Brand Central Station

One of my favorite B2B Marketing Blogs (the Red on Marketing Blog) posted this great little article on B2B copywriting at the end of last week.  In fact, the lesson to be learned here applies to all kinds of copywriting – whether you’re writing for the Internet, for the news media or to sell something in an ad:

Don’t bury your lead.  Tell people who you are and what you do.

Clearly.

In fact, I can remember the day I first heard an advertising colleague refer to a client’s service as a “business solution” – I thought it was brilliant.  Apparently, so did every other B2B copywriter in the 1980′s.

And when everyone uses the same words to describe different things, everything starts to sound the same.  Even when they’re not.

Learn the lesson the easy way now.  Check out Robert Celashi’s post here.

Our friends at the Copyblogger web site have an excellent post that explains what a “catablog” is … (check out the post here).

In short, Brian Clark offers this thumbnail description of a catablog:

A catablog is basically a blog that is designed to mix content and commerce in a very deliberate fashion. It’s looking to attract people who are interested in buying things, but who are also interested in immersing themselves in the lifestyle surrounding the products.

For traditionalists, this is an excellent example of how to blend the “new” social media with the “old” concept of a direct mail catalog.  Focus on the story-telling and follow some basic rules for catalog sales.  The measurable aspect of the medium (online) will help you fine tune your product offering, refine your approach and improve your ROI.

You’ve heard the advice: sell the benefit not the feature, time and again, haven’t you.  Now the Copyblogger blog provides this post where they explain the physiological reasons why humans prefer benefits over features.

It’s a fascinating piece that puts you into contact with the research from scientists who study this sort of stuff.

To sum up author Brian Clark’s point:

when you focus on beneficial messages in your copy, you’re creating an anticipatory response that is no different from experiencing the reward itself. A dry recitation of features is not going to pull this neurological trigger, and that’s why copy that focuses on features alone fails.

You’ve got to tell people the story they (and their brains) want to hear.

The hardest thing for many people is mistaking features for the benefits that the features provide. A feature is a descriptive fact about your offering. The benefit of that feature is what someone gains or avoids losing as a result of that feature.

I didn’t go to school at the University of Texas (Hell no!), but you do have to appreciate the work they’ve put into this page. This is great coffee-break/lunch material for advertising junkies like me.

My personal favorite headline: “Springmaid sheets are known as America’s Favorite Playground.” – guess we better get that line trademarked.