Why Copy Is More Important Than Design (How to Brand Your Business)

If you’ve been following along with my small business marketing series you know that if you want to improve your marketing and attract the right customers you need to…

1. Create a vision for your business (planning is must).
2. Define your ideal customer.
3. Write a positioning statement.

Without these core steps, you’ll be going up the River Styx without a paddle. But, even if you do take steps 1-3 above, it’s not yet time to jump into design.

Nope. In my world copy always comes before design.

The best way to set this up is to describe a typical first meeting with a business owner…

Their sole focus is a new website design. But nine times out of 10 they can’t clarify their goals for the new site.

They want a slick looking new site but they’re fine cutting and pasting all copy from their existing site to the new site.

Their old copy usually does not convey the following…

a. Clearly and concisely describes exactly what their business does.

b. Shows how they can help their ideal customer.

c. And makes it crystal clear what they want site visitors to do to get the process started.

For copy to work it must be written with these three steps in mind. And it must be written for your ideal customer.

I don’t fault business owners for going “design first.” I know they are very busy people, they’re not marketing professionals, and they are used to just getting things done. (They see a competitor’s beautiful site and want to match it.)

I get it, Buuuut, it’s crucial to slow down, refocus, strategize, and implement a marketing strategy before tactics approach.

Quality content—website copy, blog posts, eBooks, etc.—become cornerstone content that gets your brand noticed. But you must have solid foundational content to start (read: really good copy) for without it your brand and marketing will fizzle.

So, let’s review my essential steps to branding your business the right way…

1. Create a vision for your business (planning is must).
2. Define your ideal customer.
3. Write a positioning statement.
4. Copy before design.

During a typical first consultation with a customer, I discover that they haven’t developed core elements based on 1-4 above. Elements that represent the heart of their business. And, sad to say, the copy is often an afterthought.

And with copy, I’m referring to copywriting and all the other content marketing you produce…

• Web page copy
• Email marketing
• Blog posts
• eBooks
• Social media posts
• Case studies
• Whitepapers
• Etc.

You get the picture 🙂 Basically all the content you create to reach out to those customers you want to hire you. Copy crafted to get them to take some kind of action that builds brand awareness and leads to a sale.

Where do you start with copy?

Think more like a teacher and less like a marketer. What I mean by that is this… You need to write words that appeal your prospects and copy that serves as a framework for finding and retaining great customers.

1. Start with your customers

What does your ideal customer really care about? If you’ve worked on defining your ideal customer you’ll have a good picture of this but you also want to think about the things that might resonate with them on a deeper level.

What is truly unique about the way you do business? Think about the problems you solve… how does the unique way you roll connect with both the practical and emotional needs of your audience?

What are your values? What do you really care about? What makes you a unique individual who is valuable to your customers but also the world around you? Most of this stuff comes forth when you talk with your customers.

Seth Godin wrote a post many years ago titled How to tell a great story and in the post, he writes the following…

“Most of all, great stories agree with our world view. The best stories don’t teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure when reminded how right they were in the first place.”

To take a deeper dive into knowing what your customers care about. To get the read meat. To create content your ideal customer actually wants to read, you ask questions…

Get in touch with current and past customers. Ask them if they are available for a short phone call and ask them questions based on the above…

• Why did you hire us?
• What do you like about us?
• What could we do better?
• Etc.

If you want a guide on how to interview your customers, check out this post detailing how I start and run a branding project.

So, if you want to learn how to write the best copy for your business set up a call with your customers.

2. Focus all your writing on your ideal customer

Your ideal client is the hero and you, my friend, are a wise sage teaching this person how to fix a problem.

Walk a mile in their shoes and also think about what people normally remember. Stories!

Yep, great stories stick with you.

And this is simply about creating copy that is focused, directed to your customer, and engaging enough so they will stick around to see what you have to say.

Your mission is important but don’t spend too much time writing about that, instead, when crafting copy, focus on that one person and the problem you are going to solve for them.

Your best customer is on a journey to solve a problem.

Your content is basically there to guide them.

To help them solve their problem and show them how and what to do next…

3. Build content around your ideal customer’s problem

Your customer’s pain is your foundation for copy that teaches and sells.

Teach them…

Show them why your business is the one to help them fix their problem.

Clearly show them what you can do and what they need to do next to start the process.

Show them how to outsmart their competitors.

Teach them how to grow their business.

Inspire them to visualize their potential and exceed what they’ve done in the past.

Focus on their success and show them why you’re the best way to get there.

And make it crystal clear what they need to do next to start the process (call you, email you, fill out a form).

That is how you start writing copy. And why copy always comes before design.

[icon name=”arrow-circle-o-left” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Step 3 – Positioning  |  Step 5 – Visual Branding [icon name=”arrow-circle-o-right” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]

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Do you want to bring your brand to life? Taking a few minutes to complete our brand audit will help you think about your current marketing efforts and what might need to change. It will also help me suggest several ways to improve your branding and marketing now: Brand audit. 

After you complete the form, we’ll contact you to schedule a time to go over the results and see how we can help.