Finding a Balance: The art and science of copywriting.
I've been spending more time in consulting and less in copywriting these days. But the fact that I now have to explain WHY I do what I do has brought to light why some of my copywriting techniques work so well.
Check out these two situations, both common of which happen with 90% of the clients I meet:
Situation 1
Me: "Don't you think this sales pitch is a little flat? If you were the customer, would you feel excited about this product?"
Client 1: "Well, we are trying to project a professional image. We don't want to sound like smart asses by bragging about our product."
Situation 2
Me: "I get that you're trying to emotionally move your client, but do you think that the average person is going to be convinced by such a wild claim?"
Client 2: "Well, most prospects won't even read a message unless it is loud and says something outrageous. We hope that they will feel inspired by the idea of an easy solution and then do business with us."
In both situations, my clients were focusing on opposite ends of a spectrum: Professionalism vs. Audacity; Conservatism vs. Risk-taking
But the optimal position on this spectrum is not on the ends. Do you know where the optimal position is?
It's not in the middle.
It's actually as far toward Audacity as you can get it without losing too much Professionalism.
If you imagine Audacity on the left and Professionalism on the right, the graph of an optimal curve for conversions will look like a Chi-squared curve.
Professional: "Need a car? Ours has 4-wheel drive and a 2-year warranty."
Audacious: "The fastest car in the universe! Make the entire sport of NASCAR look like a joke when you drive this baby!"
Both of these sales pitches fail because the prospect is either bored or sees you as a liar. The former attempts to give a professional image; the latter attempts to stir emotions. But neither was written from the perspective of the consumer.
Yet the hard part comes when you do put yourself in the perspective of the consumer: The consumer wants an unbelievable claim to come from a believable source. He wants to be shocked by a claim, and he wants to be shocked again when he finds out the claim to be true. So you've got to walk that line to where your claim doesn't push him overboard before you can show him you mean it.
Perhaps this is the "art" of copywriting, while recognizing this is the "science" of copywriting.
Check out these two situations, both common of which happen with 90% of the clients I meet:
Situation 1
Me: "Don't you think this sales pitch is a little flat? If you were the customer, would you feel excited about this product?"
Client 1: "Well, we are trying to project a professional image. We don't want to sound like smart asses by bragging about our product."
Situation 2
Me: "I get that you're trying to emotionally move your client, but do you think that the average person is going to be convinced by such a wild claim?"
Client 2: "Well, most prospects won't even read a message unless it is loud and says something outrageous. We hope that they will feel inspired by the idea of an easy solution and then do business with us."
In both situations, my clients were focusing on opposite ends of a spectrum: Professionalism vs. Audacity; Conservatism vs. Risk-taking
But the optimal position on this spectrum is not on the ends. Do you know where the optimal position is?
It's not in the middle.
It's actually as far toward Audacity as you can get it without losing too much Professionalism.
If you imagine Audacity on the left and Professionalism on the right, the graph of an optimal curve for conversions will look like a Chi-squared curve.
Professional: "Need a car? Ours has 4-wheel drive and a 2-year warranty."
Audacious: "The fastest car in the universe! Make the entire sport of NASCAR look like a joke when you drive this baby!"
Both of these sales pitches fail because the prospect is either bored or sees you as a liar. The former attempts to give a professional image; the latter attempts to stir emotions. But neither was written from the perspective of the consumer.
Yet the hard part comes when you do put yourself in the perspective of the consumer: The consumer wants an unbelievable claim to come from a believable source. He wants to be shocked by a claim, and he wants to be shocked again when he finds out the claim to be true. So you've got to walk that line to where your claim doesn't push him overboard before you can show him you mean it.
Perhaps this is the "art" of copywriting, while recognizing this is the "science" of copywriting.
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Treborrevo -
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