What are The Three T’s, and how can they help you sell?

The Three T’s are a tool that you can use to make sure what you say to your readers hits home and is professionally made. In order, they are Typos, Targets and Truths. Each one has an important role in your copy, so let’s dive in on what makes The Three T’s special.

Typos chase away buyers and discredit your position.

The simple truth is this: Typos are going to happen. With how much time we spend typing and working on the computer in general, a typo is hard to avoid. What we don’t have to accept is presnting those typos to our readers.

When you release a piece of copy, be it a blog post like this, a banner ad or even a simple social media post, it needs to be typo free. This is one simple and effective way to make sure you are always prsenting as professionally as possible. We all want to be the most agreeable versions of ourselves when we sell, right?

Now obviously, what “professional” looks like will always vary depending on the business. However, no matter where you go, a typo will always drag down the public’s opinion. And when that goes down, so do profits.

So what can be done to prevent typos from going out?

Not everyone is an amzing typist, or even likes to write in the first place. Luckily, this is not only one of the most serious issues of The Three T’s, but it’s also the easiest to fix. Here’s how:

1. Edit and preview any finished draft out loud. A good “once-over” any piece while reading out loud is a great way to find typos as your brain will have a harder time skipping over them.
2. Use a spellcheck program. Whether it is the one that comes on your computer or one you purchase, these can take a lot of the leg-work out.
3. Try programs that work at the same time as you and edit on the fly. Software like Grammarly, ProWritingAid and Sapling all can make suggestions and edits to the piece you are currently writing, automizing your own work.
4. Make use of transcription software to never type a thing. Don’t want to type? Have to computer listen to you talk and make it easier than ever to create content.
5. Hire a copywriter to edit your content. Most copywriters I know (including myself) would love to help you out and make sure your content is written well.

Targets give you structure and purpose.

The second step of The Three T’s is knowing that how and why a piece will be written is incredibly important to its success. You have to know how and for what reason you are doing the writing, otherwise you could write something that totally flops. Knowing your target will do all of that work for you.

The how of a target:

Knowing how a piece will be written is the first step. If you are writing a sales email, you wouldn’t want to format it like a blog post. It simply won’t do what you want it to do.

Instead, keeping with the sales email example, you would write up a personal, short and punchy email that can keep the audience’s attention and move forward with the sale. Doing anything other than this can muddy the waters and even push your customers away from what you what them to focus on, AKA fail the sale.

For this step to work, you need to know the styilng and purpose behind each type of copywriting project. What was the form made to do? How does it weave in the sale to its content and how does it typically interact with the viewer.  This isn’t meant to gatekeep or dictate who can write what, but is much more of a tool to help writers correctly interact with buyer psychology.

Set your how on something easy at first, then expand as needed. Emails are typically short and get right to the point, blog posts are more story or list based and the list goes on from there. Find the right format for your project and the work will become clearer and easier.

The why of a target:

When you correctly aim a piece of copy at certain groups, or through a certain styling, you are trying to interact with and guide a person towards  a result. That is the very basis of copywriting afterall.

When used correctly, you can grab someone’s attention and place them in front of your goal, ready to follow. That sales email from earlier wouldn’t do very well if it dragged on or was sent to a group of people who didn’t care for the product intrinsically.

Instead, if you find a target market who are known to like your product or service and then write to them in a way that is made for them to respond to, you will see results.

A target also can inform or build the outline for what a piece will look like. It can guide the makers (either yourself or your copywriter) on what purpose it is meant to serve. There is a glowing “hit me!” sign off in the distance to aim at, instead of going in blind and trying to find a good result.

Overall, knowing why you are writing is just something that you need to do. The benefits massively outweigh the time put in and will bring huge dividends.

The Truth will sell for free

Of The Three T’s, this may be the most controversial. It is imperitive that you do not lie to your audience. Be truthful when you sell and don’t try to be or sell something that you aren’t.

It may come as a bit of a left-hook to the marketing world, but lying is bad for business. Your audience will either see right through it, or find the truth on their own. Either way, when they find out that you have lied just to get into their wallet, well let’s just not get to that point shall we?

When you sell your product or service, keep it realistic and true. You may have an amazing potato peeler that works well for carrots and apples, but it isn’t also a medical instument. Do you see how something outlandish can turn your head and cause you to distance yourself from a sale? It may sound good on paper, but in reality it will probably push away many who just want a nice peeler.

Crazy metaphors aside, it’s totally ok to be truthful in your sale and say what your “something” can’t do. Set it’s limits and make it easier for your audience to comprehend what your offering them. This may even help put your offer into a better position because they know you are being honest with them.

And if people keep wanting more from your product or service, then they aren’t honoring your offer and probably won’t be a very good customer anyway. That in-and-of-itself is a helpful truth for you to know. Not everyone is a great customer, even if they have money.

Putting it all together

The Three T’s are at their strongest when they work together. A targeted and honest piece with no typos will do wonders for you in the world of business. Your audience will respect you and know that you are offering them something real and useful.

Obviously, this is just one of the many parts of copywriting. Keeping to these rules though will put you well and ahead of your competition. I may take soem time and effort, but with The Three T’s by your side, you can make magic happen.

Alternatively, you can always give me a call and we can talk about using these principles and more in your next project. I would love to be able to help out and save you the time and effort so yo uca ngo back to running your business.

Let’s chat and workout a plan to get you ahead: https://calendly.com/zackscopywriting/1-on-1-business-chat

 Follow me on LinkedIn for more content and tips: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachary-coulson-3785b6223 

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