New selling technology can deliver a tailored shopping experience online, and these highly “relevant” sales tools are dramatically boosting conversion rates.
Are copywriters keeping up? Is your copy as “relevant” as the overall online shopping environment?
When this post about relevant selling systems from Kim Proctor at How to Create Powerful Customer Experiences popped up on Google Alerts, I was intrigued:
A recent shopping survey (by Harris Interactive for MyBuys) revealed 84% of people polled shop online. But what’s most important here is that 60% of customers say they are more likely to shop with a retailer that e-mails specific recommendations based on their interests and previous purchases rather than a generic message.
This survey also found 53% of people prefer to shop with retailers that personalize their shopping experience and 65% would like retailers to offer e-mail alerts for new products or sales from brands or categories they like.
Only recently have retailers had the chance to create truly relevant sales experiences (outside of personal shoppers). In the past, most of the work has come on the list end — retailers used segment data to try and mail/e-mail the right product information to the right people.
The Dam Bursts on Relevant Selling
Today, retailers can deliver custom online shopping experiences in realtime, and some online selling systems have grown so sophisticated, they’re offering product suggestions based on an individual’s viewing/buying profile — not segment data or “others also bought these” schemes.
It represents yet another step towards the holy grail of online selling — a truly custom, wholly relevant online buying experience.
It’s also the kind of thing that makes retailers all warm and tingly. And for good reason. Highly relevant shopping experiences mean skyrocketing shopping cart averages.
It also means product copy better be just as relevant as the selling software. Or the benefits of all that powerful software will be minimized.
So what makes copy relevant?
- You better really, really know what you’re selling
- You must describe products using the customer’s language
- Descents into “I’m faking it” puffery will be immediately punished
- Conversational copy trumps formal copy
Obviously, the above have always been true. What’s different today is how quickly you’ll be punished for poor quality copy.
Simply put, the knife edge between relevant copy and bland, “I’m faking it” copy has never cut as deeply into profits as it does today.
After all, customers are dying for reasons to choose one online retailer over another; a more relevant experience (delivered via relevance technology and relevant copy) offer customers a nearly unbeatable reason for sticking around.
More on this — and how to write relevant copy — in an upcoming post.
Keep writing (relevantly), Tom Chandler.
Technorati tags: relevant selling, one-to-one selling, dynamic selling, relevant copy, copywriting, copywriter, writer, marketing writer, marketing, business writer
Tom,
Congratulations on your Top 10 Blog for Writers award!
As for this post, a professional copywriter must keep up with their industry, actually keep AHEAD of their industry to include the latest techniques and marketing methodologies in order to survive.
Knowing the latest on the product you are writing about is really one of the basics…and I do hope that all copywriters keep abreast on those types of things.
Joseph Ratliff
Author of The Profitable Business Edge 2
Joseph Ratliff(Quote) (Reply)
What a spot-on read that should strike terror into the hearts of copywriters and their clients who think the ‘SOS’ will continue to work. My second thought was on the flip. With customers so freaked about privacy concerns, will truly relevant promotions freak them out, too?
I think my concerns may be somewhat generational but I think we need to figure out the fine line between “Wow” and “Ohmigod.”
Roberta Rosenberg(Quote) (Reply)
Joseph: Thanks! I don’t know about staying ahead, but waking up one morning and realizing the parade’s about a mile down the street and moving fast isn’t a picnic either.
Roberta: Great point. One analyst dubbed this class of product “Behavioral recommendation” software — a chilling phrase which makes me want to reprise the role of the hammer-thrower in Apple’s “1984″ ad.
I refused to include it in the messaging.
I think the public is happy to get relevant shopping recommendations while online, and deathly afraid of having data from many different sources — most of it collected without their knowledge — collated into something kinda nasty.
This, fortunately, isn’t that.
Frankly, I share some of those concerns. Privacy is one of the next big frontiers in marketing. A few missteps and the industry could see some serious repercussions on the political and legislative fronts.
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)
Has anyone tried using Glyphius to improve their sales copy? I’m tempted to get it, but I’m not sure.
Dom King(Quote) (Reply)
Dom: I haven’t tried it. I expect it might offer some benefits in general consumer markets, but I tend to work in niches where I suspect — because it doesn’t “know” the market — it’s less useful.
If you can’t test (gasp) it could be very useful, but I would never use it as a substitute for creativity or a great idea.
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)
I’ve used Glyphius to help me develop test heads and teasers. More often, the G-juiced heads did better … but not always. It’s a fine tool to support your creativity, not a substitute for it.
Roberta Rosenberg(Quote) (Reply)
Thanks Roberta. Am I right in assuming its use for copy (vs headlines) is somewhat limited?
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)
I think so, Tom. I think Glyphius is used best for short sentences and phrases, hence its usefulness primarily for heads/leads. Sometimes I find the results anti-intuitive yet it works.
Assume nothing. Test everything.
Roberta Rosenberg(Quote) (Reply)
This is the best balanced review of Glyphius I have found http://www.pickaguru.com/misc-glyphius.html
It lists the positive and negative aspects of Glyphius. The review ended saying basically what Roberta said above, it is a good tool but not a substitute for good writing.
One thing of interest in the review was when Glyphius was used on the famous line “They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano But When I Started to Play!”, it rated it a negative 27.
Dean Mullis(Quote) (Reply)
One wonders how “Lemon” would have rated.
Tom Chandler(Quote) (Reply)