The biggest copywriting mistake natural products manufacturers make
Good copywriting tells a story in a voice that’s unique to your brand. It’s got personality. It’s original. It’s fresh.
So why do so many natural products manufacturers opt for copy that sounds just like everyone else? Because they’re afraid, and they’re playing it safe. And I think that’s the biggest copywriting mistake natural products manufacturers can make.
It’s human nature to be risk averse. Much of the time, playing it safe makes sense. (Not getting eaten by a tiger or run over a bus come to mind.) But not when it comes to copywriting.
The whole point of good copy is to differentiate you from the crowd. And to do that, you’ve got to put words together in a way people aren’t used to.
Here are the top 3 ways natural products companies play it safe, and how to be bold instead.
Using a formal stilted, voice. This is especially pervasive among raw material suppliers. I get it – you’re selling serious ingredients, backed by serious science, and you feel you need to have a formal voice to be credible. But the truth is, almost everyone prefers reading copy in a casual tone. It’s just easier to process. After all, marketing execs and R&D managers are busy folks who, just like consumers, only have so much brain capacity; writing in a way that people actually talk means they don’t have to work as hard to understand what you’re trying to say.
Trying to appeal to everyone. It’s important to know your target audience, and it’s not everyone. Say you’ve developed a product that has some good science showing it improves muscle tone. There are all kinds of audiences you could market this product to: seniors who have or are scared of getting sarcopenia, bodybuilders who want to get ripped for their next competition, women who want to be more toned without bulking up, college athletes who want to improve their game. But if you try to market this product to all of these segments, you’re going to censor yourself for fear of turning off one of them. Which means you’re going to end up with some really bland copy that appeals to no one.
Being afraid of being “negative.” A lot of natural products companies embrace positivity, and that’s totally cool. Natural products, with their focus on helping people and planet, are inherently positive! But part of good copywriting is comparing your product to others in the marketplace and explaining how it’s better. So don’t be afraid of using words like “unlike” or “but” or “however” or “no.” These words point to gaps in the marketplace, allowing you to serve up your product as the solution.
So go on…dare to talk the way people really talk, be willing to lose a portion of your audience, and don’t shy away from “negative” words to tell your story. Playing it safe makes you invisible. Being bold gets you noticed.