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Why tugging on those pain points and emotional strings is so important

by angiecolee
16 replies
When you strike a nerve, you're not just activating part of the prospect's brain.

There are times when you could be triggering a visceral full body response.

Check out this article that shows emotions mapped throughout the body.

Telling the right stories and triggering the right emotions could quite literally get your prospect to have a full body response. Very interesting stuff.
#emotional #emotions #importan #pain #points #strings #tugging
  • Profile picture of the author smaddoxjr
    Really interesting topic. I believe In the brain, signaling via neurotransmitters, small molecules released by neurons to communicate with other cells, has primarily been associated with the function rather than with the formation of neurons.This meaning tons of stuff is going on to get those "emotions"

    -Scott
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  • Profile picture of the author ThomasOMalley
    You definitely want to reach an emotional response. However, never put so much fear into a prospect that they are paralyzed. Definitely a matter of degree.
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    • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
      Emotions can be tricky to go with.

      Common ones are fear, greed, outrage, betrayal, loss,
      embarrassment, envy, yet you can still come unstuck.

      They can be too general even if you choose one to go with.

      An example...an associate has a focus group of professionals in
      one profession. After a couple of weeks talking with them
      they opened up and disclosed what drives them and their peers.

      The driving emotion wasn't any of those or in Maslow's Group.

      Nobody marketing to this professional group.is using this driver
      to move them to take action.

      My associate not only has what gets them to do things,
      he has the words and phrases they use to describe situations.
      This means he can feed them back to his whole market...
      and only him.

      Best,
      Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author BudaBrit
    It would be interesting to see the emotional build up flow over a series of emails...

    It's something I very rarely get in autoresponder series'. I generally find them uninspiring and I don't know why that should be. There's a distinct lack of any emotional response from me, even if that's what the author is trying to do...
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  • Profile picture of the author dbostian
    I agree that emotions can be a tricky bunch. Some great copywriters can be subtle with how they approach it, and I find those to be more effective.
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  • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
    Notice I said tug, not hammer. Just enough pain to stir a desire for pleasure to fill the void, but not so much that they sit there quivering in the fetal position, devastated.
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  • Profile picture of the author misterme
    Seems you can get to people using the emotion of love, and while your competition tries to aim for their heart, you can apparently get to them through their toes. Sneaky.
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  • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
    I think I'd use shame. But that's mostly because shame looks like Spiderman and that amuses me.
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    • Profile picture of the author royfurr
      Originally Posted by angiecolee View Post

      I think I'd use shame. But that's mostly because shame looks like Spiderman and that amuses me.
      Perry Marshall called shame the first human emotion... Citing Adam and Eve, the garden, and the fall... No matter if you believe the story is real, it's an enlightening point.
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  • Profile picture of the author royfurr
    For certain markets (survivalists, for example), those negative emotions can be pushed to the hilt and the harder you push, the more you increase response. (Don't watch this unless you're ready to be scared half to death: The Great American Blackout....)

    This is a great graphic. Love it. Funny that pride and anger look like degrees of each other.
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  • Profile picture of the author benbro
    So true, Angie. You're right...Interestingly enough, coming from a traditional sales environment, there are things you can recover from in a live sales setting...such as hammering the pain points home, that just don't work with sales copy.

    For example, ashamed to say it but I recently had an hvac person hard sell me and maybe it was that look of empathy that prompted me to drop my guards. But had he done the same thing in a sales letter I would have run for the hills...

    You can also, read a prospect's reactions, in person, so that you can determine whether to appeal to their sense of loss or gain. However, we don't get this luxury as copywriters and must therefore compensate by knowing the prospect so well that we don't need to see they're body language to know what motivates them.
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  • Profile picture of the author JamesDLayton
    Some of the best sales copy in the world can be found in Amazon Kindle book descriptions. And I would say doubt and fear is the focus. Even a love story has to have an element of fear. The Fault In Our Stars for example, Twilight another. If you look at creative writing the SINGLE most important factor is confrontation. The worst movie you ever saw? No confrontation I guarantee it. Or non that you cared about at least. So creating an internal confrontation within the sales copy reader therefore is the key. You are creating an internal story. Paint point 1st act of the movie) remedy (this would be the 3rd act of the movie). SO.... that means the 2nd act, the main chunk of the movie MUST be strong enough to remind them of the set-up BUT easy enough for them to digest that they hang around for the 3rd.

