On the other hand, company employees know a lot. Unfortunately, that’s a problem.

Because they also share among themselves the insider knowledge, assumptions, familiarity and loyalties that are common to full-time staffers. So when they attempt to write their own website content, it’s from an insider’s perspective. That’s natural. Furthermore, those biases are invisible to them, because the co-workers who review and approve their writing have the same insider perspective.

• Since employees are familiar with certain industry terms, they assume their audience is too.
• Since employees care about the history of their own company, they assume their audience does too.
• Since employees know the shortcomings of their competition, they assume their audience does too.

It’s easy to work hard and still miss the boat when you’re writing web content.

You’ll find plenty of Atlanta small business websites that fail to connect with their audience because they’re filled with company-focused content instead of customer-focused content. Of course, our own companies are just about the most important thing in the world to us. But when you’re the buyer, what do you care about first and foremost? Yourself, of course, and solving your own needs.

So true strategic marketing communications require an 180-degree shift in perspective. It’s not about the company, products, and services from our own perspective. It’s about what that potential buyer can gain for themselves, from their point-of-view.

For example, the website copy for a local bed-and-breakfast is “about” the clean rooms and friendly communal breakfasts. But for local residents, it may really be “about” having a unique place for out-of-town relatives to stay (so they don’t feel guilty for not having a guest room).

A good Atlanta copywriter can help you discover missed marketing opportunities.

That’s because they look at things through the buyer’s eyes. And they understand that good persuasive writing appeals to both logic and emotion. Writing website content, as well as emails and landing pages, requires digging deeper. It means understanding the various motivations and perceived needs of web searchers, and it starts there.

Beginning with “what our company believes,” although it may seem intuitive for managers and staffers, is a common way of throwing away the marketing budget. As a website visitor, I didn’t sit down at the computer to search for your company’s beliefs; I’m searching for a specific way to make my life better. Without a professional Atlanta copywriter guiding the content for a small business website, employees are naturally just too close to it to be expected to make that transition.

Employees still have a crucial role to play in the development of a small business website.

As we’ve already noted, the marketing writer knows nothing about your company from the start. So it’s the job of staffers to fill the copywriter with information. Not just about the company, but about the industry, the competitive environment, and most importantly, about the typical customer. Employees on the ‘front lines’–for example, salespeople–will know the most about the mindset and needs of their best clients. That’s all extremely important information that will enable the copywriter to appeal to others with the same mindset and needs.

So hiring a strategically-minded Atlanta copywriter will ensure that your website copy is talking persuasively to potential buyers. Without a fresh set of eyes, too many Atlanta small businesses end up talking only to themselves–and never even realize it.

Let’s approach this from another angle.

Have you ever ‘observed’ yourself looking through the mail? Looking through a magazine? Looking through a website?

What I mean is, objectively noting when your eye is drawn in by something; and noticing when you don’t notice anything at all.

Or, when something has landed in your squeaky-wheeled or virtual shopping cart, have you ever reflected on the mix of internal and external influences that got it there?

How I learned what I thought I knew.

Although I had spent years helping my clients in Atlanta with their marketing communications, doing the observation thing honestly wouldn’t have occurred to me either. But then I found myself preparing to teach a class in creative strategy at Atlanta’s Portfolio Center. I noticed budding copywriters and graphic designers practicing how to balance a client’s marketing needs with their own need for creative expression. The only needs being left out were those of the intended audience.

Hmm. How do I help them approach this from another angle?

So I started watching, really watching, how I consumed media, and watching what impact, if any, it had. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be the most enlightening exercise of my career and, surprise surprise, guess who ended up getting the education. In a field I already thought I knew.

How award-winning graphic design can still be an utter failure.

In most media, I noticed that my eye landed near the upper left on the page, and generally swept to lower right. I noticed that, say, a headline at upper right never even caught my eye. Wait, I thought. The client signed off on this layout — ‘looks fine to me’ — not realizing that she had just thrown away any chance of it even having a chance. She could read the headline; so what’s the problem? Surprise, surprise.

I noticed that I always read headlines, but rarely read the text — especially if it was placed far from the headline. But when there was a sub-head immediately after the headline, and paragraph content directly under that, I tended to read all three. Interesting. I noticed that text that began near the edge of the page always got ignored. But I noticed that when content began with a few words of oversize type, my eye was naturally drawn in. I noticed what kinds of things caught my eye. And I noticed my eye sliding off the page, friction-free, many, many, many times.

