Imagine you’re the barkeep.
The solid oak bar is your contact point. It’s your website – your social media hub. Your handshake.
The chalkboard above the bar – your ads.
Every adult in town – a prospect.
You’re here to sell cocktails until you run out of ice.
The secret ingredient? It’s coming up …
Now, with a bit of practice, anyone can make cocktails.
But, vitally, not everyone can sell cocktails.
It’s the same as saying anyone can write an ad.
This is also true, but, again vitally, not everyone can write an ad that sells.
That’s where you come into your own.
You’re a barkeep with the mind of a copywriter.
You have the secret ingredient – a barrel load of empathy in your cellar.
So, before you even think about mixing a drink, you do everything possible to tap into the life of your target customer.
You ‘stray-cat’ the area to learn:
- The clock-off time for every business
- Where your customer tends to live
- The car he drives (if any)
- The everyday ritual he sticks to
You speak like him – know what he laughs at – what makes him cry – his hopes – fears – problems – the life he’s thirsty to escape from, even for just an hour.
You know how much he typically spends on his Friday escape. But, you also know his ‘dormant devil’ wants to spend a bit more.
Every bit of ‘un-guessed info’, adds empathy and persuasion to your ad …
Tonight is ‘Cocktail Friday’, and the doors are open.
In come the locals (you’ve stray-catted them all). The Nurses / Doctors / Coppers / Builders / Hairdressers / Undertakers / Bus drivers / Hens and Stags …
Everyone a potential sale.
Now, the cocktail menus in most bars, mutter clichéd names (zombie this, sex on that, monkey the other) at a fiver a go.
But, you’re a barkeep who knows how to use empathy, so you apply your research and create this:
Then, you ring your bell to announce your ‘BOGOF’ bonus, for the next hour.
Everyone in the bar reads the board.
Your real knowledge of your market hits home.
And, with just a few simple research techniques, you’ve just done this:
- Gained interest and curiosity with your headline claim
- Soothed any hesitancy to buy with a solid guarantee
- Entered the mind of your existing customer by targeting a cocktail directly at his life
- Brought the ‘I’m not sure yet’ customer to the bar with an additional, all important, ‘expiring’ offer
Same price as the competition, but do you think that Hen party are gonna head up the street for a ‘Monkey Gland’?
Or are you about to sell another round of ‘Dirty Bridesmaids’?
You chalked up enough persuasion to keep elbows on the bar all night.
Cocktail sales through the roof – no ice left – and all you really did was pay attention.
Downside – There’s a risk of the odd customer striding up to your bar for a ‘not the best I’ve ever had’ refund. (piss takers exist – but not many).
No Sale Bonus – Customers who don’t want your delicious drinks today, may want them tomorrow. You’re now at the top of their ‘next time’ list.
The ‘stray cat’ approach puts you inside your prospect’s head before you write a word.
That allows your copy to enter his life.
That resonates.
That gains trust.
And that, my copywriting friend – sells more cocktails.
Cheers.
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