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| Five Secrets of Writing Great Sales Copy |
By:
Vincent Czaplyski |
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Why are you reading this sentence? I’ll bet you a steak at Ruth Chris it’s because of theimplied promise of the title. That promise – that you’llsoon be privy to five well guarded secrets of writing greatsales copy – just grabbed the skeptic in you by the scruffof the neck. It stood her on her heels and made her think,if only for a split second, that maybe there’s some goldhere. So the title – or headline if you prefer to think of it thatway – did its job. It got you to read the next sentence byarousing your curiosity. It probably made you feel that youcould profit from these secrets. In other words it appealedto your sense of greed. And it might even have touched acouple of your other emotional triggers, like vanity orlaziness, (or more positively) pride. I don’t know you well enough to say exactly which emotionalhot button it triggered in you, but you’re still readingaren’t you? So I’ll up the ante. A bottle of good wine to gowith the steak says some basic emotion was triggered.All of which leads us to Secret #1: People buy things foremotional, not logical reasons.And the emotions that count most are whichever ones yourcopy stirs up in your prospect. Your prospect doesn’t careone tiny little bit about you or your product. She couldcare less if she never heard from you again. What she caresabout is that little voice inside her head that keepsasking, “What’s in it for me?”Never forget this. Your copy must keep answering thatquestion until your prospect is completely involved withyour message. If your copy starts off telling about yourproduct and not what it can do for your prospect, it isalmost certainly doomed to failure.Secret # 2: Good copy helps the prospect picture yourpromise in her mind’s eye.It isn’t good enough to just make a promise. You need tofurther involve your prospect by helping her picture herselfexperiencing your promise. She has to be able to see it,taste it, and feel it. Otherwise the skeptic in her willstep right back in and start giving her reasons todisbelieve your promise. You need to tell her something like this:“Imagine a hundred of your business peers jumping to theirfeet in wild applause as you accept your industry’s topmarketing award. Then the room grows still, the audiencehanging on your every word as you begin to tell the story ofhow five powerful copywriting secrets changed your life…” Think of the last car commercial you watched. Probablystrong on breathtaking mountain roads, beaches at sunset andsexy models – emotional appeals all. Do they have anythingto do with cars? No. Do they help sell a lot of cars – youbet they do.Secret #3: Once she can picture your promise for herself,she’s ready for logical proof.You’ve got her where you want her. Your words have carriedher away to some place in her imagination where your productmakes her feel more powerful, sexier, smarter, morebeautiful – whatever. She really wants to believe it – allof it. She’s letting her mind run a little wild. She’s gotthe top down on the car you want her to buy. She’sdownshifting into third gear coming around a hairpin turn.Her hair is blowing in the wind, the sun is on her face anda blue ocean sparkles in the background.But around the next corner is Ms. Skeptic, just waiting tothrow cold water on this carefully crafted picture.It’s your job to make sure she never even sees little Ms.Skeptic. You reassure her with testimonials. You tell hersalt air won’t harm the paint job. You let her know thatthis car has the best safety record of anything in itsclass, and she’ll never have to worry about breaking downagain. In other words, you give her logical reasons tojustify her emotional decision.Secret #4: Your copy should focus on a single primarybenefit – your Unique Selling PropositionEvery product should have one special selling point thatsets it apart from every other product in its class. It’syour job to find out what that Unique Selling Proposition isand never let your prospect forget it. It’s OK to mentionother benefits, but you should drive home the USP more thanany other point.Recognize these classic USP’s? They sold a lot of products…“We’re number two – we try harder.” “Your pizza delivered in30 minutes or less, or it’s free.”Secret #5: Always include a specific offer and ask foraction.You’re almost there. You’ve made her a promise that hookedher emotionally. You helped her see herself living thatpromise. You gave her plenty of proof that she was makingthe right decision, and you stressed your product’s USPthroughout your copy.There’s just one thing left to do. You look her in the eyesand state your offer clearly. Then tell her what she must doto get it. In other words, you close the sale.To summarize: • Make a PROMISE • Let your prospect PICTURE the benefits • Supply the PROOF that you are telling the truth • Stress the UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION • CLOSE the sale by making a specific OFFER. About the Author
Copywriter Vincent Czaplyski owns Hampshire Cove Marketing, Inc., which provides copywriting and marketing services and products. Contact him at info@solidnetgold.com Subscribe to his free bimonthly newsletter full of powerful marketing tips at http://www.SolidNetGold.com/mh-signup.htm. |
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