I follow a pretty cool 25-year-old marketing guru named Harry. His company is called Marketing Examples. Being less than half my age, I’m pretty impressed with some of his messaging suggestions. Here are a few reminders for you, from him:

Don’t Collect, Serve

If you know enough about marketing and that your main objective is to capture and collect data on your prospects, you already know to put an Irresistible Offer on your website that asks for the visitor’s name and email. However, instead of saying “Subscribe to the newsletter”, how about you serve them by offering a solution to the pain that you solve. Ie. “Convert Leads With Your Elevator Pitch. Sign up for our free course and get 10 tips on how to convert”.

No One Cares About Your Product/Service

A great example of this was when Apple tested the ad message “The world’s first portable digital media player” for the first ever iPod. However, they were smart to change it to the now iconic ad copy that said “1000 songs in your pocket”. It’s never about you. It’s always about your prospects’ pain and what you can do about that pain.

Bake In Objections to CTAs

Call-To-Action is the most overused term in marketing circles. For the uninitiated, it means that no matter what you do or say in front of a prospect, you have to end it with an invitation to engage in the next step with you. That can be a button on your website inviting people to download a free gift, it could be a sign-up-sheet to talk to you 1-on-1 after your keynote. Alternately a CTA could be an invitation to connect on social media with you at the end of your blog (like mine below!). Here are some ways to excel at the CTA by baking in objections: Instead of saying “Start Free!”, handle the objection by saying “Start Free! No CC (credit card) Required”. Instead of “Try Prisma”, say “Try Prisma in 5 minutes”. Instead of “Get Started”, say “Get Started for Just $1”. See how much more effective that is?

Warm Up the Cold Email

Having crafted countless emails and Direct Messages for myself and my clients over the last decade, I loved the simplicity of this template Harry Suggested.

Start with a ‘tweet sized pitch’ (by the way, this is what I’ve super-niched in, it’s called your Elevator Pitch). Then ask for advice in the next paragraph (instead of selling). Follow up with an ‘out’. End with a customized human touch.

Here’s the example:

Last Month I launched a new startup called “Cowork”. The idea is you pay $20/mo to reserve desk space in some of the nicest restaurants across Perth.

I’m trying my best to “get the word out” to Perth freelancers. Would love to know what you think of the idea.

No worries if you’re too busy. I know freelancer life gets hectic.

-Harry

PS: Love the book notes on your website btw. Reminded me of Derek Sivers’.

So, take it from Harry (and me), that really great messaging starts with your prospect’s pain. Then you can perfect your message by making it concise and polished like all the examples above. Happy writing!

Want to reposition your messaging to grow your leads? Follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, watch my Podcast on YouTube or connect with me on LinkedIn –and let’s talk.