Maybe you're taking a crack at writing some catalog copy for the first time. Or maybe it's your 15th season at a major mail order house and you're looking for a refresh. Either way, here are 5 things to avoid when writing your catalog copy.
1. Not getting the facts right.
It's going to be hard to sell someone a car if you can't tell them how many miles per gallon it gets. But even worse than not knowing the MPG would be telling someone the wrong MPG. Getting your product information right the first time can be a challenge, especially if you're selling items from overseas vendors who don't know the exact specs themselves, but doing your homework early in the game will save you and your company tons of time and money down the road.
I know that some of you will say that if the merchandiser or product database has the incorrect information, then that isn't really a copywriting mistake. I'll agree that 30% of the time you are looking at some fact that you wouldn't know was wrong, but 70% of the time if you feel like a stat is wrong, it probably is. Try asking questions about product specs that are out of line with your expectations. Have your product information team verify things that seem wrong or conflict with other sources with their sales rep.
2. Jargon.
I'm a college-educated English major, and I don't understand sailing terminology. Likewise, if your catalog copy contains tons of technical details that your audience isn't going to be able to make sense of, you'll need to eliminate all that heady language in favor of some plain old English.
For example, instead of saying something like "In-camera HDR feature takes three successive shots of a high-contrast scene and optimizes their exposure into a single image based on tonal values" you might want to say "In-camera HDR feature gives you great photos in high-contrast scenes." The feature is still there, the benefit is still there, but you have distilled it into plain words that your grandma would be able to make sense of. And even if someone doesn't understand the concept of contrast... they will still understand "great photos."
3. Too much fluff.
I think this is the flip side of the jargon coin. If you're going to really dumb it down, soon you're left without any real meaning and you're just spinning your wheels in sentimental copy that doesn't sell anything. Telling a potential customer that your lemonade "gives their tongue a totally new flavor experience that they've never had before" would be an example of this.
Instead, try telling them what makes your product worthwhile in relation to the features. In regards to above, perhaps "Our lemons are always picked at the peak of ripeness, providing unmatched flavor" would be better. (Of course, who would pick a lemon if it wasn't ripe anyway? You're disguising your fluff as something that customers can connect with, an advanced tactic I love to use.)
4. Meaningless comparisons.
Consider claims like "With our new toaster oven, you'll be preparing meals twice as fast using less energy than before." On some level, this is probably a true statement, but unless we have some kind of qualifying wording, we get the bark without the bite. Savvy customers are going to see right through that.
Instead, back it up with something real. "Our new toaster oven cooks meals twice as fast as a standard oven. You also save energy because it heats up faster!" Here you've given customers something solid to compare it with (although it still isn't clear if we are talking gas or electric standard ovens, or exactly how much energy you might save) and it also looks more honest.
5. Spelling and grammar errors.
I can't say enough about using the correct grammar and spelling everything correctly. I know most companies do a fantastic job in this area (and staff members that don't do such a great job don't last long) but even one error makes me think twice about a potential business relationship. Even in the B2B sphere, companies that have spelling and grammar errors in their internal documents or product information immediately makes me wonder about the rest of their data (back to number 1!).
In the B2C arena, things like spell check and grammar check have rendered the easy mistakes obsolete, but there are plenty of obscure grammar rules that only a copyediting veteran will bother to fix. The nice thing is the easy availability of the internet as a consulting tool, so that you can research a turn of phrase you're uncertain with and ensure it's correct before anyone has to question it.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Catalog Copywriting 101: Nail The Basics
If you're like most small business owners, you're already playing CEO, board, VP, and marketer. Now that you've decided to create a print document showcasing your products (aka catalog!), you might have to try your hand at copywriting or graphic design too.
The aim of this post is to give a small business owner who has never written ad copy before an introduction to the subject. Armed with this knowledge, small business staff can either create more compelling pieces that sell more of their product or better critique the work of a freelancer that they might hire to tackle a project for them.
The foundation of successful ad copy is getting the facts right. (The WHAT)
Small business owners already know all there is to know about their product, like the dimensions, what exactly it does, or how you use it. These are the basic facts that potential buyers are going to want to know before they buy. This is where the one-man-show approach to business give you an advantage, because you know exactly what you're selling and what makes it great.
