I just read a question by a frustrated copywriter.
He writes copy for a bunch of businesses that are “just like everyone else.”
They have no clear USP.
They sell the same products or services as their competitors.
And their ideal clients are “someone with a lot of money that has no sane reason to give it to them.”
So what do you do in this kind of situation?
How can you market a generic product or service?
The easy answer would be to say, find better clients, or help your clients improve their products and services.
But as I’ve written previously, that’s not always an option.
This is a situation I know well, because I’ve recently worked for several clients who specialize in selling generic, USP-free products.
In fact, that’s their entire business model.
Specifically, these clients sell their own white-labeled versions of currently popular ecommerce products, such as portable blenders or activated charcoal bags or shoe insoles.
For each of these products, there are typically dozens of competitors selling the exact same thing, and often at lower prices.
And yet, we’ve been able to make many of these offers profitable, and to do so to cold traffic from Facebook.
In my experience, it requires two things:
1. Amping up the emotion. The copy for these products tells cautionary, dramatic personal stories and ties them into the product. In effect, the copy tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and then mentions a flashing LED collar that keeps wolves at bay.
2. Selling the features to justify the purchase. The copy then talks about the non-unique features of the product and sells them on their benefits:
”And this anti-wolf LED collar lasts 6 hours on one charge — which means it will cover Little Red’s entire trip through the forest, even if she gets lost along the way.”
Of course, this won’t work to sell careful shoppers.
After all, the features aren’t unique, and the product might be available elsewhere for a lower price.
But like I said, the above 1-2 punch is effective in selling enough people to make many of these offers profitable.
I hope this helps you if you have to sell a generic, non-differentiated product.
And if you want to talk about having me write your Little Red Riding Hood cautionary tales, write me an email and get in touch.