subject: Direct Marketing Copywriters in Ireland Are Facing into a Tough Year [print this page] Direct Marketing Copywriters in Ireland Are Facing into a Tough Year
"But why on earth would anyone buy this from you?"
by Robert Hayes-McCoy
The above is a question that always gets me into trouble with clients. And yet I know if I don't ask it, I'll be missing out on something important. Now, let me share a secret with you.
Back in the lean 1980's in Ireland no self-respecting marketing copywriter would consider him/herself properly armed to write copy for a sales letter or promotional brochure without knowing at least two or three USP's' for the product or service that he/she was being asked to write the copy for.
What those three letters: USP.' stand for is Unique Selling Point'. And believe me, if a product or service didn't have a bevy of unique selling points to support it, it was in dire danger of being classified as a dead duck before it ever got the chance to float in the market.
The copywriter's task was to present his reader with as many USP's as possible and the copywriter's skill was to assemble these USP's in the correct order so as to create the maximum appeal to the maximum number of readers.
Those were the days when USP-packed' headlines such as Ten reasons why you should buy now', were commonplace. Those also were the days when often there were so many USP's included in a client's brief that the great difficulty that a copywriter was often faced with was identifying the No.1 USP... the best one... the top one to use in the headline.
A formula which I developed to help to quickly and accurately identify the No.1 USP for my copy was to adopt a tone of amazement and ask my clients a very blunt question: "But why on earth would anyone buy this from you?"
As you can appreciate, it wasn't always a popular question for me to ask client or a potential client, but it sure did help to focus the client's mind. And most times, the curt answer that I got to this provocative question of mine instantly produced a very successful headline, or the opening paragraph of a sales brochure or sales letter.
That's why I recommend that everyone who has something to sell in 2011 should to ask themselves this question about their product or service "But why on earth would anyone buy this from me?"
Before you try and answer this question, however, you must first understand why people buy things.
People buy things for six different reasons:
1. To satisfy their basic survival needs
2. For convenience
3. To secure peace of mind
4. To protect or enhance their image or ego
5. For entertainment purposes
6. To increase their wealth
Okay. Let's have a quick look at these six reasons and see how important they are to today's buyers in Ireland.
1. Basic needs
Basic needs are easy to understand. These are the things we need to survive. On a personal level this includes food, shelter and suchlike. On a business level these are the basic elements required to do business, such as materials & labour. If you are selling a basic need you can expect price to be a major factor. People don't want to pay extra for their basic needs; they want to save that money for more interesting things. How important is the price of basic needs to today's buyers in Ireland? The answer is that price is more important today than it has been for a very long time. Looking ahead to 2011 we can expect low price, good value and quality to become the most important USP of all for a copywriter to sell with.
2. Convenience:
We all like saving time and money, so anything convenience that saves us time and effort is desirable. Paying for convenience is acceptable when we want to spend our time and effort doing things we like. That's why in the time-starved Celtic Tiger era in Ireland a huge number of people were prepared to pay way above the odds for convenience. Not any more! On its own, it's hard to see convenience' as a great USP for a copywriter to use in 2011 when more people have more time on their hands than ever before. Best leave it alone for the time being and stick with low price, good value and quality.
3. Peace of Mind
Peace of mind is something we all want. This is about buying security. The motivation is very similar for personal and business situations. We want to know we are safe, so we buy locks for the door and security alarms and insurance. In Celtic Tiger Ireland, when many had lots of money to spare, peace of mind' was a marketing copywriter's dream. Those were the days when I had a field day writing copy to sell health insurance for pets but those days are gone now. Best stick, for the time being, with talking about low price, good value and quality.
4. Appeals to Image or Ego
Never underestimate the power of the ego. People are vain. We all love to look good and we certainly don't want to be looked down upon or felt sorry for. We buy many things either because we like them (our own self-image), or because we think others will like them. What we are talking about here are emotion-based decisions. Logic has no place here, it's all about how something makes us feel good. Gone! In these straitened times appeals to image or ego are not the sure-proof success formula that they used to be. Even those people who have money to spend on their image or ego are reluctant to do so nowadays, for fear of standing out and making themselves unpopular among their family, neighbours and peers. Take my advice, stick with talking about low price, good value and quality.
5. Fun
You need look no farther than the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry to know that there's money in fun. We love our leisure time, and we're willing to spend, spend, spend to feel good and have fun. That big screen TV, or the shopping trip to New York have no practical purpose, they're just fun. Businesses are no exception. In the Celtic tiger era millions were spent by businesses every year on employee events, sports tickets, and workplace ambience. It was fun! All gone now! Think empty seats in the Aviva stadium. And observe the increasing number of companies cutting back on Christmas parties this year. Take my advice, forget the fun for 2011. Stick with ... you've guessed it: low price, good value and quality.
6. Increase Wealth
Although increasing your personal wealth is not a primary reasons why people buy, financial freedom is a strong desire inside many of us. In today's western society, money is a powerful means of ensuring we are able to meet all of our primary objectives: basic needs, convenience, peace of mind, satisfying our ego, and having fun. So it's no surprise that in normal economic times people will invest their money in things that either save them money, or make them money. Problem is, we no longer live in normal economic times. And nowadays, people living in Ireland feel that they have been let down badly by those whom they always trusted: The banks and the government. Mistrust of financial institutions abounds everywhere. In the coming year people will be very cagey about parting with their money and will need to be more actively persuaded to buy anything. Nevertheless, there's a great huger around for somebody to trust'.
Hey! We've just picked up another USP for 2011: "trust".
Price, value, quality and trust. Yes! Add in the traditional trust us' formula: We guarantee you your money-back if you are not 100% satisfied with what you buy from us' and you now have the four cornerstones for building a successful marketing strategy for 2011.
The good news is that these four components: Price, Value, Quality & Trust (in the form of a Money-back guarantee), are traditionally a direct marketing copywriter's dream.
It's a very workable 4-mula for success for 2011. Trust me... and go for it!
