Most copywriters and marketers would agree that if you could read your prospect's mind, you could be a lot more successful writing copy for – and selling stuff to – those prospects.
Because you'd know their world.
You'd understand their pain.
You'd know their deepest fears, and you'd understand their highest aspirations.
So how do you do that? Here are 7 practical tips. They sound simple, but when you actually use them their impact can be profound.
- Learn everything you can about your prospect. If you're in direct marketing, it's easy: just look at their data cards. When you have demographics, you can infer a lot about the “average” person who represents the group. If you don't have that kind of data… guess. It's a lot more accurate than what most marketers do (which is: they don't bother with any of this stuff).
- Imagine yourself living your prospect's typical day. Go through it step by step – from rising out of bed in the morning to getting back into the sack at night. Use all five of your senses: what do you see, hear, feel, taste, touch and smell? Make notes.
- Think about their biggest fear – the one that wakes them up at 3 in the morning in a cold sweat.
- Think about their highest aspiration – what do they dream of? Not the little dreams (the ones we all tell our buddies), but the big dream in their “secret heart” (the dream that they don't dare tell anyone).
- Go where they live. Find a neighborhood that is like your prospect's and walk through it (driving doesn't work – looking at it through a window is just more TV… nice to look at but not REAL). Talk to people.
- Read what they read. Read their magazines, newspapers, blogs and Twitter.
- Watch what they watch. Watch the TV shows your prospects watch. Especially the ones that don't interest you.
If you do this, you'll develop the apparent ability to read your prospect's mind.
And you'll sell more.
But something funny about this is: you'll also most likely care more. And that's far more important than any selling technique.
The world's a funny place, ain't it?