Apparently all I care about is myself.

It went farther than just visual considerations. If the organization showed that it truly understood and empathized with my dilemmas, I tended to trust them. But when content began with something like, “At (our company), we pride ourselves in our…” then my eyes glazed over, and I never saw anything else.

At the check-out counter, I reflected on what I had seen that made me feel safe for making a popular choice. Though other times, I found that I had responded to an appeal to buck the crowd and be different. I noticed what funny creatures we humans are, each a carefully rationalized package of incongruities.

I could go on and on, but your time would be better spent trying the observation exercise yourself. Standing outside ourselves and looking in does take some effort and practice, but you just may learn a thing or two about yourself. You’ll definitely learn about how to approach your own marketing from the eyes of someone who is not you.

And surprise, surprise, those buyers out there may just start noticing.

Except for engineers, maybe, who I’m sure do have hearts, but, well, I won’t get into that. The point is, we’re rarely aware of the bubbling brew of internal and external forces that act on us, from the ding-dong recognition of a need, to the final slap of the credit card hitting the sales counter.

How well do we really know ourselves?

I used to try to find an even balance between logical appeal and emotional appeal in the marketing messages I’ve developed. But it’s since occurred to me that emotion plays a much bigger role than we realize in our buying decisions. When we think a purchase “makes sense,” how can we be sure that it objectively makes sense, or if it’s simple human desire slinking around behind the scenes to pump up the positives and gloss over the negatives?

Was that clothing purchase influenced by the tastes of a friend who I feel is more stylish than me? Am I buying that 15 megapixel camera because I really need all those pixels, or because I just like the idea of owning state-of-the-art-stuff? Am I paying twice as much for my company’s inventory software simply because I’m afraid of looking bad to my boss if the standard product doesn’t cut it?

Dig deeper into customers’ heads.

When I have the chance to talk to my clients’ customers or prospects these days, in addition to asking the normal questions about what drives their purchase decisions, I now also ask them how they feel about each point that comes up. Not everyone opens up totally, but it’s a surprisingly enlightening exercise when they do. And these nuggets of insight are always invaluable grist for the marketing mill.

Marketing of course generally focuses on product features and benefits. But we need to think of these as not just selling points, but as ways to help people rationalize something they’ve already, if subconsciously, decided they want. And they want it, perhaps, because we’ve done such a good job in appealing to underlying emotions. If you don’t think this applies as much to business purchases, note the emotional satisfaction you feel after making a good, rational, comparison-shopped business decision.

Change your tactics in mid-stream.

One inescapable pattern I’ve noticed over the years is that emotion plays a bigger role in the early, “discovery” phase of the buying cycle. We see something appealing, something that connects with our pre-existing desires, and those little morphine-like endorphins start doing fast laps around our brains.

However when we start doing our research, and comparing various types of solutions and competing products, focused logic really does seem to take over. The more we learn, the deeper we get into the details, and the easier it is imagining the outcomes, practical benefits, and potential pitfalls of various after-the-buy scenarios.

I’ve actually found this to be a pretty valuable insight, emphasizing the need for different types of communications to prospects who are at different points in the purchase process. When that’s impossible though, we can still structure our marketing appeals to start with the emotional stuff, then proceed to the smart logical benefits of buying from us. But at the very end, when we’re trying to get them to pull the trigger, our call-to-action should come back and reinforce the feelings we sought to ignite at the very beginning.

Of course, it varies by situation, but that’s as close to a tried-and-true formula I’ve come up with so far.

Help your buyers sell.

The other dynamic that I’ve found it helpful to consider, is that buying decisions aren’t always made by a single person. Think about how the reader will get their spouse or company colleagues to buy into the same conclusion they did, and arm them with both logical and emotional persuasion points that target the sensibilities of those decision influencers.

So, as a savvy marketer, what did you think about this article? Perhaps more importantly, how did you feel about it?

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Man, over the years, I’ve seen lots of good reasons. Well, they weren’t good reasons in the end. But when managers consistently put their internal considerations before customers’ buying considerations, then marketing pieces end up being targeted to managers…rather than customers. I know, I know, I tried to tell them.

