As I was growing up, I was constantly reminded to use the ‘magic’ word. Back then it was ‘please’. Today, as a copywriter, the magic word is ‘you’.
You might wonder what’s so magical about the word ‘you’ – well, I’ll tell you. It is a word that helps you build relationships and rapport with your readers.
When writing a piece of sales copy, it is all to easy to write from your perspective. You’ll probably tell your readers things such as:
- When your company was formed
- How many members of staff you have
- What your aims as a company are
- What you can do
- What your opening hours are
- What your opinions are
Don’t see anything wrong with that list?
Who is going to be buying?
That is a very important question you should always have in your mind when writing copy. Who is going to be buying your product?
Your reader, right?
So, if you want the person reading your sales copy to buy your product, why are you talking about yourself and your company?
You and your reader aren’t that dissimilar – you are both only concerned about one thing – yourself.
You want to tell the world how great your business is and your reader wants to hear how their life will be transformed with your product. Therefore when writing copy, put your ego to one side and write to your reader.
Tell them what they want to hear:
- They will save time with your product
- They will save money with your product
- They will be the envy of their friends if they own your product
- They will be better at sport with your product
- They will be more attractive to the opposite sex with your product
As you can see, you and your company don’t feature in this list; it’s all about your reader and what they want to know.
Talk to them
By using words such as ‘you’ and ‘your’, you are starting a conversation. If you cast your mind back to the last product you bought, think about what the sales person was like who served you. I’m betting they were probably helpful, polite and above all, concerned about your needs and what you were looking for.
By producing copy that comes across in the same way, your readers will warm to you and begin to trust you. Of course, any benefits you write about have to be honest, but using the power of ‘you’ will draw your reader in.