Get to the Point with POS Copy
Go to any retail store and pick a product off the shelf. Chances are it will be covered with promotional copy on the front, back, and even the top and bottom! This packaging copy is part of a small niche in marketing communications called point-of-sale (POS) marketing.
The purpose of POS marketing — also known as merchandising — is to motivate you to buy the product when it's right there in front of you. It's designed to defeat your hesitation, overwhelm you with benefits, and get you to take the product to the cash register and pull out your wallet. Look at the text on the front and back cover of this book. That is a form of POS copy.
As a consumer you're familiar with this type of promotional copy. You see it everyday. It's on the side of the cereal box you stare at each morning, and on just about every item that has a package around it at your local grocery store, home improvement center, electronics shop, or other retailer.
Why is POS copy so important?
Have you ever picked up an item from a store shelf and then stood there wondering whether you should buy it? This is the moment of truth in retail shopping. What POS copy attempts to do is transform your hesitancy into a purchasing decision by reminding you of all the great features and benefits of the product.
POS marketing might seem like it's primarily targeting consumers. But it plays a surprisingly significant role in business-to-business marketing as well. Business software, for example, utilizes intensive POS copy packaging. Some software product packages contain more than 1,500 words of text! You'll also find motivating POS copy hard at work at industrial and commercial supply stores (farm supply depots, plumbing supplies), computer and office supply retailers, and even at trade shows.
Packaging and More
Packaging is the most common form of POS marketing, but it certainly isn't the only one. There is a wide spectrum of promotional pieces that are developed for in-store merchandising purposes. Any of which you may be asked to write as a copywriter.
Signage — including posters, window stickers, banners, and pole signs
Coupons — usually located with the product, or at least close by
Displays — used not only to hold the product but also to promote it, often located on a floor, shelf, or counter
Product sheets — a list of features and benefits, popular in computer, electronics, home improvement, and other stores that carry products where more information is required than can fit on a package
Aisle violators — signs that stick out at a 90-degree angle directly into the aisle so they can't be missed
Shelf runners — signs that are tucked under a product and fold down to expose the promotional copy
Pen Your POS Copy
POS copywriting is very much like writing an ad. The only tangible difference is that the product is right in front of the customer. So your copy doesn't have to be introductory or descriptive. Instead, you can focus immediately on the key features and benefits, those sales messages that motivate an already interested prospect to buy.
In most promotional pieces the rule is to focus on the benefits. However, in POS copy, features can be equally important. If you're shopping for a new office printer, you need to know specifics about the print quality resolution, pages per minute, and other features. If 2,400 dpi is what you need but you can't find that information on the box, you may not buy the product.
The copy on product packaging and other in-store promotional pieces should be persuasive enough to sell the product then and there. You might not get another chance! So make sure that the information presented is complete, clear, and persuasive.
Here are some copy elements found in most POS marketing pieces:
Quotes from glowing product reviews
Testimonials from satisfied customers
Special offers
A free giveaway or bonus inside
Comparison chart of the product versus the competition's
Summary of top features and benefits
Information on warranties or guarantees
A list of applications for the product
If the product is an upgrade, or a new and improved version, be sure to highlight the new features and benefits on the packaging. Make these stand out to ensure that previous customers of the old version will be motivated to buy the new one.
If practical, write copy for every surface of the package, including the top and bottom. After all, you never know which part of the packaging the customer may be looking at.
