A valuable observation from studying successful copy
Hey Warriors,
I've been digging into a large Joe Sugarman swipe file recently. I noticed that he uses this same idea I've found in the works of many other top copywriters.
From studying the copy closely you can pick out specific phrases they were trying to 'whisper' to the reader. ( that they wanted to say, but did so subtly )
This is done in many ways, but one of the easiest to replicate is to play ping pong as I call it. You make an observation about the competition or something else that is the opposite of you want to say about yourself. Then you say something to differentiate yourself from that entity or discredit them.
Talking about how the XXX industry does this wrong almost every time. Then saying you have no tie-ins to that industry. That is a small example, but the writers take this much further.
They do it repeatedly, often at least 3 times from different angles. The end result is that they are almost whispering what they wanted to say. Without having to say it directly.
Because just saying " we have the best product. It is worth the price we are asking " wouldn't make a lot of sales.
In the reader's mind they don't see you as the exact opposite for having done this so you need to usually do it from a few different angles to paint the right picture in their mind.
Has anyone else observed or used this technique?
There are definitely many other ways to accomplish this, but this one is the simplest I have found. Making a statemeny about X then differentiating yourself or your company from X to distance yourself from what was mentioned - to say "we don't do that" - or establish credibility.
I've been digging into a large Joe Sugarman swipe file recently. I noticed that he uses this same idea I've found in the works of many other top copywriters.
From studying the copy closely you can pick out specific phrases they were trying to 'whisper' to the reader. ( that they wanted to say, but did so subtly )
This is done in many ways, but one of the easiest to replicate is to play ping pong as I call it. You make an observation about the competition or something else that is the opposite of you want to say about yourself. Then you say something to differentiate yourself from that entity or discredit them.
Talking about how the XXX industry does this wrong almost every time. Then saying you have no tie-ins to that industry. That is a small example, but the writers take this much further.
They do it repeatedly, often at least 3 times from different angles. The end result is that they are almost whispering what they wanted to say. Without having to say it directly.
Because just saying " we have the best product. It is worth the price we are asking " wouldn't make a lot of sales.
In the reader's mind they don't see you as the exact opposite for having done this so you need to usually do it from a few different angles to paint the right picture in their mind.
Has anyone else observed or used this technique?
There are definitely many other ways to accomplish this, but this one is the simplest I have found. Making a statemeny about X then differentiating yourself or your company from X to distance yourself from what was mentioned - to say "we don't do that" - or establish credibility.