Like anything else consumed in moderation, the business-as-war metaphor can be useful in thinking about how to describe your competitive advantage. Because once you secure the strategic high ground in people's minds, more of them will want to do business with you. Prospects will want to become customers. Their pocketbooks will open easier. And doors will open more readily for your salespeople.
That means getting your words right. Call it combat copywriting.
- Combat copywriting gives compelling reasons for people to call or come to your business.
- Combat copywriting inspires visitors to dig deeper into your Web site.
- Combat copywriting motivates people to read, listen to or watch your entire ad.
- Combat copywriting compels prospects to want to read your brochure all the way through.
- Combat copywriting pulls visitors into your video and creates believers.
- Combat copywriting helps you open up a conversation and close sales.
Combat copywriting isn't about being confrontational ... it's about being direct. It presents your competitive advantage decisively and without wasted words, whether in the form of a tagline, social media post or sales presentation. Because every customer, every client counts. Every profit dollar is important. And every share point matters. So if the message you use to describe your stock-in-trade isn’t working, it may be time to get tough – that is, if you’re serious about making your business, brand or product stand out in an authentic and enduring way.
Why bother?
Because the marketplace is alive with a blizzard of competing claims that seek to win over your customers or clients. So the words you use to distinguish yourself from the “other guy” must attract people's attention, hold their interest and convince them to take action in your favor. Truthful, benefits-packed positioning creates believers. Believers are more likely to become buyers -- and are less likely to want to beat you up on price.
Therefore, instead of losing sleep over what your competitor may be doing, think about the "combat copy" you plan to use to set yourself apart, the frontline soldiers in a battle for the mind that continues every business day -- a battle you must win! Because if you don't tell a compelling story about your business or brand in today's unforgiving competitive environment, you may never get another chance. The prospects you claim rightfully belong to you and not your competitor. So tell them the unvarnished truth about why they should do business with you -- up front. I like the way New York University Stern School of Business professor Sonia Marciano puts it:
“We each sell a little piece of happiness. You are elevating someone's spirit in some way, and to do that you have to understand the source of their angst and then you have to frame your product as a solution.”
Sun Tzu had it right: business is like war. But he also said that the “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” That’s your job. Including the use of well-crafted words to describe your business, brand or products: words that fight for you!
TakeAway: The words you use can make a tangible difference in the way in which you are perceived by your future customers, who by rights belong to you instead of your competitors.