Your offer is one of the most important elements of any promotion. Here’s a video from copywriter John Carlton’s “Copywriting Checklist” video series spelling out some of the critical points to keep in mind…
Will This Message Reach The Market?
If you’re a copywriter or have any experience of direct response marketing, then I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with the important concept of “Message-to-market-match”. That is to say, when advertising you choose an avenue that will reach your desired audience.
So imagine my surprise as I was reading this week’s edition of “The Economist” when I came across an ad from the Australian bank NAB. The same ad, in fact, that I commented on in a previous post (“Someone Didn’t Get The ‘Reason Why Copywriting’ Memo”).
A Simple, But Very Powerful, Copywriting Formula…
…when you know the secret to using it effectively, that is.
“Mass Control” marketer Frank Kern is on the loose again! He’s about to launch some sort of membership programme, from what I can gather. In the lead up to that he has a new video which provides some excellent marketing information (as does most of the free material Frank makes available).
Now, the first thing that’s of interest is the actual content. It’s a simple formula for selling pretty much anything that ace copywriter John Carlton gave to Frank. Ready? Here it is…
“Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century” – Part 8 “Tell Your Full Story”
Welcome to the next part in my series “Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century”.
In chapter 8 of his classic book, Claude Hopkins deals with what might be described as the “long copy” versus “short copy” issue. His conclusion…
“There is no fixed rule on the subject of brevity. One sentence may tell a complete story on a line like chewing gum. It may on an article like Cream of Wheat. But, whether long or short, an advertising story should be reasonably complete.”
What’s important is that the copy needs to be long enough to do the job. And why is this? Because once you have someone’s attention, that is the time to put your case. It may be the ONLY time you can put your case.
Copywriting And Emotional Triggers
As a copywriter or marketer, you’ll be aware that much of the power of a sales letter comes from hitting the “emotional hot buttons” of the prospective customer. People buy primarily for emotional reasons, but may use logic to justify their decisions.
Now, these “emotional hot buttons” or “triggers” aren’t just important in the sales letter. They’re crucial at every step of the sales process. From the very first contact, all the way through to closing the sale (and then continuing the relationship to ensure the sale sticks).
I spent a couple of days last week going through a high-end internet marketing programme. After many hours my eyes were beginning to glaze over after plowing through seemingly endless mindmaps and checklists. One of the key checklists was for emotional triggers.
It occurred to me, as I was furiously scribbling notes, that in fact I already had a number of different checklists for triggers. It might actually be a good idea to settle on one checklist to use in any situation.
And when I thought for a moment, I realised I already had such a list, in the form of Joe Sugarman’s “Triggers” book – “30 Sales Tools You Can Use To Control The Mind Of Your Prospect To Motivate, Influence And Persuade”.
So if, like me, you have numerous checklists all covering the same topic, you may find this a useful way to consolidate those lists.
That then makes it a little easier to search for the triggers that apply in each selling situation.