The Most Important Copywriting Principle
Hey heyyy dear reader!
You know what I did yesterday?
I got up early, went for a morning walk and worked for 5 hours. Then I went to the gym, ate a protein-rich lunch, and took a quick nap. After the break I did some more work, ate dinner, went for another walk and relaxed in the living room before going to sleep.
I know what you’re thinking: BOOOOORRRRRIIIIIIIINNNGGGG!
You don’t give a f*ck, do you?
That's exactly what I’m talking about. The most important copywriting principle is:
NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU
Okay, maybe your mom cares but we’re talking about the professional and business side of life here – not about you being mama’s little boy.
Especially when it comes to business, nobody cares about you or your company. They only care about what you can do for them.
--> Using state-of-the art machines? → Who cares!
--> Fair to your employees? → Do you want a medal or something?
--> You’re a small family business with 35 years of experience? → So what?
So the worst thing you can do in your copy (aka marketing & sales) is to start yapping about yourself without even mentioning how that can benefit the customer.
Doesn’t matter if it’s a home page, landing page, email, ad, or whatever. This principle doesn’t change.
Let’s take a look at a bad example. Btw, I am writing this on the fly, this is not an actual company.
Bad example:
“We are the XYZ roofing company founded in 1987. The founder Mark Johnson started by helping out a friend to fix his roof. Then he helped a few other people on his street and eventually turned it into a thriving business.
Mark retired in 2017 and let his son, Andrew, take charge of the company. XYZ roofing is using state-of-the-art technology to manufacture and provide 7 types of roofs in 14 different colors in its factory in Glendale, AZ.
Our employees are all roofing experts with years of experience under their belt. And as you will hear from our satisfied customers all over Glendale, our service is unmatched because our phones are always open, whether you’re > already a customer or just need to ask us something.”
Alright, how does this look?
Pretty awful if you ask me. It’s only about US, US, US and nothing about YOU.
So let’s take a look at how to improve this.
Good example:
“Thinking about redoing your roof?
Maybe because it feels like you’re outside when it’s raining. Or simply because it’s plain ugly. Doesn't matter. We’re not here to judge, we're here to fix your roof and fulfill your wishes.
Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility provides 7 different types of roofs in 14 colors so you can choose only the best fit for your home and your family. Having well-maintained machines means we can work more quickly and offer 20% lower prices than our Glendale competitors. Check our pricing catalog, it’s all in there.
And we know you don’t care that we won the “Best Customer Service” award among roofing companies in Glendale for 7 years in a row. But for you, that means we always pick up the phone and we show up at your house within 30 minutes if you have a roof emergency.”
Alright, this is much better already!
Care to guess why?
Well, you know the answer – because it’s focused on the customer, or what we can do FOR THEM. Simple.
We don’t even talk about the founder, how old the company is, or who is running the show after the founder retired….because NOBODY CARES.
I mean, sure, after you’re interested in their services you might take a peek into the company to check if they’re legit and glance over the company history.
But that only comes later, AFTER you already established you want to do business with them or you’re considering doing business with them.
They hooked you in by saying how they can fix your problem, not by endlessly yapping about themselves.
Got it? Good.
Sincerely,
Filip Stanojevic – Just Another Person Who Doesn’t Care About You (Probably)