I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but there’s an ugly truth that you need to know right now. I know it might sound harsh and there are certainly exceptions to this, but a fact is a fact.
Your customers don’t care about you or your business. They only care about themselves.
But before you start thinking your customers are selfish, egocentric maniacs, just remember, this is all totally normal in this scenario. After all, you’re providing a service or product that’s specifically tailored to make their lives easier or better. So why wouldn’t they be thinking only about themselves?
The good news is that you can leverage this information to your advantage. All you have to do is write your website copy to be more customer-centric. By doing so, you create a better connection with your audience while persuading them to do business with you.
To give you a hand, here are a few tips to help you focus your website copywriting on your customers.
Understand Your Audience.
Knowing your target audience and understanding them are two totally different things. Knowing them means you have all the demographics down – gender, age, ethnicity, location, marital status, etc. While that’s important, it doesn’t tell you anything about why they think or behave the way they do.
- What challenges are they facing in their business?
- What’s preventing them from investing in your services?
- What changed that caused them to seek you out?
- Why do they prefer the Star Wars prequel trilogy over the original?
Understanding your audience lets you talk more honestly to them about how you can help.
Focus On Their Pains.
One of the greatest tools in your disposal is the power of empathy. It lets you understand and share what others are feeling or experiencing. When you understand the pains and challenges your customers are going through, you’ll discover new ways your services can help them get them through their day.
Offer Benefits, Not Features.
As cool as some features are, they only matter if your audience understands how it benefits them. Take David Ogilvy’s campaign for Rolls-Royce. He wrote, “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.”
Instead of talking about the fact that the vehicle was designed to reduce the noise from the wind and the engine, he told the audience that they’d have the benefit of peace and quiet while driving down the road.
By focusing on the benefits, you send a clear message to your audience that your products or services will make their lives easier or better.
Write Your Copy in Second Person.
It should go without saying that you should write directly to your audience. The easiest way to do to this is to use second-person pronouns like you, your, yours and yourself, while cutting back on first-person pronouns like I, me, us, our and ourselves.
This helps you change ‘me’ messaging into ‘you’ messaging so you’re more focused on telling your customer what’s in it for them and how you can help improve their lives.
Speak Their Language.
Every industry has its own unique community made up of the people that create it and participate in it. And these communities have their own language. For example, in the gaming industry, there are noobs, campers and DLC. By learning their language and using it in your website copy, you show you are part of the community. Just don’t lose your audience by using complex industry jargon, acronyms or technical language.
Use Conversational Copy.
Conversational copy is perfect for making your audience feel like you’re speaking directly to them. It’s informal and human making it comes across as more meaningful, relevant and personal. There are several ways you can do this including:
- Ask relevant questions.
- Use contractions.
- Add personality.
- Ignore certain grammar rules.
To read more about how to write conversational website copy, click here.
Use Social Proof.
Did you know that 88% of consumers trust user reviews just as much as a personal recommendation? Think about that for a second. Your audience is willing to trust the word of a complete stranger almost as much as they would a family member or friend.
By adding social proof on your website, you reassure your audience that you have improved the lives of others and you can do the same for them.
Some of the best types of social proof include:
- Customer testimonials.
- Expert approval.
- Celebrity Endorsement.
- Metrics
- Client lists.
Give Specific CTAs.
While there are certainly some people that don’t like to be told what to do, most of us are perfectly fine with following instruction. In fact, most people respond well when given specific instructions. That’s why it’s important to include specific calls-to-action (CTAs) when you write your website copy.
The first thing you need to do is decide exactly what you want your customer to do. In other words, what’s your objective? Once you know that, you can develop CTAs that use active, positive language that convinces them to take the final step you’ve been building as they’ve been reading your website copy.
If you want specific tips on how to make your own website more customer-driven, reach out and connect with me. With a website copy audit, you’ll have a better understanding of how to improve your website copy by telling you what you’re doing right, and more importantly, where you can improve.
Until next time…
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