Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man
– Tim Allen
You actually don’t know when you have great copy until you get real-life responses, whether by lead generation, user acquisition, sign-ups, engagement, shares, or whatever else your desired call-to-action is. And of course, it isn’t just numbers or figures but also through relevancy; what good are a million visits or leads from individuals who don’t make up your audience?
But you can fine-tune your copy, making sure it focuses on your target, your audience, and still conveys your value and WTF your startup actually does, so it is easy to understand WIIFM, and makes it simple to explain it forward.
Let’s quickly cover these together:
Conveying your value doesn’t mean simply stating what you do, but easily explaining what your audience gains out of it and what’s in it for me, the user. Your solution may give them the power to go from 0-60 in 6 seconds, but is that the ‘pain’ they’re looking to relieve? would that speed help them solve a problem or an issue they’re having? Is it a must-have or a nice-to-have?
And of course, is it easy enough to understand that it is also simple enough to explain to someone else? Having great copy isn’t just about a smooth or a smart remark but having it useful, beneficial, clear, and concise, so others can also understand it and further spread the word about your greatness.
As in Tim Allen’s line, he personally explained that he was coming up with a title for his book, and when pitching this specific title to his colleagues and friends, they spit milk out of their noses – done deal for him. In his case, the goal was comedy and making people laugh, so he felt he answered it without requiring his audience to even open the book. While this may not personally be funny to you, he judged so based on his stand-up, TV, or movie audience and thus decided on this title.
And of course, even if the copy sounds perfect and passes some relevant tests before going live, you still don’t know what will end up hitting, but you will need to make a decision and go live with something…sometime. đŸ™‚