Welcome to Part 3 of this series “Scientific Advertising In The 21st Century”.
This third chapter in the copywriting classic “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins is titled “Offer Service”. Now, that title is a little misleading to the modern day reader because what Hopkins is really talking about is offering the prospective customer some sort of benefit or advantage.
Hopkins expresses it like this…
“Remember that the people you address are selfish, as we all are. They care nothing about your interest or your profit. They seek service for themselves. Ignoring this fact is a common mistake in advertising. Ads say in effect, ‘Buy my brand. Give me the trade you give to others. Let me have the money.’ That is not a popular appeal.”
Love that understated final sentence! Hopkins goes on to say…
“The best ads…are based entirely on service. They offer wanted information. They cite advantages to users. Perhaps they offer a sample, or to buy the first package, or to send something on approval, so the customer may prove the claims without any cost or risk.”
This idea is what’s come to be referred to as “WIIFM” (“What’s In It For Me?”) and in some ways it’s a continuation of the idea Hopkins introduced in the previous chapter – the idea of seeing things from the customer’s perspective.
In the rest of the chapter, which is quite short, Hopkins elaborates on the idea of offering a sample or a trial of the product. There are some excellent ideas, all of which can still be applied by smart marketers today.
Strictly speaking, this isn’t really about copywriting. It’s marketing and crafting a compelling offer. However, one of the little “secrets” of copywriting is that the offer itself will be a key determinant of the success of the promotion. As a copywriter, you need to be a skilled marketer as well.
At the end of the chapter, Hopkins returns to his original idea with these words of wisdom…
“People can be coaxed but not driven. Whatever they do they do to please themselves. Many fewer mistakes would be made in advertising if these facts were never forgotten.”
Sounds obvious but how many mainstream advertising agencies seem totally oblivious to this idea?
In Chapter 4, Hopkins talks about the art and science of Mail Order advertising.