Which is More Important the Sales Copy or the Product?

By Karen Cioffi

There are two basic elements to marketing a product, the product itself and the sales copy. One though is more important than the other.

In a webinar hosted by Daniel Hall, Jason Fladlien discussed creating irresistible offers. Jason is a high paid ‘offerwriter,’ as he puts it, rather than copywriter.

Listening in on the webinar, I tried to envision what ‘marketing’ is.

We know content is KING, and that still holds true. But, then what can the offer be considered? Well, in my vision, the ‘offer’ can be thought of as the land ‘content’ rules over. What does this mean though?

It means you need a quality product or service, in other words, a great offer. The product/service must have a higher perceived value to the potential customer than its perceived cost. This will give the King something to boast about.

So, there are two basic elements to marketing, or at least the promotion end of marketing: the offer and the content. But, if content is King and the offer is the land it rules over, which is more important?

Which is More Important?

If there were no land, the King would have nothing to rule over. And, if there were no King, there would be no order in the land. So, again, which is more important?

According to Fladlien, it’s the offer. It’s the high quality and high value perception of the offer that will make or break the sale.

One scenario to help understand why this is so is that of a resort owner.

Suppose an owner has a high class, gorgeous resort that sits on a swamp. Guess what? No one will want to visit or vacation there - it’s of no value.

Now, suppose the owner created a marketing campaign that highlighted just the luxurious hotel.

If vacationers only take note of the building (the copy) and decide to venture there, they’ll be sorely disappointed and most likely complain to the owner and everyone else who will listen.

The higher perceived value over cost would be false. The owner of that resort will lose all trust and customer confidence. His business would inevitably fail.

But, if that resort owner has a low-end, simple resort sitting on a plush and gorgeous piece of land with fishing, swimming, horseback riding, tennis, and lots of other enmities, loads of people will be visiting. The vacation sells itself.

The offer (the product) is so much more important that Fladlien said its “80 percent of your success,” whereas the “writing part is 10-20 percent.”

If you think about it, it makes sense.

Let’s go back to the resort owner. A great area (the offer), with all the enmities will sell itself. The copy or content only needs to bring the details to the viewer or reader’s attention. It doesn’t have to be a hard sell or overkill, it just needs to be stated.

Bottom line, you need to have a high-quality, ‘higher perceived value than cost’ product as the foundation of your sales copy or sales letter.

A great product will not only sell itself, it will usually write its own copy. And, recommendations from customers will further promote the product.

Karen Cioffi is a content writing and inbound marketing instructor. To check out how she can help you take your marketing to the next level, visit:

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