A copywriting cure for boring marketing materials

by Tom Trush

Boredom.

It's the demise of all marketing materials.

If you can't instantly grab your prospects' attention, any piece you use to promote your business becomes invisible. This is one reason why a strong headline is essential.

But once prospects read past your headline, you still must keep them interested. You also want to make them active participants in your marketing message.

The following copywriting strategy is one way you can maintain your prospects' attention and keep them engaged. What makes this approach so powerful is your copy gets readers to realize they need your product or service. Best of all, they come to this conclusion without you actually telling them.

Here's how it works...

After you write your headline, begin your body copy with a series of questions. The secret to this strategy is the answers to these questions.

Your prospects should only know the answers if they have the knowledge to achieve their desired end result. If they don't know the answers, then your product or service becomes the logical solution to their problems.

The easiest way to understand this strategy is with an example. So take a minute to read the following squeeze page copy I recently wrote to target Canadian consumers shopping for a mortgage:

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Do you know how to lock in the guaranteed lowest interest rate on your mortgage (for as long as 120 days) -- even before you begin shopping for your next home?

Do you know what time of the year offers the best opportunity for buying property at a discount?

If you have bruised credit or a bankruptcy, do you know the steps you must take to prove you can manage your money and how to then find lenders who will eagerly give you low interest rates?

As you know, today's economy has changed the rules for lending. But that doesn't mean you still can't save thousands of dollars on your mortgage or refinance.

The problem you face is confusion. With so many changes, it's nearly impossible to stay on top of all the programs and pitfalls facing today's consumers. It's no wonder why so many people have given up on getting their dream homes.

If the lending process has left you more confused than empowered, take a deep breath and relax. You're about to get an entirely new outlook on how you can secure a hassle-free home mortgage.

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Notice how the questions point out to prospects their lack of information. The only way to get the knowledge they need is by requesting the free special report I wrote for the client as a lead-capture tool. The instant a report is requested, the client knows that prospect needs a mortgage.

Pretty painless way to get qualified leads, isn't it?

Here's another example of the same copywriting strategy used in an article I wrote for a client about choosing the right type of employee:

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Do you know why you instantly eliminate up to 90 percent of available job candidates when you limit your search to temporary workers?

If your firm struggles with efficiency or redundancy, do you know why immediately filling your full-time vacancy with a full-time employee can cause you to squander time and money?

Do you know why you should avoid sharing your company, department and job role needs before questioning candidates during your interviews?

These are innocent mistakes that nearly everyone makes when filling vacant positions. But with some simple knowledge, you'll have no problem avoiding them the next time you hire new staff.

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In this case, prospects must continue reading the article to find out the answers.

In both examples, did you notice there are no "me" messages (i.e., messages about a company or individual)? Instead, all the copy appeals to a prospect's needs and wants.

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© Trey Ryder

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