Category — Product promotion

When you want to write something for a certain type of customer, don’t just think about what she needs, or can be persuaded that she needs.  Think about how she wants to be told about the product.  Is it likely to speak to her self-image, or role as a parent or her likely life-situation?  Each of these has its own language, its own register or freight of meaning. We have to find and use the right one. [Read more →]

Writing content that promotes a product online may seem easy. Just put down what it is and what it does, right? Wrong! How you say it, and in what order and with what emphasis matters too. Above all, bear in mind whom you are writing this for.

To see what I mean, take a look at these two paragraphs. The first is a piece of unedited prose describing a product:

“With the TEAC SR-3DAB bedside DAB/FM radio, CD player and iPod dock you can wake up to your favourite tunes from any source. The TEAC SR-3DAB has 30 DAB and 30 FM preset stations and you can play and charge your iPod and iPhone. It also features a remote control, digital clock, dual alarm, snooze function, timer, sleep timer and dimmer capabilities.”

The second para is a reworking of the same subject matter, but with different tone and emphasis:

“In the field of clock/radio/iPod dock devices, the TEAC SR-2DAB digital clock radio with iPod dock is a serious player. It’s a powerful 2W per channel stereo music centre that features clear DAB digital sound as well as FM band radio with 30 DAB and 30 FM preset stations. It has an iPod dock that is compatible with most iPods and iPhones and plays back from them whilst charging them at the same time. A large LCD display with 3-step dimmer and a slim remote control round out the package.”

Both pieces essentially say the same thing. But each says it differently. In upcoming postings, I’ll be explaining why and how. For the moment, here’s the basic principle.

You have a product and a potential customer in mind for it. You have to establish what that customer wants or needs. Then you have to show how well your product fits that requirement. Then you have to round out the pitch, but in the right way. Let me show you how it’s done.

Welcome to my revised website.   To mark its new look, I plan to restart the practice of posting something interesting here every other day.

The posts will be short: thoughts about what makes good English, for example, and what’s the best way of using it to help someone who wants to achieve things out there in the marketplace. I hope you’ll find them useful.

If you do, why not contact me?  Let me suggest how I could help make your business or your campaign a success by finding the right words for you and your business.  Make the words work for you.