Of course, if you don't have the facts at this point, you'll need to get them. There are few copywriting sins as bad for your business as telling customers they are getting a 1-lb block of cheese when the blocks are actually 12 ounces, for example. To paraphrase Mark Twain, "Get the facts right, and then you can distort them as you wish."
Once you have the facts, just tell your potential customers why they want your product. (The WHY)
It's so easy to overthink this part. When you're playing with the big boys, you'll probably hear the acronym "KISS" mentioned. It means Keep It Simple, Stupid. And in catalog copy, simplicity is key. Even before you consider who your audience is, you'll need to keep you copy to a fifth-grade level so that the rest of the world can actually make sense of it.
Think about what you would tell a potential customer in person when you are showing them your product. The first thing you might mention in that encounter should be near the beginning of your copy, while those essential but less exciting details should appear closer to the end. You might ask yourself what the best thing about your product is, why someone would buy your product, or what your product does better or differently, and then approach the answer to that question in the opening line.
Once you have the facts and can tell someone why they want your product, the copy "writing" is complete. From here you can edit your descriptions as needed and work on targeting a specific audience, eliminating errors (the second deadly copywriting sin), reducing length or reforming your opening lines to fit your brand. A seasoned copywriter will usually be able to incorporate this clean-up work with the actual writing to reduce effort, but if you've come this far without having written before you're doing a great job! Good luck on your catalog!
The aim of this post is to give a small business owner who has never written ad copy before an introduction to the subject. Armed with this knowledge, small business staff can either create more compelling pieces that sell more of their product or better critique the work of a freelancer that they might hire to tackle a project for them.
The foundation of successful ad copy is getting the facts right. (The WHAT)
Small business owners already know all there is to know about their product, like the dimensions, what exactly it does, or how you use it. These are the basic facts that potential buyers are going to want to know before they buy. This is where the one-man-show approach to business give you an advantage, because you know exactly what you're selling and what makes it great.
Of course, if you don't have the facts at this point, you'll need to get them. There are few copywriting sins as bad for your business as telling customers they are getting a 1-lb block of cheese when the blocks are actually 12 ounces, for example. To paraphrase Mark Twain, "Get the facts right, and then you can distort them as you wish."
Once you have the facts, just tell your potential customers why they want your product. (The WHY)
It's so easy to overthink this part. When you're playing with the big boys, you'll probably hear the acronym "KISS" mentioned. It means Keep It Simple, Stupid. And in catalog copy, simplicity is key. Even before you consider who your audience is, you'll need to keep you copy to a fifth-grade level so that the rest of the world can actually make sense of it.
Think about what you would tell a potential customer in person when you are showing them your product. The first thing you might mention in that encounter should be near the beginning of your copy, while those essential but less exciting details should appear closer to the end. You might ask yourself what the best thing about your product is, why someone would buy your product, or what your product does better or differently, and then approach the answer to that question in the opening line.
Once you have the facts and can tell someone why they want your product, the copy "writing" is complete. From here you can edit your descriptions as needed and work on targeting a specific audience, eliminating errors (the second deadly copywriting sin), reducing length or reforming your opening lines to fit your brand. A seasoned copywriter will usually be able to incorporate this clean-up work with the actual writing to reduce effort, but if you've come this far without having written before you're doing a great job! Good luck on your catalog!
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The privacy of our visitors is important to us.
At compassbusinessstrategies.blogspot.com, we recognize that the privacy of your personal information is important. The following information explains what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use and visit jamesordinaryguyreviews.blogspot.com, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.
Log Files
As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider), the browser you used to visit our site, the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.
Cookies and Web Beacons
We do use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. This could include only showing you a popup once in your visit, or the ability to login to some of our features, such as forums.
We also use third party advertisements on compassbusinessstrategies.blogspot.com to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geotargeting purposes or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited.
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We also may use DART cookies for ad serving through Google’s DoubleClick, which places a cookie on your computer when you are browsing the web and visit a site using DoubleClick advertising (including some Google AdSense advertisements). This cookie is used to serve ads specific to you and your interests (”interest based targeting”). The ads served will be targeted based on your previous browsing history. DART uses “non personally identifiable information”. It does NOT track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, social security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers. You can opt-out of this ad serving on all sites using this advertising by visiting http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx
You can chose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in your security program. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.
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