in the word “You”… huge difference. You need clarity here, why should they listen to you and then tell them why!
Why should your targeted prospects believe what you have to say?
We live in a sceptical world, with good reason. What to do? Of course you’ll have your testimonials but MARKET DATA (not product data) is the key here… what trends are occurring, what statistics can you find… hugely important to make your message legitimate and make your product appear to be a “real” solution to the “problem” identified in the data. Quick example if you’re in the finance game you’ll tell them how tough it is with 7 of the last 14 meetings of the Reserve Bank resulting in interest rate rises, you’ll tell them bankruptcies nearly doubled between 2007 and 2010… and of course the solution to this “proved pain” will be your product or service. Market data is very powerful “proof” to use.
Why should your targeted prospects do anything about what you’re offering? Your product or service must clearly solve their problem or meet their want. Interesting just won’t cut it. “Reasons Why” copy is extremely useful here. You know how it goes… “Here’s five reasons why you should crawl over broken glass to get your hands on X”. Of course you would also tie it into market data discussed in question 2 above.
Why should your targeted prospects act NOW?
I remember when I first started out with Mal (Emery, the “Millionaire Maker” as his personal copywriter) I was under an extremely tight deadline to get a marketing piece out… he reviewed my copy and said, “Great, but it won’t work, want to know why?” Of course I did and it was an easy fix: there was no scarcity and urgency. The lesson has never left me. I knew it wasn’t there in that sales copy but due to time and the nature of the product I had left it out… NEVER NEVER again… must have scarcity and urgency, otherwise they won’t buy. Why? It delves deeply into human psychology centred on the fear of loss PLUS we all want what we can’t have. So give them legitimate reasons to buy now (note, an eBook running out of stock is not a legitimate one!!!). What it is it that will get them off the couch to take action?
There you go, four biggies to help give you clarity and cut through the clutter…
You MUST, MUST, MUST have awesome answers to these questions – they’ll act like a beacon for all your marketing.
Steve Plummer is one of Australia’s highest paid and in-demand copywriters and is the personal copywriter for Australia’s “Millionaire Maker” Mal Emery. Steve’s marketing and writing savvy have resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra sales for many happy clients. Follow Steve’s blog at StevePlummerOnline.com
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