Writing marketing copy is a time-consuming and expensive process. So we need to get it right.
Here are my 6 tips to create compelling marketing copy that can help increase your readership and move your audience to act.
1. Stay on target
Always write a brief. Take the time to agree what is the purpose of your marketing item and for who.
From my experience, a brief can help you gain internal approval for materials faster and saves you time in the long term. It can also flag important strategy questions early. E.g., How does this brochure work alongside other marketing items – is it even needed?
Writing a brief ensures you stay on target and your marketing collateral meets a clearly defined purpose for your medical device company. Please feel free to email me for an example medical device marketing brief.
2. Wear your audience’s shoes
Whether they may be a doctor, patient, investor or distributor, look at current marketing collateral through their eyes and be honest in your appraisal.
Ask yourself are you inspired? Is the tone and terminology right? Is it generating the desired call-to-action?
Often you will find the answer is NO! Now ask yourself, what would motivate you? Take the time to answer this question fully.
3. Heard it all before!
"Safe, Effective, Non-invasive, Reliable, Cost-effective"
Yep heard it all before. So if everyone is using them, how does your product stand out?
My advice is take time to really understand your market place, competitors and points of differentiation (what is different about your product’s offering compared to your competitors).
Here are my tips to stand out from the crowd:
1) Understand your product’s positioning within the market.
2) Learn from what your competitors do well. Look at their terminology and key messages – and be even better!
3) Learn the gaps between current messages in your market place compared to your desired audience’s action – fill in the gaps!
4) Think benefits not features. Ask yourself ‘so what’ to everything you write.
5) Add unique product-related facts to provide your audience with the evidence of why they should choose you!
4. Skim to win
Eight seconds is now the average human attention span! So most people will not truly read your material! This makes your headlines, titles and integrated visual story critical to encouraging your audience to read on.
Therefore, you need to create powerful headlines and titles that tell your story in their own right. Work with a great visual designer to present these headlines cleverly on your brochure – a double-page spread is a good way to increase impact. Also, ensure your material is easy to read. Use quotes, case studies, bullet points and small paragraphs to break-up text and communicate ideas in interesting ways.
5. It’s a visual partnership
With 84% of human learning being visual, marketing content is a visual partnership. Choosing the right image to support your headline can make or break a brochure. My advice is invest in your visuals and designer.
Take time to photograph your medical devices in their clinical setting and as a clean shot. Consider medical illustrations or beautiful icons to communicate your messages more quickly. A strong headline combined with a powerful visual drives action.
6. Remember the purpose
Don’t get lost in the writing. Tight deadlines can sometimes mean we focus on completion and lose track of our original goals.
My advice is take a few days to consider your marketing content. Read your brief again and check that your content meets your purpose. You may find that it doesn’t! However, it is better to find this out now rather than later!
Good luck!
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