Copywriting The Litmus Test Of Online Marketing

Service business owners face special challenges when they develop online marketing campaigns. They need to communicate what they deliver, because prospects may not know exactly what a “relationship coach” or “energy healer” can offer. Even services that have been around a long time have changed the substance and style of delivery.
Additionally, service businesses need to convey the owner’s personality. Clients often relate to the service business owner on a personal level. Therefore they want a three-dimensional view of the person who will actually provide the service.
Because of these complex communication challenges, service business owners often wonder, “Am I ready for online marketing? Will my website development project help me reach my clients?”
Copywriting As Litmus Test For Online Marketing Readiness
The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary defines a litmus test as, “a test in which a single factor (as an attitude, event, or fact) is decisive.” They give an example of a political party using gun control as a test for a candidate’s acceptability for office.
Over the years, I’ve become convinced that copywriting is the litmus test of an online service business owner’s marketing readiness. For example:
A few years ago I got a call from someone I’ll call Jeanne. She wanted me to write a sales letter for her new high-end coaching program. She had spent a few thousand dollars with a marketing coach who was helping her schedule the launch, with dates for preview calls, letters and joint venture partners. Now she wanted me to work on the copy for the sales letter.
“Terrific!” I said. “I’ll just need some information.”
Jeanne was scheduling a 6-month program. What topics would be covered each month? She didn’t know and she wasn’t planning to decide right away.
Now I was hearing alarm bells. I asked Jeanne for some testimonials from previous clients. She didn’t have any. She had just left her corporate job. She wanted to begin a high-end program, working with a 12-person group over 6 months.
“Okay,” I said. “Maybe your corporate background qualifies you for coaching. Let’s see how we can approach your background.”
Jeanne’s life history was extremely colorful. She had come through some challenges and overcome setbacks. She could have published a memoir. But, she warned me, “You can’t use this in the copy! It’s all private. I just wanted you to have some background.”
In the end, I couldn’t do anything for Jeanne. She just wasn’t ready for copywriting. But the truth is, she wasn’t ready to open the doors for her business. And, like many business owners, she didn’t realize that copywriting would have helped her develop a product strategy and brand so she could avoid arriving at a dead end.
Copywriting Is The Beginning Of Your Marketing
Often business owners believe copywriting comes at the end of the marketing planning cycle. They say, “When I’ve got my branding and strategy in place, I will think about hiring a copywriter.”
The truth is, many business owners uncover their strategies in the act of writing content. When you write a sales letter, you need to answer questions that may never come up in discussions with marketing coaches, branding experts, and even SEO specialists.
When you write your content (or hire a copywriter to do it for you), you quickly realize that’s where the rubber meets the road. The gaps in your planning show up immediately. That’s because copywriting requires you to answer questions like
What are you offering? Who is going to benefit? Why will they benefit? Why will they care? Why are you qualified to deliver those benefits? Why should they believe you are qualified to deliver these benefits?
As you come up with answers to these questions, your marketing becomes targeted and you start to see results. That’s why experienced business owners – especially those promoting services – seek to answer these questions sooner rather than later as they make plans for online marketing.