Quick Focus For Writing Advertising, Especially Headlines -- Small Businesses Discussion Forum

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Subject: Quick Focus For Writing Advertising, Especially Headlines

Author:
Dennis S. Vogel

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Date Posted: 13:42:49 04/14/04 Wed

Let's simulate a situation - You have 3 competitors in the city your business is in.

A prospect, knowing you & your competitors have the same or similar product/service, calls each of you.

All you see in the caller ID display is "unknown Wireless" with no phone number. This means you have no way to contact the prospect.

S/he says I know you sell XYZ. Why should I buy XYZ from you instead of the same brand of XYZ from Competitor A? Or why should I buy XYZ from you instead of WXY from Competitor B?

You have 30 seconds to persuade the prospect to buy from you, then the prospect will hang up & call a competitor.

You could say something like, "XYZ is best for solving problems like __. WXY is good because it's similar, but it's limited to __. If you tell me what you want as a result, I can give you advice for your specific situation."

The prospect is intrigued & describes the problem. You clarify with some focused questions (these help you determine the best solution & increase credibility). The prospect gives you more specific answers. Then being objective & credible, you make your recommendation which should be WXY if that's what's best for the prospect.

You can say it like this, "From what you said, I think WXY is your best option because __. I wish I could help you get that. In the future, if you find you need __, I hope you'll get it here. Thank you for calling."

There's a few issues here, some of them may be in your mind now.

1- Yes, this call would take more than 30 seconds. It would last more than 30 seconds because you gave the prospect a good reason to think you have something valuable to say. If your headline/opening premise is what your prospect is interested in, s/he will want to hear/read more.

2- This applies to advertising ... HOW? In broadcast & all forms of printed promotion, you actually have about 3, but maybe as many as 10 seconds to convince prospects you have something they want. In a call, initiated by prospects, you'll probably have longer than that because prospects are interested enough to give you a short chance to build a case.

3- How can you apply this to advertising? Every one of your business encounters with prospects should start with compelling (what's compelling to prospects) headlines or opening premises.

4- You want to sell something, not send people to competitors. Though in the short-term, you have expenses, you'll also have long-term expenses. Credibility & trust are great investments.

If you lose credibility & trust in the short-term, you won't get the sales you need in the long-term.

If the prospect initiates the contact with a phone call or entering your store/office, it's good to have a brief greeting.

This is a basis for headlines or opening premises & two step selling - "XYZ is best for solving problems like __. WXY is good because it's similar, but it's limited to __. If you tell me what you want as a result, I can give you advice for your specific situation."

It's inviting prospects to talk to you (hopefully in-person) so they can get the solution from you; this is step 1. When you know whether or not you have the right solution for the prospect, you can help solve the problem, then help him/her determine where/when to the solution.

Hopefully this second step is you making the sale, but if not, at least the prospect should get the best solution.

You can get more details about writing advertising messages in other messages in this forum & in my free information web site. I'm not trying to sell anything to you now. I'm building credibility & trust.

Dennis S. Vogel
When you use the right strategies & tactics your giant competitors can't step on you.
What you need is here:
http://www.thrivingbusiness.homestead.com/
http://www.voy.com/31049/

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