I often get asked: “How can I avoid boring repetition when writing lots of copy on the same subject?” This cropped again recently when I was delivering an in-house copywriting workshop at a software company. In particular, delegates were concerned that almost everything they published contained the same benefit claims.
I saw what they meant. Often I also find myself repeating similar information across several marketing items for some clients. One way I sometimes solve this problem is to go much further in describing one aspect of the product.
Let’s say, for example, that your product ‘saves money’. You might have told potential clients about that many times over, sometimes with a paragraph or two to explain how that is achieved.
But is the message really getting across? Do people really believe in your money saving abilities? Or is that claim just getting lost in the ‘noise’ of your communications?
Detail can build credibility
What about if instead of making that claim among several others you dedicated an entire communication to it? You could go into great detail, spelling out the typical costs clients currently have and exactly how your product can reduce them. You could include facts and figures, case studies from real clients and/or example scenarios based on typical results.
One simple example is Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket retailer. They run press and TV ads all the time saying that they can help you save money, under the ‘every little helps’ slogan. But they don’t just tell you they save you money: they show real prices, often comparing with rival retailers. Without the real prices they would have much less credibility.
For many of us, we need to go into more detail in order to back up our claim and build credibility as we are selling things a little more complex than tins of baked beans. Even so, I am sure that in many cases a piece of marketing communication that thoroughly explains how one benefit is achieved will be more effective than one making several claims with little detail to support them.
And of course, if you find it impossible to write in great detail about a benefit then are you sure your product or service really delivers it?
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