Is
It Time For A Copy Facelift?
By
Karon
Thackston © 2003
I just had to laugh! During a recent
conversation about how often you should change your copy, I had one person
tell me "Well, if there were any *good* copywriters out there, they'd be
able to write it once, and it would work forever!" Oh really? Actually, nothing
could be further from the truth.
It is extremely rare for advertising copy to last for extended periods of
time. Changing your copy is a given, the reason being that people and events
change. Since we, as copywriters, are reaching our customers on an emotional
level, we have to stay in tune with what's going on in their lives and their
worlds. Let's look at an example.
Say you rent mailing lists. Your primary benefit might be that you have the
largest lists available offering a minimum of 100,000 names per category.
Things are going great, and you're renting lists like wildfire. But then
- right in the middle of your success - the postal service increases rates
substantially.
All of a sudden, your rentals begin to drop dramatically. Here you are screaming
about the largest lists available anywhere, and your customer is thinking
about how much his postage expense is going to skyrocket.
The businesses you rent lists to are now very concerned. What *used* to be
your biggest benefit is now your biggest deterrent. Your customers no longer
want to rent lists that have a minimum of 100,000 names. Instead, they'd
love to be able to rent much smaller lists - in the 5,000 to 10,000 quantity
range. Yep! You guessed it. It's time to change your copy, USP and all!
Any number of aspects can cause a change in focus for your target customer,
and therefore a need to rewrite your copy. Here are some of the more common
ones for businesses:
· New tax laws
· New mandatory expenses (such as a postage increase)
· Starting a new business
· Closing a business
· Stock price increase
· Stock price decrease
Business to consumer sales can be affected, too. Personal circumstances that
change every day include:
· Buying a new home
· Retiring
· Getting married
· Getting divorced
· Having a baby
· Receiving a tax refund
· Receiving an inheritance
What do I recommend? Twice a year, take a good, long look at your copy. What
has changed in your marketplace? What laws, regulations, or events have been
implemented or have taken place? Will these things have an impact on your
customers? How will you respond to them?
Take that information and compare it to what your current copy says. Is your
message clear? Are there benefits you need to update or change? Is your copy
still making the most positive impact on your potential customers that it
can?
If not, don't hesitate to make changes. After all, your copy is your key
to new customers and repeat customers. And, as I said in the beginning, hardly
any copy will last forever. Eventually, everybody is due for a copy
facelift.
About the Author:
Most buying decisions are emotional. Your ad copy should be, too! Let Karon
write targeted copy and ezine articles for you. Visit her site at
http://www.ktamarketing.com,
or learn to write your own copy at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com.
Web
Development
