Photo courtesy of Microsoft

As you write any marketing materials, there is one basic question that should be echoing through your head. “What’s in it for ME?”

Except here, the “me” is not you — this is what your target market, your key consumer, your ideal client is thinking as they read through your communications. This can be an email pitch or a more polished, online or printed marketing piece.  So, a few tips on how to write your brochure, business plan, email, website, or other marketing materials.  Address the question that is on everyone’s minds by:

–Get to it. Don’t spend lots of time setting up. See how I did that myself right there? Not even one chunky paragraph and here we are. Get to the key points – or at least the key bait right up front.

–Make sure you actually do know what they want. Seems simple, right? That’s the whole point of marketing, right? And yet many companies get so busy with their daily work that they misread their market. Happens all the time. Before you craft any messaging, take in the entire scene and set of possibilities. If you market well but market to desires they don’t actually have, you have lost an opportunity. Big time.

–Connect the dots for them. Many marketing pieces I see have potential – they line things up but never knock them down. If you have a great product, for example, don’t just yammer on about the great product. Think of the specific problem(s) that customer would be looking to fix, and rewrite your description in a way that clearly indicates how this product will fix it for them. (At the same time, please be conscious of restrictions on your marketing and abide by law. This is not legal advice, just a warning!)

–Make it interesting.  As a society, we are bombarded and we are bored. Make your piece stand out. The tone and style of your presentation is part of what’s “in it” for the reader/visitor.

–Don’t overdo it. It may seem counterintuitive, but while you are promising your future client to deliver, don’t promise them a rose garden. This means: Be reasonable. Sure, be enthusiastic. But if you oversell, you’re going to sound suspicious – and you could lose credibility and diminish your brand.

Off you go, then!