Growing a business requires creativity, ingenuity and tenacity. When you focus these three talents upon your marketing, you’ll bring in new sales and customers even in tough times. I’ve been fortunate to work with some of advertising’s greatest creative people. Those few, blessed with an exceptional talent, understand selling to others through media. I call them “wordsmiths.”

     Similar to our own Internet rulebook, print advertisements during the ‘60’s tended to be more graphic and involved less copywriting. However, Y&R’s George Gribbin created his own writing style as a storyteller. His favorite ad was written for Travelers Insurance. This full page ad contained 408 words, had no headline and started with these words: “When I was 28, I thought I’d probably never get married. I’d always been over-tall, and my hands and feet were always getting in my way, and my clothes never looked nice on me the way clothes looked on other girls.” The ad went on to the fact that she was asked, married, lived a happy life and that her husband died and left insurance. Would that same text, with only 408 words, be just as effective today?  

Creativity

     George Gribbin’s storytelling style can generate exciting opportunities to create an inviting and comfortable multimedia experience. Our digital environment provides opportunities to dramatize a story with interactive verbal and video tools. A unique context encourages prospects to linger longer, return sooner and purchase more.

     Brian Clark,Founder of Copyblogger & Scribe, put it simply: “If your content isn’t good enough to attract good, natural links, it doesn’t matter how ‘optimized’ that content is.  A good copywriter needs to have a flair for writing content that’s inviting to share and to link to. A good copywriter needs to have top-notch skills to optimize the page, so search engines know what it’s about and who might want to read it. And a good copywriter needs to know how to write copy that converts readers to buyers.” (scribeseo.com)

     In short, words create content. Wordsmiths select the right words to define a clear value proposition and give form to their ideas. They practice their craft with both understanding and imagination.They ask questions: Who is our prospect? What is their problem or aspiration? What do we offer that fulfills their need?

     A wordsmith understands a lot about how the human mind works. Why people react a certain way, what makes them tick. This understanding provides the right words that flesh out the details of a powerful selling message. And, today’s wordsmith understands how to work with Internet technology to create new levels within the digital sales funnel process.

Tenacity

     Getting your content right is not easy. In fact it’s a never-ending process. Decide: is your copywriter really a wordsmith? A marketing-wise leader can create the difference between the two. It’s called, “The care and feeding of copywriters.” Ask yourself: “Is my value proposition clear, easy to understand?” Without a solid value proposition, anyone trying to write content will most likely fail!

     So, improve your skills reviewing copy. I learned this technique at Y&R: After reading the value proposition, I focus on content asking myself these questions. Will the headline make me want to read the first line of copy? Will the first sentence make me want to read the second sentence? And so on. Then, will the last sentence ask for the sale? I know it’s a winner when it’s natural for me to respond,  “Yes!”  But, most times, there’s fine-tuning.