Life as a challenger brand can often be, well, challenging. But when it comes to marketing, being a challenger brand is downright exciting! You’re not bogged down by style guides, colors and fonts you’re required to use. Your brand image is a blank slate, and it’s waiting for you to show the world who you are. What are you going to say?
Marketing is all about persuasion, and it’s especially true for challenger brands. You should treat every interaction with prospective customers like you have something to prove – because you do have something to prove. You don’t have years of success stories, customer referrals and catchy ads on your side. But what you do have is your words – and if you use them wisely enough, you’ll convince people to give you a chance.
Tell Stories
Nobody cares about the technical aspects of your product – they only care that it won’t fail them when they need it most. People don’t want to hear about how you’re “the best” – they just want to hear about how you’ll solve their problems. And that’s the heart of marketing. If you can show people how your solution will resolve their pain points, you’ll have a customer for life. But you must truly take them on a journey, and they need to clearly visualize how their lives will be improved because of your product.
Start Out Strong
You have eight seconds to make an impact on your audience. What’s the best way to do this? By introducing your copy with a compelling opening statement. This doesn’t mean something outlandish for the sake of shock value, or emojis in your subject line in an attempt to look young and cool. It does mean hitting the reader hard with something they care about, and something that will make them want to read more.
It’s important to note that you don’t necessarily need to make this strong opener the very first thing you write. Sometimes you don’t know the focal point of your copy until you write it. Don’t let an attention-grabbing opener give you writer’s block. Just say what you need to say, and the hook will come to you.
Keep it Short, Keep it Simple
The point of copy is to entice people enough so that they’ll take additional steps down the path to purchase, such as signing up for your email list or following you on social media. You don’t have to write a novel, and you don’t have to tell your entire brand story in one piece of copy. Stick to the task at hand, and err on the side of brevity. If it’s too long, you’ll lose your customer. But if you leave them wanting more, as the adage goes, they’ll be more inclined to check you out again.
To this end, keep your paragraphs short and make sure there’s plenty of white space in your copy. Nobody wants to read a massive wall of text when they don’t know anything about your brand to begin with. Scannable copy invites the reader while giving you the structure necessary to stick to the basics without boring your audience.
Close with a Call to Action
What’s the endgame of your copy? As a challenger brand, your initial goal for any piece of copy should simply be to generate awareness and get people thinking about your product in a different light. People aren’t necessarily going to run out and immediately make a purchase, but they may be interested in learning more and doing some research.
That’s why you should close your email by asking the reader to take that next step. Signing up for a mailing list is a strong indicator of interest on the part of the consumer. And for your business, it’s a great sign that your marketing is working. Keep it up, and before you know it you’ll have a loyal following of customers.
