Carol Burnett once said, “Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.” Nowhere is that more true than in writing a marketing piece. A marketing piece not only has to engage the reader, it must propel them into action. It sounds like a difficult task, but if you follow six simple rules, you’ll be on your way to creating a killer marketing piece.

1. Headline Is Everything
   Imagine, while standing in line at your local movie theater, you see a film poster with this tag line, “Movie created by Universal Studios has many special effects.” If you saw this poster, would you even bother finding out more about the film, let alone actually seeing it?

   However, if you saw this same poster with the tagline, “17 year old Marty McFly got home early last night. 30 years early.” your interest would be piqued and you’d probably find yourself attempting to find out more about the film and eventually seeing it.

   Your headline is no different. First impressions are the key and your headline is your first impression. Make it snappy, compelling, and interesting. Grab the reader with your headline and your foot is in the door.

2. Focus on Your Target Market
   In order to know how to market, you must understand to whom you are marketing. If your target market is the dog grooming industry, you cannot suddenly take a left turn in the middle of your piece and begin chatting about how your product or service will help those in the medical field.

   Remember who your audience is and address their needs and concerns specifically.

3. Make an Emotional Connection; Keep Them Interested
   Now that you’ve got their attention, you have to keep it. The thing you need to remember when writing is that you’re not writing about or for yourself.

   You’re writing for your audience. Microsoft is famous for saying, “Your Potential, Our Passion.” In order to grip your reader and make a true connection with them, you have to understand their basic needs and desires.

   The most common mistake marketers make when writing a marketing piece is thinking about their product, their needs and themselves. After all, shouldn’t a marketing piece showcase your product and you? You are marketing your service with the piece, right? So, why shouldn’t the piece be all about you?

   As you begin along this train of thought, remember back to the last time your most distant family member sent you a letter detailing their present day life. You may recall how they went on about your seventh cousin’s new baby or how that twelfth cousin by marriage, whom you’ve never heard of, just got a promotion. You may also recall how you could have cared less.

   When you send your clients, potential or existing, the equivalent of your distant family member’s letter detailing the boring details of your company, you’ve already lost the battle.  Instead of telling your audience how your company is number one and how fantastic you are, use your marketing piece to answer the burning question that is on their mind…

4. Answer the Question, “What’s In It For Me?”
   How can you help this person who is reading your piece? Can you make their life easier? Save them time and money? Can you help them expand their business or better automate their services? What’s keeping your clients and potential clients up at night?

   Once you answer these questions yourself, you will be better able to answer their questions and your marketing piece will more likely avoid their trash bin.

5. Fully Explain the Benefits of What You Have to Offer
   Now that you’ve answered the questions in tip number five, it’s time to explain how you can make their life easier by explaining the benefits of your offering. Make it easy for them to understand.

   Don’t make your potential or existing clients think. Do the thinking for them. Avoid using long sentences and paragraphs as you lay out the benefits. Break up your paragraphs. Use bullets and lists where appropriate. Do everything you can to keep your reader from giving up and moving on.

6. Call To Action
   Once you’ve established a connection with your target and have explained the benefits of your offering, it’s time to call them to action. Fully explain the next step they should take in accepting your offer. If you fail to suggest a next step, your target will do nothing.

   Make sure to determine what action you desire from your marketing piece and fully instruct your reader on how to do so. Again, don’t make your target think. Do the thinking for them and spell out how to take action. Make doing so easy enough that it requires little to no thought on their part.

   Words are the most powerful weapon we have as inhabitants of the earth and when you’re marketing, they’re THE weapon. With a well-written marketing piece, you can grow your business by earning new clients and keeping existing ones.