Managers look around, and what do they see?

Well, their plant and facilities. Their employees. The company Mission Statement hanging on the wall. All great starting points for a marketing initiative, right? Uh, no. Not unless their Mission Statement includes a solution for the complex technical issues that their target prospects are stressing about at this very moment. And please, don’t tell me about your employees’ experience. Show me your employees’ genuinely effective approach to my predicament…due to their experience. Or, you want to boast about your firm’s commitment to excellence? Sorry, phrases like that make my mouse reach for the ‘Back’ button all by itself.

Let’s distinguish ourselves by, um, doing what everyone else is doing.

Okay, we all know that Volvo stands for safety, Mercedes stands for luxury and BMW stands for the driving experience. They’ve all been very successful positions. So, gosh, why are most companies so afraid of standing for something, anything? Often I guess because they’d be afraid of losing those two dozen Volvo drivers out there who may be more interested in speed than safety. So they dilute a potentially strong and appealing positioning for the great majority of their prospects, for the sake of a few on the fringes who don’t fit the profile. I’ve seen it time and again.

Now, don’t start getting all emotional on me.

Say, a local hospital’s staff is exceptional at calming nervous patients, empathetically addressing their concerns, and helpfully answering their questions. Wouldn’t you think there’s a unique campaign theme in there somewhere? But instead of showing, and hearing from, relieved and confident patients, we get “A history of quality care since 1974.” Okay, so now I know what year you opened, but I’m still freaked about my foot surgery tomorrow. If managers took off their managers’ hats, and put themselves in their clients’ shoes, they’d understand the huge factor that various emotions play in the choices we humans make.

Be creative. But not too creative.

I’ve seen marketing agencies make a pitch to a client, and good news, the client loves their funny, cool creative concept. But it turns out that the agency is better at selling to clients than they are to the client’s customers. Because, unfortunately, the creativity has completely overshadowed the selling message. Try this: the next time you notice truly compelling, flashy, impactful visuals in a TV commercial, see how much of the message you recall when it’s over. Whoops.

What, success takes hard work? You’re kidding.

A company sells to three distinct market segments, but apparently it’s too much trouble to do separate brochures so they can address each audience’s specific needs. So they do a single brochure that’s so delightfully general, it addresses no one’s needs. Another firm assumes that everyone knows about the higher-grade components it uses, so it doesn’t bother to advertise the significant cost savings of less-frequent replacement. In yet another business, the VPs squander so much time trying to come to a concensus on the details of an ad, that the business opportunity that had presented itself has already gone buh-bye.

The list goes on. A company would come out looking good if it compared its service plans with those of a competitor on its website; but the VP doesn’t want to hurt the feelings of the competitor. Or a firm refuses to update to a fresh, contemporary graphic look, simply because it doesn’t match the old look they’ve used in the past.

These are the same kinds of managers who tend to cut the budget because “marketing doesn’t work.”

Sadly, and for a whole colorful variety of reasons, much, if not, most of the money that gets spent on marketing gets wasted. Not necessarily because the sales potential isn’t there. But because company insiders have their hands full with their own short-term priorities. Before investing more money into marketing, maybe it’s time to get away, sit back, and invest some time thinking about our audience’s long-term priorities. And start there.

So that, well, there’s less chance of their escape, and my looking foolish. Although our country is probably lucky that I’m not in charge of defending its shores, I keep hearing that this very approach is offering all kinds of new marketing possibilities these days.

I think it helps if we let go o the convenient but limiting distinction between paper and pixels. I mean, the new medium of radio was a huge perceived threat to newspapers in the 1920s, but in the end they coexisted. And now they’re categorized together under ‘traditional’ media.

Think of using ads, mailers and brochures as first lines of attack.

Sorry about the war analogy. But don’t the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines manage to achieve the same military goal by working together? In any case, print, broadcast and outdoor media are still a way to get attention from folks who aren’t searching online for our helpful new product feature because, well, they didn’t know about it. In print, tease them, lure them, excite them with colorful pictures and new possibilities. Then, use URLs and QR codes that point to the specific web pages we want them to see for further details, benefits, and next steps.

