What makes this slogan so great?

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Every morning, I drive past a property management company's branded car. It has all the stuff you'd expect from a branded car - name of the company,  along with the specific manager's phone number and email address. And a slogan.

That slogan is what I want to talk about today, because it's brilliant. Here it is:

"Ask me about our rent guarantee."

It's nothing special, really. But that's what makes it so great. Let's break it down: 

"Ask me . . ."

By starting this sentence with "ask me," they've turned a benefit statement (like "we have a rent guarantee!") to a strong directive, without cluttering it up with extra words. It's a call to action now - it's telling the readers  exactly what to do next. 

If you want to know more, you ask the property manager whose name, email address and phone number is emblazoned on the car. They've conveyed that in just two words. 

This is important because calls to action are both critical and criminally undervalued. I've seen lots of mealy-mouthed calls to action with phrasing like "click here" or "find out more," which don't really tell readers what they specifically need to do next if they're interested.

Worse, lots of advertising just doesn't have a call to action at all - leaving any interested readers with no clear pathway to take their next step. 

This slogan avoids both these problems by not only making the call to action clear, it also puts it front and centre. 

" . . .about our rent guarantee"

Now this is where it gets really interesting. 

Property management is a tough industry. It's very easy to start a property management company, so there are tons of property managers competing with one another, all providing essentially the same service (the downward pressure on margins from all this competition may be the reason why some property managers try to squeeze a few more dollars out of tenants at the end of their tenancy). 

This means that just promising to be the best property manager isn't going to cut it. Promising to collect rent, carry out maintenance, or represent you at Tenancy Tribunal isn't going to cut it. Nor are emotional benefits like "peace of mind" - those are things that every property manager offers.

But a rent guarantee is something different. It's not a run-of-the-mill service offered by every property manager. What's more, it speaks to a common anxiety felt by small-time landlords: that their tenants will stop paying rent, leaving them saddled with the mortgage repayments while they sort it out. 

So in just four words, they've not only tapped into an anxiety their customers feel, they've also highlighted a major differentiator. 

It doesn't have to be complicated

Often when we think of copywriting, we think of stuff like "just do it" or "think different." Big, aspirational statements that tap into some deep corner of the human psyche. And there are circumstances where that's exactly what you need. 

But in lots of other circumstances, copywriting is not about creating some clever masterpiece. Often, it's just about identifying something that sets you apart, then articulating it in a way that resonates with your customers. More often than not, that's just going to be a matter of being clear and concise. Nothing fancy, nothing special - just clear communication. 

It's less about how you express yourself, and more about what you talk about in the first place.

Give it a try next time you're writing something. Ask yourself if you're writing about the details that will resonate the most. If you're not sure, try a different set of features or benefits, and see how it goes. You might be surprised. 

See you in a couple of weeks.

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Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash