7 Copywriting Ideas for Marketing Your Services
“I’ll never be a good copywriter,” said the client. “How do I build my ideal audience and generate new clients if I can’t persuade them with good marketing copy?”
“Don’t try to persuade,” I said. “Simply talk about the transformation that people experience as they try your services.”
That is good marketing copy.
Here are 7 ideas for you to describe the transformational power of your work. Use these ideas in your content, your website copy, and in conversations with your prospective clients...
1. Vision
As you get to know your ideal clients better, notice how they talk about the changes they wish to make.
What goals are they yearning to achieve? What is the transformation they would love your help with? What kind of life do they want?
Basically, why do they really want your services?
It will take some experimentation to figure out how to describe the benefits in a way that really interest them. Don’t delay… just start trying. Publish it on social media and get feedback.
Importantly, don’t promise the vision (definitely don’t guarantee it!), but say that it’s the aim or focus of your work.
After you get a bit o feedback, go ahead and publish it on your website. You will keep improving on it over time, as you interact with more clients and learn about their vision. But you’ve got to start somewhere.
Eventually, your description of the Vision will be so interesting and aligned to your ideal clients, that this may be all they clients need to see, to say Yes to your work.
2. Results
Whereas the Vision is a description of what your potential clients want in the future, the Results are specific descriptions of what your previous clients did actually experience.
If you don’t have any clients yet, I recommend that you simply start doing your work with whomever is willing to experience it. You need to get some “results” stories as soon as possible. Consider trading with other service providers.
Before you have any client stories to share, you can talk about the results in your own life.
The more work you do with people, the more Results stories you can tell.
Whereas the Vision is what’s possible, the Results are about what’s likely.
If you only talk about what’s likely (Results), you might get fixated on past experiences. Yet if you only talk about what’s possible (Vision), it can get into ungrounded idealism and hyped-up marketing.
So in your marketing, talk about what’s likely to happen when you work with an ideal client that is ready and willing to do the work with you.
The simplest way to do this is to share testimonials or client reviews.
If possible, weave in client case studies (stories of transformation) into your content and marketing.
3. Problems
Your clients are experiencing problems that are preventing them from achieving their Vision.
Or perhaps they’re experiencing some pitfalls on their journey towards that Vision.
As you observe your clients’ experiences, notice how they describe those problems or pitfalls, that your business can help solve or alleviate.
Include those descriptions in your content and marketing copy.
The more accurately and clearly you can repeat what your clients are saying, the more your potential clients will say “I’ve got those problems too!”
You’ll get clearer over time, but don’t delay. Just try to describe the problems now. As you experiment and get feedback, future versions will become more accurate.
4. Diagnosis
My friend Tad Hargrave writes eloquently about the importance of diagnosis in his point of view e-book: why are your clients experiencing the problems?
What are the underlying roots?
Whereas the problems are the symptoms, the diagnosis describes the causes.
Can you describe your diagnosis in a way that they resonate with? You’re giving them a framework for understanding what’s really going on in that area of their life.
Again, don’t delay. Just say what you can now. As you experiment with different ways of explaining your diagnosis, it’ll get better over time.
See which description gives your clients that “aha!” moment.
5. Process
This is where most businesses start in their marketing — they love to talk about how their modality works, or the process they use with clients.
But your potential clients don’t find your Process relevant to them unless they first hear you describe one of these…
In this section, your work is to explain your Process in a step-by-step way that they can see themselves going through, to get from where they are now, to the Vision they want.
6. Passion
You don’t do it just for the money. You have a passion for your work.
Maybe you’re also excited to be part of a larger movement that is changing the world.
Talk about your passion for your work. Let your potential clients see that you’re really doing it with your heart and soul.
For example, I talk about my passion to bring authentic marketing to the world, so that consumers can start to trust marketing again. And I want authentic businesses like yours to be able to be yourself and have a thriving audience of kindred spirits.
7. Credibility
By describing the 6 areas above, you’ll come across as credible.
Yet, there may be a few important credibility indicators that are important to say. For example:
This is optional, but if it feels important to mention it, don’t neglect to.
By the way, these are also content ideas.In addition to using these 7 sections as a template for your marketing copy, consider also using them as prompts for your content creation.
For example, you could write about the Problems people are facing and your Diagnosis for why they’re experiencing it.
Or you could make a video about a Result a previous client experienced, and the Process you took them through to experience that result.
Or you could record a podcast episode about the Vision for what’s possible for clients, and your Passion around that.
And throughout your content, you can sprinkle a bit about your Credibility.
Notice how others do this.
As you consume content by your niche mates, notice how they are describing any of these 7 ideas in their copy and content. How might you emulate the best of what they do, in your own voice?
Beware of perfectionism.
The goal is not to get these sections “right” and then finally launch your website. The goal is to start now, describe what you can, and keep improving as you get feedback over time.
With more actual experience, you’ll get clearer and describe these sections in a way that resonates even more with your ideal clients.
Start now from where you are. It takes practice to get better at describing these things. So publish your website now, with your current description, and then revisit it occasionally to update it.
As you get to know your ideal clients better, notice how they talk about the changes they wish to make.
What goals are they yearning to achieve? What is the transformation they would love your help with? What kind of life do they want?
Basically, why do they really want your services?
It will take some experimentation to figure out how to describe the benefits in a way that really interest them. Don’t delay… just start trying. Publish it on social media and get feedback.
Importantly, don’t promise the vision (definitely don’t guarantee it!), but say that it’s the aim or focus of your work.
After you get a bit o feedback, go ahead and publish it on your website. You will keep improving on it over time, as you interact with more clients and learn about their vision. But you’ve got to start somewhere.
Eventually, your description of the Vision will be so interesting and aligned to your ideal clients, that this may be all they clients need to see, to say Yes to your work.
2. Results
Whereas the Vision is a description of what your potential clients want in the future, the Results are specific descriptions of what your previous clients did actually experience.
If you don’t have any clients yet, I recommend that you simply start doing your work with whomever is willing to experience it. You need to get some “results” stories as soon as possible. Consider trading with other service providers.
Before you have any client stories to share, you can talk about the results in your own life.
The more work you do with people, the more Results stories you can tell.
Whereas the Vision is what’s possible, the Results are about what’s likely.
If you only talk about what’s likely (Results), you might get fixated on past experiences. Yet if you only talk about what’s possible (Vision), it can get into ungrounded idealism and hyped-up marketing.
So in your marketing, talk about what’s likely to happen when you work with an ideal client that is ready and willing to do the work with you.
The simplest way to do this is to share testimonials or client reviews.
If possible, weave in client case studies (stories of transformation) into your content and marketing.
3. Problems
Your clients are experiencing problems that are preventing them from achieving their Vision.
Or perhaps they’re experiencing some pitfalls on their journey towards that Vision.
As you observe your clients’ experiences, notice how they describe those problems or pitfalls, that your business can help solve or alleviate.
Include those descriptions in your content and marketing copy.
The more accurately and clearly you can repeat what your clients are saying, the more your potential clients will say “I’ve got those problems too!”
You’ll get clearer over time, but don’t delay. Just try to describe the problems now. As you experiment and get feedback, future versions will become more accurate.
4. Diagnosis
My friend Tad Hargrave writes eloquently about the importance of diagnosis in his point of view e-book: why are your clients experiencing the problems?
What are the underlying roots?
Whereas the problems are the symptoms, the diagnosis describes the causes.
Can you describe your diagnosis in a way that they resonate with? You’re giving them a framework for understanding what’s really going on in that area of their life.
Again, don’t delay. Just say what you can now. As you experiment with different ways of explaining your diagnosis, it’ll get better over time.
See which description gives your clients that “aha!” moment.
5. Process
This is where most businesses start in their marketing — they love to talk about how their modality works, or the process they use with clients.
But your potential clients don’t find your Process relevant to them unless they first hear you describe one of these…
- Vision
- Results
- Problems
- Diagnosis
In this section, your work is to explain your Process in a step-by-step way that they can see themselves going through, to get from where they are now, to the Vision they want.
6. Passion
You don’t do it just for the money. You have a passion for your work.
Maybe you’re also excited to be part of a larger movement that is changing the world.
Talk about your passion for your work. Let your potential clients see that you’re really doing it with your heart and soul.
For example, I talk about my passion to bring authentic marketing to the world, so that consumers can start to trust marketing again. And I want authentic businesses like yours to be able to be yourself and have a thriving audience of kindred spirits.
7. Credibility
By describing the 6 areas above, you’ll come across as credible.
Yet, there may be a few important credibility indicators that are important to say. For example:
- Have you been doing this work for years? How many?
- Did you study with a well-known teacher or school?
- Have you won an award or been featured somewhere that the potential client would recognize?
This is optional, but if it feels important to mention it, don’t neglect to.
By the way, these are also content ideas.In addition to using these 7 sections as a template for your marketing copy, consider also using them as prompts for your content creation.
For example, you could write about the Problems people are facing and your Diagnosis for why they’re experiencing it.
Or you could make a video about a Result a previous client experienced, and the Process you took them through to experience that result.
Or you could record a podcast episode about the Vision for what’s possible for clients, and your Passion around that.
And throughout your content, you can sprinkle a bit about your Credibility.
Notice how others do this.
As you consume content by your niche mates, notice how they are describing any of these 7 ideas in their copy and content. How might you emulate the best of what they do, in your own voice?
Beware of perfectionism.
The goal is not to get these sections “right” and then finally launch your website. The goal is to start now, describe what you can, and keep improving as you get feedback over time.
With more actual experience, you’ll get clearer and describe these sections in a way that resonates even more with your ideal clients.
Start now from where you are. It takes practice to get better at describing these things. So publish your website now, with your current description, and then revisit it occasionally to update it.