I have never shaken my head quite so much. I’ve been doing a copywriting review for a new client and have been absolutely shocked at most of their content. Before I do a review, I ask the client to complete a questionnaire. In their answers, this particular client would make comments such as, “Our testing shows site visitors don’t like ________, but it’s important to the owners of the company so we left it.”
Everybody repeat after me, “It’s not about me. It’s about my clients.”
Every page was chock full of “us” and “we” and “our” and awards and press clippings and the like. But there was virtually nothing on the site that told me why I should buy from this company as opposed to all the other choices I had available. There was nothing to show me proof of performance.
Awards are nice. Accolades make us all feel warm and fuzzy. Press clippings are a real ego boost… to us. But consumers are smarter now than they have ever been. They know that all awards and media coverage mean is that your business has a good press agent. In fact, they are often considered part of the overload of hype the Internet has become infamous for. Couple an abundance of awards with company-focused page content and you have a site that completely ignores the prospective client.
People gripe and complain about how hype as taken over the Internet. Visitors don’t want to see how many plaques you have on your wall. They want you to prove to them that you can get results.
Rather than touting that your used office equipment store got a “Best in Class” award for product quality, tell customers that of 1,000 + survey respondents, 99.2% said the used products sold by your website go on to function perfectly for 10 years on average. In other words, don’t tell me you’re good… show me. Give me proof.
Awards vs. Certifications
Is there a difference between awards and certifications? You bet! Awards are often viewed as fluff. Certifications are trust builders. They show professional aptitude and continuing education/improvement. Adding just a symbol or brief mention of certifications on a web page can increase confidence levels.
Testimonials
When specific, testimonials can be powerful persuasion tools. Unlike general accolades from the press, client testimonials come straight from those who work closely with you. Who better to say whether or not your products/services should be recommended to others?
Where is the place to showcase your awards? On your About Us page. It would be entirely appropriate and effective to have award icons on your site that link to the About Us page. Or you could create a new page just for awards and accolades. But an entire Home page filled with “us” and “we” plus award piled on top of award is neither appealing nor convincing.
Gone are the days of shouting, “We’re #1” from the rooftops. Today we should be shouting, “We think you’re #1” to our customers. When you create pages that effectively offer proof of performance through customer-focused copy with a smattering of horn blowing and a good helping of customer testimonials you’ll build trust and assurance with your site visitors.
Need help getting your message across? Let Karon help! Visit her online copywriting website today at https://www.marketingwords.com. Subscribe to Karon’s copywriting blog at https://blog.marketingwords.com.
