Focus on the reader’s needs, not on ‘us and our stuff’

If you were giving away a Hawaiian vacation to people who signed up for your webinar, which would you lead with? The vacation, or the webinar?

Vacation in Hawaii — **Brain wave** Giving away a trip to Hawaii? Lead with the benefit. *Image* by *Kanaka Menehune*

From what I’ve seen — from training more than 25,000 communicators in more than 1,000 organizations over 20 years — most folks would choose the webinar.

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and get a dream trip to Hawaii!

But leading with the webinar won’t grab your readers’ attention and move them to act.

Instead, lead with the benefits and substantiate with the features. Focus on your reader’s wants and needs first, then follow up with your organization and its products, services and ideas.

Steal a trick from these Silver Anvil winners.

These benefits leads from PRSA Silver Anvil-winning campaigns are great models of leading with the benefits and substantiating with the features.

Lead with the benefits …	… Substantiate with the features
Employers now have a better way to measure, monitor and manage employee absences …	… thanks to UnumProvident Corporation’s (NYSE: UNM) expanded online Comparative Reporting & Analysis (CR&A) information services.

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“In the past, if we were trying to sell sushi, we would market it as cold, dead fish.”

— Bojana Fazarinc, former marketing director, Hewlett-Packard

Here’s the secret to reaching more readers

Write about the reader

There’s a good reason that “You” is the most retweeted word in the English language. It doesn’t matter who you are: You are your own favorite topic.

What's in it for me? — **What’s in it for me?** Focus your message on what the reader gets out of it, not on what you put into it. *Image* by *Roy Niswanger*

So if you want to reach your reader, write about the reader. Don’t write about your organization and its products, services, programs and ideas — aka “us and our stuff.”

At Catch Your Readers — a two-day writing Master Class on April 20-21 in Atlanta — you’ll learn how to position your messages in your readers’ best interests. (Most communicators position their messages in their organization’s best interests, which works fine if you are talking to yourself.)

You’ll master a four-step process for making your message more relevant, valuable and rewarding to your readers. You’ll discover the formula people use to determine which messages to pay attention to — and which to ignore. And you’ll walk away with a two-minute perspective shift that focuses your message on value to the audience.

You can save $100 if you act fast: Just 14 early bird tickets remain. Don’t miss out. Register now.