Your prospects are not looking or waiting to read your marketing material. Therefore, if you want their business, your copy needs to speak to their interests and their needs.
If, for instance, you write “our company,” or “we,” your prospect will immediately perceive that the message is coming from your perspective, not theirs, and zone out, which will kill your sale.
Here, then, are some quick rules of thumb to make sure that your copy is customer-centric:
• Avoid words that relate to you [the marketer]: Keep “I,” “me,” “mine,” “us,” “our,” and “we” out of your copy. The customer doesn’t care about you! Anytime you mention yourself, you’re reminding the customer that they are being sold to.
• Use words that focus on the customer: If you’re saying “you” or “your” a lot, you’re doing something right. On average, good direct marketing copy has the word “you” appear every 10 or 20 words.
• Focus on the benefits: Even if you’ve got a rocket-powered anti-gravity car, the customer isn’t going to care unless you tell them that they can, “Fly Over Morning Traffic!” Be especially sure that your headline focuses on a benefit.
• Make not acting a losing situation for your customer: Create an offer that makes the customer understand that there is a tangible loss for not responding to your promotion. Whether it’s a limited-time discount, a chance at winning a new car, or a product that will get them the mate of their dreams, figure out what your customer wants most, and make it felt deeply that this will be lost if they don’t buy what you’re selling.