I feel like many marketing campaigns regularly devolve into a huge game of “follow the leader.”
Some marketing expert makes a comment or gets a successful result and we all rush to our own websites and funnels to make the changes this person recommends.
Which would be fine, if we all put our own spins to them.
Unfortunately, a lot of businesses copy exactly what Expert X does, to the letter.
I have seen the same copy on different websites, landing pages and ads, in totally different industries, with the appropriate names and industry terms changed.
That’s it.
People, that’s not the way to do it.
Expert X may have had great success with their marketing campaign and may have sold the campaign formula to you for some figure ending with a 9 or a 7. And the campaign formula may work.
However, you can’t copy it word for word, regardless of what Expert X says.
You have to take what’s there and make it your own.
This is what cover bands do to their music. They may cover everyone’s favorite songs, but they take what’s there and add their own touches to it. (Because who doesn’t love the heavy metal version of Sounds of Silence, by Simon and Garfunkel. Yes, this exists in more than one form.)
You need to find your voice, your brand, your style, whatever you want to call it, and incorporate that into your marketing campaign.
You need to tell your story.
This gives you two advantages:
- You stand out from your competitors (who all look alike because they bought the same campaign formula.)
- You attract the right customers to your business. The customers who love what you do, purchase from you regularly and become evangelists for your company.
Being Original is Worth Every Penny
I’ve seen so much bad marketing out there over the years.
Candidly, it hurts.
It hurts to know that some business owner spent way too much of their hard-earned cash to get someone to do a crappy job on their marketing, just to make them look like everybody else.
These are usually “templatized” marketing campaigns, websites, what have you. It’s a system where a business can pay a small amount and another company will churn out a piece of marketing collateral that they claim will “convert customers like crazy” but is basically similar to the old MadLibs where you stick the right words in the blank spaces to get a funny script.
Don’t do this to your business!!!
No, really, don’t.
I know it’s less expensive than working with someone like me, who does charge a lot. And I know you’re a small business, or you’re just starting out, or you’re not getting enough customers to be able to afford a solid marketing campaign.
But you’re wasting your money.
Seriously.
I have clients coming to me all the time who have bad experiences with templatized campaigns or websites. They tell me how disappointed they are and want to know how I can help them fix things.
And yes, it costs them more than they paid for the templatized marketing campaign or website.
But guess what?
My copy works.
Because it’s written for their business to sell their products or services.
And here’s why…
I weave your story into your marketing copy to make you stand out from all your competitors. I find those little details that you may feel are insignificant, but matter a great deal to your customers, and highlight them.
Why?
Because I don’t want to write the same words over and over and over. It’s boring and everyone is tired of reading them.
I want to tell your story and sing the praises of your product or service, so all the world will hear.
That’s why it’s worth it to pay more, to get the right marketing campaign, the first time.
Yes, it’s expensive. But it’s an investment in your business. One that will pay off a lot a lot faster than one of those templatized things.
Do You Stand Out In the Crowd or Do You Blend In with Your Competitors?
I used to write for a major marketing company where we built full websites for clients in a specific industry.
One of our wonderful designers came up with an image of a green apple in amongst the oranges for the hero image of one of these websites.
One of our talented copywriters came up with a headline that was something like “We stand out from the crowd.”
That website won awards and was featured all over the company’s marketing materials.
Every company that hired us, wanted a similar image and headline because this particular website was for a top competitor in that industry
Talk about not getting the message.
Yet I see this happen over and over.
When I write for my clients, I always ask who their competitors are and if there are any websites or writing styles they do like. I do this, so I can get a baseline for what is out there.
But I don’t copy the competition.
I don’t want my clients to look like everyone else, I want them to be cooler than the competition. To stand out from the crowd (as it were).
You absolutely should look at what your competition is doing with their marketing campaigns. You should understand what they believe motivates their audience (which is probably similar to, if not the same as, yours.)
But don’t copy what they’re doing.
Find what makes you better or more interesting than the competition and use that as the focus for your marketing campaigns.
Be cooler than the competition.
Again, you’ll attract the right audience and convert customers who will love what you do and become evangelists for your company.
How to Tell Your Company’s Story
Whenever a client signs on to do a project with me, I always send them a Creative Brief, which I ask them to fill out prior to our client interview.
It’s a 6-page document that asks a bunch of basic questions about your business, the types of marketing you’ve done in the past and what you want to achieve with the project we’re doing.
It gets a lot of basic questions out of the way, so I have that information and I don’t need to ask about it during the client interview. It also gives me a chance to ask some complex questions about their business and current marketing efforts.
I’m always thrilled when clients are able to answer these complex questions because it means I’m going to get a great story from them.
You may wonder why your story matters to your customers. Shouldn’t they just be interested in your product or service?
Well, yes, that’s what you ultimately want.
But you also want to connect with them on a deeper level. This creates a stronger relationship and makes it more likely they’ll be repeat customers, instead of one-time buyers.
During the client interview, I always ask why a client got into whatever business they’re in and why it matters to them. I usually get some great answers that I can turn into fantastic copy for their project.
Telling the story of how you got to where you are and why you do what you do is a great way to get there. Your story attracts the “right” customers to your business and products and services and persuades them to buy. That’s why it’s such a powerful marketing tool.
Do your customers ask you why you do what you do?
What do you tell them?
Do you have a story of a spectacular failure that led you to where you are now?
Is there a driving reason behind why you started your own business?
Does your product fulfill a need that has an interesting story behind it?
Think about that, or even ask someone to “interview” you to get your story.
Then use that as part of your marketing campaign.
Your customers want to hear these tales. They want to know the “why” behind your business.
Yes, this matters to them.
For some it will be for personal reasons. For others, it’s because they want to support what you’re doing because they believe in your mission.
Above all, when your customers understand your story, your “why,” it builds a deeper relationship between you.
It makes them more invested in your business. Which means they’ll continue to support what you do by buying your products or services and recommending them to your friends and family.
Which is really the best marketing campaign you can possibly have.
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