If you are a small or startup business, here are ten easy tips to make sure all your promotional materials really communicate with your customers and, as a result, work as hard as they possibly can. Remember, brochures, flyers, websites, adverts, sales letters … even your business card … are all ways to get more customers for your business.

ASK YOURSELF: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS PIECE OF COMMUNICATION?

• to generate an incoming call or email?
• to warm up a prospect before you call them
• to close a sale?
• to make a sale when they already know about the product (like Amazon where all they need is a price list and an easy way to buy)
• or do they need lots of hard-sell to convince them your offering is better than someone else's?
• to give to customers to take away after a face-to-face meeting?
• to give a prospective client your contact details?
• to create an impression about your professionalism?
• to greet people to your website who've seen your ad?
• how long does it need to last? (does it need to be regularly updated?..choose a loose leaf format brochure etc)
• where is it going to appear? (eg on a page full of ads for identical services in the Yellow Pages? … on someone's doormat amongst all the bills and personal letters? etc etc)

Architects say: "FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION"

• -what it's meant to achieve dictates how it's structured and what it looks like
  
• -it tells you what information and how much information you need to put in to meet your objective
• -that's why direct response ads (and shopping channels) have the phone number onscreen all the time and why they are much longer than regular ads (which are about awareness, not sales)
  

SAY WHAT THE READER WANTS TO HEAR

Having established what you want him to do, now start to think about the things that might persuade him to do it! The reasons he should act.

The customer likes to hear about himself and talk about himself more than anything else (don't we all!). So, SAY THE THINGS THAT HE WANTS TO HEAR!

• this is THE most important consideration when you begin
• put yourself into your customer's mind
• what things are most important to the CUSTOMER?
• what are the benefits of your product or service to him?
• we're all customers when we're buying but often, when we start selling, we instantly forget how a customer likes to be treated! (especially where restaurants are concerned!)
• service, price, personality, reliability, location, experience, availability?
• what information does he need to make his decision to do the thing you want him to do?
• what factual things does he need to know? eg your phone number
• bear in mind the context of how/where the piece of material is received

WHAT ARE YOU ACTUALLY SELLING/OFFERING?

Be clear about what your customer takes out of your product or service…and what frame of mind he's in when he's considering using you. A lot of people don't sell, they make the customer do all the hard work! Mistake unless you are utterly unique and so desirable that people will fight to buy your latest offering!

• Some people say "Sell the sizzle not the sausage"
• "We sell sausages" or…
• "See your children's faces burst into smiles when you serve up a juicy, sizzling, tasty treat!"
• Are you selling Plumbing … or Peace of Mind?
• Are you selling used baby equipment or "the wise-mother's alternative to high street ripoffs"!
• Are you offering to write some Copy … or a way to "Get Hordes of New Customers Racing to your Door?"
• A customer may think she's looking for a haidresser but actually she's looking for a way to feel good, attractive, sexy

BE DIFFERENT, UNIQUE EVEN!

• your Unique Selling Point
  …"the estate agent that returns your calls"
  …"the plumber that turns up on time"
  …"the cheap lawyer" etc…
• why should the customer call you rather than anyone else in the yellow pages?
• stand out from the crowd by offering something different
• make sure your deliver what you promise!

TURN A BORING DESCRIPTION INTO AN EXCITING BENEFIT

• customers don't want to know about you, they want to learn what you're going to do for them
• you are selling benefits, benefits, benefits (…the sizzle not the sausage) - so don't start by showing your name or your business name
• lead with the main benefit/s they'll get by using you or your product
• turn descriptions of what you do/what your product does into benefits for your customer - here's a great way to do it….

"YOU CAN and BECAUSE…" the magic ingredients

(This technique is used by all the world's best direct marketing copywriters!)

• on a piece of paper make a list of all the reasons why you think your customer should buy your product or service.
• don't worry if they seem small reasons [eg "I'm local"] Write them down anyway.

(If you can't think of any, now might be the time to reconsider your business model!)

