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Big Writing No-No's That Make Marketing Ineffective

(Part 1 of 2) Click here for Part 2

If writing is the key to effective marketing, it's no surprise that some marketing is ineffective. If your marketing isn't delivering the results you'd like, maybe it's worth analysing your material to see how many no-no's it includes.

If it includes several, your material won't get read and you won't achieve the attention, interest and response you want.

Many business people worry about their marketing strategies, when fine tuning the words in their marketing material could make a greater difference.

Here's the key factors to look at:

1. You're not clear on who your market is

Because you don't want to leave anyone out, you keep your options open and position your services or products for just about anyone. They are young or old, male or female, large or small businesses. It really doesn't matter.

You're deluding yourself into thinking there's an "anyone and everyone market" out there. There isn't. You can't sell anything to anyone. You need to sell something to somebody.

2. You're not clear on what your prospect's problem is

In fact you don't even realize that your prospects have problems, issues, concerns, challenges, predicaments and pain.

If you can't talk about their pain, how can you talk about the cure for that pain?

People are strangely attracted to the discussion of their problems, their issues, their pain. If your marketing writing discusses in detail all the things that are NOT working for your prospects, you'll have their undivided attention.

3. You're not clear about what your solution is

Knowing and discussing their pain is not enough, of course. You have to offer a solution to that pain. And by solution, I don't mean process.

People don't want to buy your process, they want to buy your results.

What are the results you produce? What promises can you make?

What can you deliver with a high degree of certainty? Write about that.

4. Your writing is not conversational

The biggest hindrance to effective marketing writing is your English teacher, who taught you how to write correctly, but not conversationally or persuasively.

As a result, your writing is in a straightjacket, bound by endless rules and formalities and doesn't engage the reader.

That's not how people talk to one another. You need to imagine that just one person is reading your material and write to them directly.

There's more to this writing thing yet. Click here to check out More Big Writing No-No's (Part 2).

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