Message from Michelle
Welcome to the June 25, 2009, issue of S?mèr Secrets. The S?mèr team has left town this week, leaving Mama Mia and me to hold down the fort. I’ve been managing quite well; however, the longer work hours have exhausted poor Mama. She couldn’t even stay awake to read her favorite magazine, Lowcountry Dog.
The Center for Women here in Charleston extended an invitation for me to participate in their Entrepreneurial Women’s Series. On Tuesday, I was part of a panel and spoke about the importance of a clear business message online and how copy affects SEO. The positive feedback I’ve received prompted me to take my material, expand on it, and turn it into this issue’s feature article entitled Top 4 Mistakes Preventing You from Connecting with Your Target Audience.
Connect With Me Online at:
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/writtenbysumer
Facebook: www.facebook.com/michelle.salater
Blog: www.writtenbysumer.com/articles
Feature Article:
Top 4 Mistakes Preventing You from Connecting with Your Target Audience
In order to attract prospects and turn them into paying customers, you must connect with your target audience in the most clear, concise, and effective way. Before you put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard), consider the 4 common mistakes businesses make, and take action to create a clear message.
Mistake 1: The #1 mistake companies make is not deciding or knowing what your website needs to do (its purpose) or where it falls in the sales process.
Action Steps to Avoid This Mistake:
- Write down the purpose of the website. What action do you want visitors to take? Do you want them to call you, order online, or set up a free demo? Be as specific as possible.
- Write down the purpose of each webpage. Remember, not all pages need to have the same purpose.
- When you are clear about what action you want visitors to take, write clear calls to action for each webpage.
Mistake 2: The #2 mistake companies make is they focus their website message on what they think is important and not what the target needs and wants to see. You will not connect with your prospects or communicate effectively if you don’t know whom you are speaking to.
Action Steps to Avoid This Mistake:
- Narrow down your target, and be as specific as you can. You want to know and understand your prospects. Not only do you need to know the demographics but also the psychographics.
- Create a list of characteristics of your ideal client.
- Know what keeps them up at night. If you don’t know, ask current clients or send them a survey.
- Study your target audience, and speak specifically to them.
Mistake 3: The #3 mistake companies make in their online message is they don’t clearly describe their product or service and focus on the benefits. As obvious as it seems, many companies do not clearly state what their product / service is and what it does for customers.
Action Steps to Avoid This Mistake:
- Start by listing what your service or product does. Then, list the correlating benefit. Do this for each service or product you sell. Don’t forget, there may be more than one benefit.
- If you get stuck, interview yourself, or have someone close to you interview you. Doing so, you will get clear on what problem the product / service solves, how long will it take for benefits to occur, and what makes your service / product different from the others?
- When writing your marketing copy, focus the message on the benefit to the customer.
Mistake 4: The #4 mistake is not updating your message. How many times have you been to a website and you can tell from a glance that it’s been neglected or it’s outdated?
Action Steps to Avoid This Mistake:
- Frequently reevaluate your website copy and your marketing copy to see if it is current. Your web copy should to be up-to-date and well written.
- Your message must be relevant to the target market – good copy will suck them in. Bad copy will bore them and drive them away.
- Know your client, and always stay focused on the benefit or the outcome. What does the prospect get once they use your product, take your class, or hire you?
Tip of the Month
According to a study performed by the Participatory Marketing Network, only 22% of people ages 18 – 25 are using Twitter.
No related posts.
