Is Your Target Audience Resonating With Your Copywriting?

May 23, 2016

So you’ve spent weeks, maybe months preparing your new product or service.

You’re excited to put your plans into action but aren’t thrilled about tackling the sales page.

Besides, you know much of your launch’s success is determined by the sales page, namely the sales copy.

If your words don’t resonate, visitors won’t be enticed to click the glowing red ‘buy now’ button. Before pressing publish on your sales page, here are a few questions to ask yourself while reviewing your copy.

 

 

Do you know who you’re talking to?

Most of us will nod along, thinking we already know who we’re talking to. We may have a broad picture of what our target audience looks like, but do we know the specifics? I’m talking beyond an age range, gender, location, and median income.

I recently shared my in-depth exercise on identifying who your ideal client is that may help. Try this activity before you move forward so you can ensure you know the ins and outs of what your ideal client or buyer wants and needs. Everything gets dreamier when you know who your people are!

Have you introduced yourself?

In order for your target audience to resonate with your copy, they have to first resonate with you and your story. There are many ways to do this.

• State your full name (okay, this is a no-brainer but it had to be said)
• Give your real reasoning behind creating the product or service
• Include an approachable headshot that shows the true essence of who you are
• Be transparent about if/when you struggled with your audience’s pain points too
• Explain why you’re passionate about your audience and the solution you’re providing
• Bonus: add an audio or video clip to explain your product or service

Do you understand their pain points?

The main purpose of the product or service you’re selling is to offer a solution. In order to provide the best solution possible, you must understand your audience’s struggles. These are often considered “pain points”.

If you’re like me, leading with a big pain point can seem rather… painful. Luckily, there is a way to speak to your audience’s pain points without feeling like your copy has to breathe negativity. Hallelujah!

For example, when my community and brand coaching clients work with me, it’s often because they know they’re excellent at creating valuable content but just aren’t attracting the right people or building a strong community. Their biggest pain point then is launching to crickets.

While writing something like “Do you fear to put in months of hard work only to have no interest?“ might be true, leading with “Say goodbye to crickets and hello to your people“ is better because it says the same thing in a much more approachable way. Use your gut as a compass as you review your copy.

Are you leading with the right hook?

You may spend hours writing your sales copy but if you don’t put the same amount of attention in crafting your hook, those hours could be unrealized. It’s similar to email marketing where the subject line often dictates if a person is interested enough to open your newsletter so that small phrase has to be on-point.

If you’re not sure if you’ve got the right hook, do some social listening research to see what people are truly struggling with or answers they are looking for. You can also write a few hooks and then reach out to a few people you’re connecting with who fit your ideal client profile to get their opinion on which one they connect with most. This will give you even more tailored feedback.

Do you know what words they gravitate toward and stray away from?

So you know who your audience is and what their pain points are, but are you using the right words to convey your message? This is when we get into the really good stuff. You have to know what words attract (and repel) your target audience in order to capture their attention.

Not sure where to start? Here’s a quick activity you can do to help you choose the right words. Take out a piece of paper and for 2-3 minutes straight, jot down all of the adjectives you can think of. No editing, just brain-dump them all onto the page.

Then when you’re done, put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes (refer back to your description from the first question) and go through the list. Cross out the words that don’t match your client and circle the words that feel like the right fit. For my clients, I know they love words like ‘ease’ and ‘grow’ but run away from words like ‘traditional’ and ‘supposed to’. Then you can start to fit these words into your sales copy where it makes sense.