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Moving communication campaigns into action |
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Bored with your writing? Here are seven ways to say the same thing Here is a back issue of Marketing Booster, the email newsletter that Richard Groom writes and sends free every fortnight to subscribers. You can subscribe here or read over 60 back issues using the back issues index page. At the copywriting workshops I run, people often say they have this problem: if they are writing a series of brochures, web pages, sales letters and leaflets all about the same product, how can they avoid being too repetitive? Here are seven techniques you can use to present similar information in different ways. 1. Write about the consequences of NOT taking action. This is a new angle on the theory I often talk about: understanding your clients' problems to help you to work out what to write. What extra problems will people encounter if they don't buy your services or products? What could happen in the future if they don't take action now? Written properly, this sort of message can help create a very motivational argument for buying from you. 2. A tried and tested method is to go down the 'ten things you never knew' route. So something like 'ten ways that employers can save money on recruitment' (if you are a recruitment agency). You can nearly always come up with at least five 'facts' on any subject in this way, and of course you can link them to your product's features. 3. Use the question and answer format. But make sure the questions sound like things customers would really ask. 4. Create case studies. They can be either full-blown documents or just a few paragraphs. Tell stories about how real people used your products to their advantage. 5. Pick up on a recent news story. For example, going back to our recruitment agency, write about new equal pay legislation and then how your agency helps companies to comply. (This is great if you want to get another 'keep in touch' letter out to people.) 6. Take the value-adding approach. Write about general techniques people can use to improve their situation, and then clarify how your product will help them do this. People might be more interested in objective words than in 'buy me' messages. 7. Try writing fast on your first draft. Once you know your subject, just sit down and bash out a few hundred words as quickly as possible. You might end up with something refreshingly different from the carefully planned material you usually write. There are lots more angles and approaches, but hopefully you might get some inspiration from these seven to help you the next time you need to come up with something a bit different. Copyright 2003 Richard Groom |