    My old script writing coach once said "People are happy to go to the movies to hear that life is hard, that life is beautiful and even that life is unfair. But they won't go to hear that life is sh*t. They probably already suspect that and don't need to be reminded."

    James
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    "We are what we think about
    all day long." - Earl Nightingale
    One of the easiest transformations I ever undertook as a copywriter was reading that quote every day.
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  • Profile picture of the author rickdangelo
    This is a really interesting topic. It can be really complicated, like a puppet with multiple strings, if you're not the master of that puppet you might be pulling on the wrong strings.
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  • Profile picture of the author imogenhobbs
    Do you think words that get the prospect all hot and cozy might have an actual stimulatory effect on them? Would that actually work....

    Well, given emotions are really hormones at work... I would assume that triggering them in similar manners could actually stimulate some emotions.

    For example, oxytocin is practically the love hormone.

    If you get someone to imagine being hugged by a loved one and being whispered "i love you", it's kind of hard not to feel good... haha

    Imogen
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    • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
      Originally Posted by imogenhobbs View Post

      Do you think words that get the prospect all hot and cozy might have an actual stimulatory effect on them? Would that actually work....

      Well, given emotions are really hormones at work... I would assume that triggering them in similar manners could actually stimulate some emotions.

      For example, oxytocin is practically the love hormone.

      If you get someone to imagine being hugged by a loved one and being whispered "i love you", it's kind of hard not to feel good... haha

      Imogen
      Yes, if you get them all hot and riled up and then offer them the solution that will cool them down, it works. Fear, pain, shame - all very powerful motivators.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jomuli3
        Pain Points ---

        --- are defined in various ways. However, they all point to one thing --- Problems.

        Problems could be bottle-necks to smooth business running. On the other hand they could be viewed as business opportunity by a shrewd marketer.

        This is because they do their utmost to understand the problems and work out solutions in form of products or services.

        Pain Points have been in the copywriting world for a long time. Get any old sales letter, you will find pain points there.

        But what brings about the Pain Points popularity?

        Somebody just wanted to re-invent the wheel as we shall see later.

        In fact ---

        --- it was like wrapping an old tablet of soap in new packaging material.

        Pain Points came to be known by that name in the early 2000s.

        Here is an interesting definition ---

        The 'Urban Dictionary' defines Pain Points as 'something that annoys or causes a loss in business productivity (it is a problem).

        That is not all ---

        It goes on to say - 'A Pain Point is just another word for 'Complaint' but some idiot in marketing decided that saying what you mean isn't funny.'

        Here is just a brief of how it started ---

        Microsoft sales rep. 'Tell me what some of your 'Pain Points' are in regard to our latest update to Vista.'(Urban Dictionary' quotation)

        And the wild-fire-like name spread.

        We all want to look unique and innovative!

        But ---

        --- there is a weakness in this name.

        The problem with this name is that it has negative connotations. Agitations can either be positively structured, like in the promotion -

        --- 'Can you Write a Letter Like this One?'

        A glamorous and alluring picture of a lucrative life style of a Copywriter is brilliantly painted in that letter.

        Is it OK to call such pleasant agitations --- Pain Points?


        But the world loves change and it will keep on changing at all costs.

        Let us look at ---

        Examples of Pain Points:

        Air travel - Pain Points: Finding somebody to travel with
        Transport money
        Long airport security lines
        Loss of luggage

        Now what?

        Yes, Pain Points are important because they could be used to shake prospects to take action urgently if we use them to agitate prospects.

        How do they accomplish this task?

        This is done by reminding them of their pains or asking them to imagine what could happen if they don't take recommended action.

        Remember, fear of loss of what you possess exerts stronger impact on you than desire of gaining something new.

        We could also agitate by asking prospects to imagine what would happen if they took recommended positive action.

        Now, apart from agitating prospects to take urgent action ---

        --- Pain Points show that we understand their problem. This coupled with speaking their language well, could build trust for us as the ones capable of offering the best solution.

        With this securely anchored in prospects' minds, we could then promise them a solution --- our product or service. We could educate them and warmly relate to them while crushing our competitors.

        The process continues to some other stages. But I am not going that far.
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