Three problems that copywriting can't solve
(This originally appeared in my newsletter. Sign up now to get content like this, for free, every two weeks.)
Over the past year or so, I've started to see a lot more posts on various social networks about the importance of copywriting.
Some go as far as to say it's the only thing that matters in your marketing - which is a fairly typically strong statement from the marketing influencer crowd.
And while I'd love to get on board with this message, the sad fact is that it just isn't true. Copywriting, like everything, is not a silver bullet. It is just a component of your marketing mix; if you get it right while getting other things wrong, you're not going to add a whole lot of value.
With that in mind, here are three big problems that copywriting won't solve:
You aren't differentiated
This is kind of a depressing one, but it's also really common, especially in b2b SaaS and financial services, where there are lots and lots of providers all offering highly similar products.
If you're in a space like this, the temptation is to target as wide a group of customers as possible - positioning yourself as "all in one," or "the product anyone can use," or something similar.
Then, you end up making product decisions based on this positioning. Rather than do a few things really well, you continuously add features. Problem is, all your competitors are doing the exact same thing.
If you're in this situation, there is very little a copywriter can do for you. All you can do is compete on price (a race to the bottom) or spend up large on ads that ensure you're top of everyone's mind. Both of these are just financial solutions, not copywriting solutions.
To fix this, you need to be ruthless about who you're targeting and why they should buy from you - don't compete by trying to be as broad as your competitors. If you can do this, then copywriting can help you by highlighting your differentiators, rather than trying to invent them out of thin air.
Your internal processes are broken
Here's a good illustrative example: I see an ad for an interesting looking lead magnet. The copy is compelling. I download the lead magnet.
Later that day, I get a phone call or an email from a sales rep, asking if I want to schedule a meeting right now. My answer is always no - I was interested in the lead magnet, not the product or service the company sells (yet).
And then I never hear from them again.
This situation, and situations like it, are situations that need to be fixed with better processes. If someone downloads a lead magnet, they are probably not ready to talk to sales person - but they would benefit from more valuable content in a similar vein to the lead magnet.
So a better approach would be to nurture lead magnet downloaders with more good content, then let them contact sales on their own when they're ready. It's painful, but that's the reality of where someone is in the buying cycle when they download a lead magnet.
And this is just one example. There are lots of other examples, such as :
People sign up for a trial, but never convert because the onboarding process sucks.
People click on an ad, but get lost because it directed them to your home page instead of a dedicated landing page
People want to buy your product, but you don't have the inventory or enablement staff to actually fulfil their order
My point is, even if you have great, persuasive copy, you need to make sure your business is set up properly to deal with the people who respond to that copy. Otherwise, you're just lighting money on fire by getting a bunch of people to take an action that doesn't ultimately lead to higher revenue.
You're targeting the wrong audience
This is another surprisingly common one.
Lots of marketing targets the wrong audience - usually by casting too wide of a net (like I talked about in the first point).
Again, this causes your copy to fall flat on its face. For example, let's say you have a product that works really well for professional services providers - but you have bigger ambitions than that, so you decide to target small businesses.
When you brief a copywriter, he or she is going to write copy for small businesses (an extremely diverse set of people). That is never going to resonate with professional service providers because it's not targeted at their specific problems. What's more, the channels you choose to distribute that copy in are going to be broader small business channels, and not more narrow professional services channels.
This means that even if your copy did resonate with professional services providers, they may not even see it!
It's about value proposition, processes and audience
There are a lot more things that can kneecap your copywriting, but these are the three that I see most often. Get these things nailed before you start worrying about your copy - then, your copy adds leverage to these rather than trying to be a silver bullet for big gaps elsewhere in your marketing and your business.
See you next time
Sam
PS: I've started doing video reviews of home pages on Linkedin. Take a look at this review of Drift's home page, and let me know if you want me to review yours. As always, a quick one that I can publicise is free, an in-depth one that stays private is $599.
PPS: I have some time opening up in a month or so. Book a 30 minute meeting with me if you want to talk about a project. Worth doing now if you have anything in mind, because people tend to panic with ASAP projects when the end of the year starts looming in November.
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