In today’s digitally driven world of aerospace marketing, the options for reaching potential customers and generating leads are virtually endless.
There’s advertising—search ads, Facebook ads, standard print ads and more.
There’s marketing via trade shows and expos.
There’s SEO and web marketing.
There’s social media.
The list goes on and on.
But while these may seem like very disparate and separate strategies on their face, when boiled down, their success relies on the same, singular factor: The effectiveness of your copy.
The right copy is what will make people click those ads and then convert to customers. It’s what will make people stop at your trade show booths, pick up your card and give you a call. It what will get visitors to your website and what will inspire them to learn more.
So what is the “right” copy? How do you craft it and how do you ensure you’re reaching people in the right way, at the right time in the sales funnel? Our resident content strategist has some tips.
The Dos
Have a voice.
You might be talking on different platforms and mediums, but your brand’s overall voice should be consistent and reliable at all times—no matter where your copy’s going. Today’s customers want to feel connected to the companies they do business with, and your voice helps you establish those connections (as well as set you apart from your competitors!)
Inspire action.
The point of marketing is to gain more leads, more customers and more sales—so don’t be wishy washy with your language. Tell your reader exactly what you want them to do with the information you’re providing. Should they contact you to learn more about it? Should they buy your product to help with their current need/challenge? Should they follow you on Twitter for key industry news? Let them know what action you want them to take and what they’ll get in return for doing it.
Have a goal in mind.
Always keep your goal top of mind when creating content. Are you trying to sell a product? Increase knowledge of your brand? Prove your experience and clout? Think of this goal as you’re writing, and then again when you proof your final copy. Does it get your point across? Does it drive toward your ultimate goal? If not, it’s back to the drawing board you go.
Know your reader.
Knowing your goal is important, but so is knowing your reader. What are their unique struggles and challenges? Where are they located? What point of life are they at? These details should drive your copy and help you create content that really resonates with the reader and makes them connect.
Customize and target.
You may very well have two, three or even 10 different types of target customers—each with different wants, needs and challenges. There’s no reason your copy has to speak to all of them at once; in fact, it shouldn’t. Use what you know about your target audiences to segment your marketing strategies and really reach each one in a direct and meaningful way.
The Don’ts
Use and reuse.
Don’t copy and paste copy across every strategy and campaign you launch. Copy needs to be customized at every level—customized for the target audience, for the specific platform you’re using, for the time of year, etc. The more customized your content is, the higher your ROI will likely be.
Go too broad.
By the same token, you don’t want to be too broad with your copy. Sure, general copy may appeal to more people, but it won’t do so in a meaningful way that converts them from passive onlooker to paying customer. Your copy may resonate with a smaller group by drilling down deep, but the impact will ultimately be much larger if the content is targeted to their specific mindset.
Leave off the CTAs.
Calls to action are non-negotiable. You never want someone to finish reading your copy and think “so what?” Then you just wasted their time and yours. Always include a CTA that tells the reader exactly what they should do with your information and how to interact with your brand further once they’re done. Make sure to measure the conversions on that CTA too, so you can tweak your efforts as necessary.
Forget to proof.
Nothing makes your brand look shoddier than bad, typo-ridden content. It’s unprofessional and it looks rushed—neither of which deem you worthy of someone’s hard-earned time and money. Always run your final copy through spell check and a tool like Grammarly, and if you can, put it in front of another pro’s set of eyes, too. You never know what someone new might catch.
DIY it.
Let’s face it: Most of us can write at least fairly well. But do you want potential customers thinking your company’s just “fair?” No. You’d likely rather they think you’re “great,” “impressive” or, better yet, “expensive.” Like anything, you get what you pay for. If you DIY it and do it cheaply in-house, you’ll likely get subpar content. If you invest resources in a professional content writer, you’ll get professional, top-quality content instead.
Content is King
The importance of copy in aerospace marketing can’t be understated. It’s what drives every strategy, every effort and every campaign we launch, and at the end of the day, it’s vital to our clients’ successes. Want to make sure your content is where it should be? Reach out to Haley Aerospace today.