• now rewrite each reason beginning with YOU CAN, to see the reason from your customer's perspective … ie what benefit he gets as a result

("I'm local" for a plumber might become "YOU CAN rely on a fast and efficient service BECAUSE I'm just round the corner" the BECAUSE is the reason why the benefit rings true. The BECAUSE is the fact that makes the BENEFIT believable)

• suddenly you've turned simple descriptions of your business into benefits for your customer
• they should seem much more motivating
• now put them in order of greatest importance TO YOUR CUSTOMER, not to you!
• This list of YOU CANs can form the basis of all your promotional materials
• Use each You Can for a paragraph, for example, in a letter or brochure

Tip: you don't always need to actually print "You can…", just use the technique to generate benefits: "[You can] Relax in the knowledge that I'm fully CORGI registered"

Tip2: You can also write a second list of REASONS NOT TO USE ME, then overcome every objection, too. The world's top Direct Marketing copywriters do this all the time.

ASK THEM TO DO SOMETHING

• call us now!
• tell them how, step by step
• never underestimate the opportunities for people to get it wrong!
• clearly and in an obvious place
• make it easy
• 'fill in your email here' and click…
• be certain that if they respond someone will be there to talk to them, your website will be up and running etc

WHAT you say is much more important than HOW you say it;

Nevertheless, here are a few tips about writing good copy:

• AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
• talk one-to-one as if you're in the pub (easier said then done!)
• try to write about your customer (not about yourself/your company)
• use YOU as much as possible, not WE
• use ordinary, everyday words, don't try and be posh or literary!
• avoid JOKES or PUNS etc..don't try and be funny, you'll fail! (If you're using a copywriter to write your stuff, run a mile if he suggests puns and wordplay)
• short sentences
• read it out loud when you've finished…if you cringe, or stumble over words, it's wrong, start again
• appropriate tone of voice (eg if you're a funeral director, jokes are probably a no-no!)
• KISS, keep it simple, stoooopid!
• keep it relevant…ask yourself will your customer really want to know this? Or will they simply say SO WHAT?

TESTIMONIALS

• add third party approval
• very strong, very useful
• allow you to 'boast' in a non-offensive way!

USE OFFERS/INCENTIVES

Appeal to people's greed!…sweeten the deal for them!

• free, limited time discounts
• gifts
• special price this month only etc
• lucky draw (be careful with draws, they're often illegal!)
• make sure you follow up on them eg on your website
• deliver on your promise otherwise it's worse than having no offer at all!
• offers are a good way to make you unique, too, in a crowded market
• direct marketing professionals always start with the offer before anything else is considered

GET THE WORDS BEFORE THE DESIGN

• write it (or hire a copywriter) FIRST before you go to a designer, web developer, printer etc.
• it's the words that count, the imagery comes second (unless you're selling interior design or paintings etc. where the images might be more important than the words in some instances)
• be careful with pictures: use a professional photographer if you're not very confident. You may not need them at all.
• getting a printer to design your materials: you often end up with something ghastly, multi-coloured, hard to read, on thick, glossy paper
• if you use a designer, ask him to keep it really simple
• make sure it's easy to read with simple dark type on a light coloured background
• avoid swirly, fancy type like the plague: no one will bother to read it and you'll look naff
• don't let the design get in the way of the MESSAGE

FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT!

• someone who doesn't know you or your business will make a lot of judgements based on your promotional materials
• so what do you want to say about yourself… start-up, hard-up or clued up?
• home-made flyers and business cards are usually awful unless you really know what you're doing
• home made business cards…type comes off in your customer's hand, they're too thin and they make you look naff.
• the ones you get from machines (eg Saffron Walden post office) are miles better as long as you keep them simple
• look out for spelling mistakes and typos (no excuse!)
• photocopies are for cub-scout groups not professional businesses
• Your logo can say a lot about you (good and bad!)…if you feel you need one, get one professionally designed

BUT BEWARE!

• do people look at your website or brochure and go, WOW what a great website (brochure, ad etc) or do they go WOW what a great product, service, offer etc?
• you want the second option (and it's usually much cheaper than the first!)
  
  

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