When anyone is planning to present their products or services to potential clients they want to use the words that their target audience will relate to. If you work with a search engine optimisation programme these are usually called ‘key words’ (although they may be a phrase rather than a single word) and need to be incorporated into the web pages for the company.
However, this applies no matter what the ‘vehicle’ is – whether it’s a sales letter, a flyer, a brochure or an email. People are looking for their key words. It’s a bit like being at a party with lots of people talking; you can’t hear what everyone is saying there’s too much noise, but, if someone says your name on the other side of the room, there’s a good chance you’ll hear it.
People read like that too. If they’re looking for something they don’t really read all the copy on a page (or or off screen), but the scan it looking for those key words they have in mind. This means that every company needs to know what people are searching for when they start planning any kind of marketing. Bear in mind that the words that the client thinks are important are often NOT what their customers are looking for.
e.g. We produce webcopy that is highly readable – but my clients aren’t looking for that. They’re looking for:
• How to keep people on their website
• Get people to buy my products
• Get people to join my marketing list
• Generate more leads
… and that’s just for starters!
One exercise we complete to our clients to really target their message is to get them to do a FAB chart (Features, Advantages, Benefits) and use the benefits to create those magic key words.