Speaking of QR Codes…

They’re becoming handy little buggers, aren’t they? Problem is, I’m probably not going to stop what I’m doing, wherever I am, to go online with a tiny screen for in-depth info about your product or service. So on your mobile landing page, continue to briefly intrigue them, then get them to drop your regular URL in their web-based bookmarking site, or otherwise forward it to their PC. That way, they can check it out when they have more time, and a greater viewing area, to absorb what you have to say.

It works the other way too.

I find I’m more likely to take extra time with a paper catalog or scrumptiously-designed brochure; when I’m online it seems like I’m always on a hurried mission. So instead of blindly sending prospects a direct mail piece that tries to sell everything to everyone, let them click and choose which products they’re interested in, their business category, and even more specific details. So what they end up getting in the mail is exactly what they’re interested in. Plus with Variable Data Printing, you can do further customization, such as including their name and company name in the brochure’s headlines. I mean, is that the future, or what?

New tablets are already blurring the line between print and web.

Websites and apps optimized for tablet computers offer fresh, unlimited online content with more of a traditional reading experience. An attractive home page that’s properly organized as your website’s table of contents gives readers the best of both worlds. Tablets may not be as common as laptops yet, but watch the former take a bite out of the latter in the next few years.

Technology is just a tool. It’s creativity that gets noticed.

How about a fun but dramatic TV spot that leaves the viewer hanging at the end? Send them to your You Tube channel for the next video in the series. Or use email to tell a prospect that they’re invited to a very cool event, but only if they’re wearing the cartoon bow-tie that’s coming in the mail. Or maybe ask people to print out a web page that has secret info that can’t be seen on screen. Or plan a QR Code Scavenger Hunt, that gets people to search out clues–and your messages–in various media. Who knows; the next national trend could start out as your company’s innovative mixed-media idea.

The objective, in the end, is to surprise the enemy–I mean your prospect–by doing an end-run around their expectations. The strategy lies in how how savvy you are in the choice and deployment of your weapons. I mean media.

There are all kinds of factors that might send a new project down that rocky path. But I’ve spent decades watching company behavior from an agency perspective. And if for some reason I were forcibly compelled to pick some indicators of sweat-free marketing, here are some of the things I would blurt out.

Give me a little committee.

The smaller the client’s marketing-approval committee, I’ve noticed, the easier it is to wrangle everyone onto the same page. And the easier it is to keep a fine idea from getting tragically mangled before it goes out the door.

Sometimes, though, the client insists on on asking all 17 people in the office for input on the marketing creative, generously soliciting their buy-in. What could possibly go wrong?

Half of those people will take a copy home to see what their spouse thinks, why not, and dutifully convey that supplementary input the next day. Naturally, hardly anyone agrees with each other, and several have already come up with a “better idea.” As the Creative Director, those days I just try to be thankful that I’m not shoveling hot tar for minimum wage.

I can’t make you happy unless I know what makes you happy.

One person, say, the marketing director, offers the agency input for the project. Another person, say the company president, can’t be troubled to attend the input meeting, but of course will pass final judgment on the end result.

That works fine if those two people see eye-to-eye on every aspect of every consideration. But how likely is that? The agency may do a stellar job of attending to the marketing person’s stated needs. Yet the boss really may have had something else in mind that she apparently expected everyone else to guess at.

But since nobody wants to start over, the creative work is modified and twisted and re-rigged until it the president’s considerations are taken into account. Only problem is, if you stand back and look at it with the fresh eyes of a potential customer, well, it doesn’t really work anymore. In fact, it may not even make sense. But nobody wants to start over, so it goes out that way. So sad.

Don’t solve problems for me. Please.

Of course, there are always changes to the initial creative execution before the final approval bell rings. Even creative folks have to be flexible; prima donnas burn out fast in marketing.

Sometimes, though, the client decides to play designer or writer (how hard could it be?) and starts moving elements or words around. This will always, always throw off something else, which in turn creates a cascade of highly unnecessary difficulties within the (previously) carefully balanced message and design. The result is not pretty.

I just ask one thing. Tell me what the issue or problem or concern is, and I’ll solve it–and this is the important part–without unintentionally creating more problems. That’s what you’re paying me for. For example, would you tell the electricians that you want a switch to control the overhead light–or would you tell them what to connect the yellow wire to?

Of course, those of you on the client side probably have your own set of pet peeves about agency creative people.

I’ll be watching for your blog posts.