As a copywriter, you know that your words have the power to persuade, inspire, and motivate your audience. But how can you make sure that your message resonates with them on a deeper level? How can you use desires to create a connection with your audience?
Desires are the emotional drivers that influence your audience's decisions, actions, and goals. They are not the same as needs, which are the basic requirements for survival and well-being. Desires are more subjective, personal, and aspirational. They reflect your audience's values, beliefs, and identity.
Touch them. Touch their hearts. Evoke emotions. Make the feel something they never thought they could. And, you have a winner. Humans believe they are rational and logical and nothing could be farther from the truth. Look at all the baggage you carry, physical and otherwise. It's all emotional. And hence, writing should be sensible, yet catering to their innate humane tendencies and instincts.
You would ask me about desire ... You must create desire in your readers. Create desire by elevating your product to something above and beyond the competition. Create a sense for the readers of being in a position of scarcity, and position yourself in a position of abundance - you can take or leave their offers, so it's up to the readers to become demonstrative with their offers. Quality of the offer is as important as quantity - ￡5x is good, but ￡x + 4 thirsty client referrals each willing to pay ￡5x is better.
Desires are important because they tap into your audience's core motivations and emotions. They reveal what your audience really wants, not just what they need or think they should have. By understanding and addressing your audience's desires, you can create a connection that goes beyond logic and reason. You can appeal to their feelings, hopes, and dreams.
To identify your audience's desires, you need to do some research and analysis. You can use various methods, such as surveys, interviews, reviews, testimonials, social media, forums, or blogs, to gather insights into your audience's problems, challenges, frustrations, fears, and wishes. Then, you can use tools like the PAS (Problem-Agitate-Solve) formula, the AIDA (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action) model, or the 4 Ps (Promise-Picture-Proof-Push) framework to structure your message around their desires.
To write for desires, you need to use language that evokes emotion, curiosity, and urgency. You need to show your audience how your offer can help them achieve their desired outcomes, overcome their obstacles, and satisfy their cravings. You need to use words that trigger positive or negative emotions, such as happiness, excitement, relief, anger, fear, or pain. You also need to use stories, metaphors, analogies, or examples to illustrate your points and make them more relatable and memorable.
One thing to keep in mind is how hardwired people are for scarcity. In order to stoke desire, it can help to highlight an area where a customer feels lack. For a financial product, I would hit the pain point of not having enough money. Evoke the fear of not having enough, and remind them how scary it is to not know how to make rent. Then I would provide the solution (the product) and frame it as safety. When someone feels scared, they desire safety. Figure out what the scarce state of the customer is, hit the pain point, and stoke desire by framing your solution as the inverse of the scarce state.
To test for desires, you need to measure the response and feedback from your audience. You can use metrics such as click-through rates, conversions, sales, retention, referrals, or reviews to evaluate the effectiveness of your copy. You can also use tools like heat maps, eye tracking, or split testing to optimize your copy for different segments, platforms, or formats. You can also ask your audience for their opinions, suggestions, or questions to improve your copy and build trust and rapport.
To improve your skills in writing for desires, you need to practice and learn from others. You can read books, blogs, or courses on copywriting, psychology, or persuasion. You can study successful examples of copy that appeal to desires, such as headlines, slogans, landing pages, or sales letters. You can also join communities, forums, or groups of copywriters and marketers to share ideas, tips, or feedback. You can also experiment with different styles, tones, or techniques to find your own voice and style.
Something to consider is that we really only desire a few things. Money, status, and sex/love. Most marketing revolves around these three things because it works. Aim to solve the desire for these things and you'll go far.