Writing supports sales

I’m going to use a radio ad as an example but I think this generally holds true for other forms of writing such as responses to RFPs, television ads, print ads and even Web writing, though the Web is often a different beast and requires its own explanation.

Let’s take one of those annoying and redundant car dealer ads. These usually run later in the week and over the weekend (when people are more likely to be out visiting car lots, if they’re looking for a new or used car).

Let’s even imagine the client is going to allow us to create an ad that actually stands out and gets noticed. We have a free hand to create something that works. But before we start writing we have to answer this question:

What is the writing trying to do?

If you think you’re going to sell cars, you’re wrong. That’s the job of the salespeople at the dealership. It would be a waste of time to try and sell cars with the ad because no one is going to buy a car based on a radio ad. Besides, the salespeople at the dealership have two advantages that you don’t: 1) they are dealing with people in person, one-to-one, and, 2) they are salespeople – you aren’t.

So what is the purpose of your ad? It’s this: get people to the dealership. Drive traffic to the car lot so the salespeople have qualified prospects who are ready to buy. In other words, get people sufficiently interested in the car dealer’s product (cars) that they go to the dealership.

How you drive that traffic is up to you and depends to some extent on what you have to work with. The trigger may be price or rebates. It may be features. It may be a specific car – it’s style or whatever. Or maybe your script, executed well, is creative enough in its intangible way that it intrigues people and makes them go to the dealership.

Whatever it is, the job here is to drive traffic, not close a deal. Think of it as a football game. You’re a lineman. Your job is to protect your quarterback long enough for him to complete a pass. You support the quarterback sufficiently to allow him to do his job.

In the same way, your job as a writer is to support sales.