Psst! Here's 2 marketing secrets, and you'll only already know the second one
The first one though - that's a drokkin' novelty. I guarantee it.
Here’s a dirty little marketing secret you might not know. Keep it close to your chest.
Nobody’s ever read The Copy Book cover-to-cover. We just skim it and keep it on our coffee tables to try and impress other marketers. We’d rather get lost in a Judge Dredd compilation than delve into 300 pages of imposter syndrome.
Phew. Felt good to get that off my chest.
Now that’s done, here’s a marketing secret you 100% know, that you only go along with because none of us think clients have twigged.
We all do broadly the same things in broadly the same order and the differences in outcomes usually come down to talent, experience, or some other intangible that’s either innate or learned.
When Eddie Schleyner tells you about “fascinations” in his landing page course, he’s talking about the value stacking that’s always been best practice in landing page copy. It’s nothing new. But you’ll remember to add the fascinations because the unique name makes you think of them as a unique game changer.
I’m not throwing Eddie under the bus here. It’s the same for everyone.
Specialist digital copywriter? It’s not like the rest of us use stone tablets. If a client wants a website though, that’s gonna stick.
Niche in financial marketing? Lenders still have the same emotional responses as the rest of us. They see someone in their niche, pattern matching kicks in, and the choice is made.
The whole point of a point of the difference is the difference. That’s it.
It’s like that Don Draper scene in the Mad Men pilot:
Don: This is the greatest advertising opportunity since the invention of cereal. We have six identical companies making six identical products. We can say anything we want. How do you make your cigarettes?
Lee Garner, Jr.: I don’t know.
Lee Garner, Sr.: Shame on you. We breed insect-repellent tobacco seeds, plant 'em in the North Carolina sunshine, grow it, cut it, cure it, toast it—
Don: There you go. There you go. [He writes: "Lucky Strike. It's Toasted."]
Lee Garner, Jr.: But everybody else’s tobacco is toasted.
Don: No, everybody else’s tobacco is poisonous. Lucky Strike’s is toasted.
Everyone else’s copywriting is bog standard by-the-book copywriting. Mine is triple-strength copywriting.
I do it because it works. We all do it because it works.
If you don’t have a point of difference in your process, just pick something nobody else is focusing on and make it the hero of your story. It’ll help you stand out.
Something mint - voice of customer for your dog
I mean look at it. Sorry. Give me a sec.
Lookit! W’zis! Zi’treats? Treats! Treatsfogoodog? Oosagoodog? Youis! Essyouis!
I fucking love voice of customer. It solves every single argument you ever have with a client. Yes, I know that you think ergonomic manual substrata redistribution implement sounds impressive, but your customer’s looking for a spade. So sell them a bastard spade. Please.
But when that voice of customer’s tailored to the very specific voice a customer uses when talking to their dog? It’s magificent. And the flavour names are just the icing on the cake.
My dog seems to like them too, but in fairness I’ve seen her eat a carton of chips that spent the weekend in a hedge.
Talk like your customers talk, and give them products they want. Even if the thought of chewing on a slipper rolls your guts. It’s fucking superb advice.
PS: RIP Salford’s own Motty - football commentator and Mansun co-writer.
If you want to get better at communicating, watch this clip of the late, great John Motson commentating over a goal at the 82 World Cup. Ball hits net, Motty is silent for a good two seconds. Dead air? Nah. Crowd noise. Sometimes you should give your audience space fill in the blanks.
Makes me think of Bowie from the Young Americans album: "Every time I feel fascination / I just can't stand still, I've got to use her /".