7 Powerful Old School Reasons Why Your Marketing Campaign Cannot Create Desire in Your Reader, but Rather Directs It.
Celine Horan ALS, ACS
Investor ? Exit Strategist ? Marketing Consultant ? Direct Response Copywriter ? Create Actionable Strategies for Successful Campaigns, Promotions, Audience Engagement and Financial Storytelling
?“Here is the heart of the matter. The power, force, and overwhelming desire to have a thing is what makes advertising work.?This comes from the marketplace itself and not from the copywriter’s pen.
Copy cannot trigger desire for a product or service. It takes the hopes, dreams, fears, and desires that already exist in the hearts of millions of people and focuses those already existing desires onto a particular product.
This is the copy writer’s task: not to create this mass desire – but to channel and direct it.” –Eugene Schwartz
?
When I read this quote by Master Copywriter Eugene Schwartz, I am struck by the statement's simplicity and power. ?
Far too often, I see marketing campaigns that try their best to trigger emotions and gaslight their reader into buying their product or service.?
This quote is a reminder that marketing trickery is not necessary.?
In fact, I think every marketing team would do well to read this quote, absorb it and start applying it to all their marketing campaigns.
Of course, suggesting marketing teams stop creating ‘mass desire – but rather channel and direct it’ are two different things.
And that’s why we’re going to discuss seven powerful reasons to channel and direct the hopes, dreams, and desires forever alive and kicking in your target audience without the need for marketing trickery.
Let’s jump in with…
Reason #1:
“Quality content is brimming with inspiration and has relentless empathy for the audience.” -Ann Handley
Savvy marketers know that their reader buys from an emotional place. ?They then use their extraordinary powers of logic to explain their purchase to firstly themselves and then to others.
Know why?
Studies show that a reader’s emotional response to an advertisement impacts the need to buy by 3-to-1 for television campaigns and 2-to-1 for print campaigns.
Did you know some emotions produce even more powerful results?
Stories with undercurrents of anger, anxiety, and awe are the most widely shared emotions, as revealed in a study conducted by two University of Pennsylvania professors.
Emotion sells.
That’s why using empathy in marketing campaigns is so important.?Our readers have strong emotions, and those emotions need handling with the greatest of care.?Not bamboozled with trigger words that leave the reader feeling used at worst and hoodwinked at best.
Savvy Marketing Executives use a simple, conversational tone as if talking to a friend.
Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.?
You cannot help but feel empathy.
Reason #2:?
“The trend of the crowd is the most effective thing I have ever found in advertising. Never overlook this truth.?People follow trends and their personal preferences.” -Claude Hopkins
According to Forbes article: 14 Copywriting Trends that Really Work (or don’t) According to Communications Experts writes:
Trends come and go, especially in the field of marketing and copywriting. ?While it’s essential to keep an eye on the trends, it’s vital to decide which methods are (and are not) worthwhile for your company or clients to follow.
Here is one insightful comment from Mandy Glidewell from CentricsIT that struck a chord.
She writes...
Reason #3:
"Clickbait Headlines are a big No-No!"
“Don't write clickbait, Glidewell instructs.?
It's not just annoying—it drives your reader to distraction.?
They are psychologically hardwired to feel negative when they experience cognitive dissonance.
When they click a line of copy expecting something substantial, only to be disappointed, their brain associates that feeling of disappointment with whoever or whatever created that experience."
These folks are learning truths handed down over the years from sage copywriters and marketers.?
And yet businesses big and small still try to buck the system and do things their way, only to find their campaign backfiring on them.?
No matter how technically we have advanced or how many gadgets we own, we are fundamentally the same inside.
Savvy marketing executives who know their reader is hardwired a certain way.?
Knows that clickbait is never going to pass muster with their reader's highly sophisticated BS meter.?
Reason #4:
"All ideas presented in your copy flow logically.?Anticipating your reader's questions, and answering them as if the questions were asked face-to-face." Joseph Sugarman
Savvy marketers understand that writing logically helps the reader move smoothly from one sentence to the next and one paragraph to another.
Readers want an enjoyable, stress-free journey, and logical flow helps to give them that.
So what is a copywriter selling??
The chance for the reader to transform their life.?
Joanna Wiebe coined it this way.?
She says...
Reason #5:
"Here's the only thing you're selling, no matter what business you're in and what you ship... you're selling your prospect a better version of themselves."
Savvy marketers understand that we are all hotwired to want better for ourselves.?
We may not admit it, but we believe the grass is greener on the other side—whether it is or not.
We have witnessed friends try their best to 'keep up with the Jones'; get bragging rights on a thing.
To want better for ourselves is normal, no matter where we are socially or economically.
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Being aware of this truth when offering up a product or service you believe in your bones will help your reader get to the next level in their life journey is vital.
Savvy marketers know that the most powerful way to show their reader how to get from A to B is by telling a compelling story full of empathy.?
This works every time.
But there is more to telling a good yarn, Kaleigh Moore suggests…
Reason #6:
"When writing good advertising, it is necessary to put a mood into words and to transfer that mood to the reader."
John Hoff at Copyblogger says attractive sales copywriting is about making connections.
AWAI coined this beautifully through the 'Golden Thread' technique.?
The Golden Thread of copywriting is repeatedly weaving the emotional appeal throughout the copy that keeps the reader engaged.
Savvy marketers understand that to put a mood into words and to transfer that mood to the reader means the writer must first have a deep connection with the reader.
Excellent marketers walk a mile in their reader's shoes and talk to them as a friend.
Which means…
"The more the copy sounds like a real conversation, the more engaging it will be." -David Garfinkel
Businesses that do not follow the golden rule to direct the reader to a better self-miss out.?
Leading the reader to a better self takes coming alongside them and gently lovingly, walking them through their story to a new life-changing ending.
Businesses who don’t follow this golden rule fall into the 'Let’s keep our prices lower than our competitors’ trap.?
This is such a shame because it keeps the service provider in a straitjacket on price rather than offering their services based on the value they provide.???
Reason #7:
Sell value, not discounts
“The main reason so many businesses compete on price is that they can’t prove what value they offer.?
So they’re trapped into the one selling point that’s a breeze to communicate: cheapness.”
But this can backfire.
Here’s how:
1.????Businesses who don’t believe in their product or service erode their credibility in their readers' eyes.
2.????Businesses who believe the price of everything and the value of nothing attracts those same types into their business.
3.????Businesses that tend to be cheap and look for the lowest price attract “royal pains” into their business.
Savvy marketers understand that to compete on price, they first must understand their value and their service’s value in the marketplace.?
Once they have those things straight, they can then communicate with confidence that value to their reader.
And once their product or service is perceived to be of incredible value, in the eyes of their reader, they never have to compete on price—ever.?
And as Daniel Priestley so eloquently says...
“When you know where you stand and what you stand for you become a magnet for opportunity. When you can communicate that.”
So stop undercutting yourself and start to communicating your value.
Now, to wrap things up, I’d like to share with you one more quote from Maurice Saatchi.
“No-one has a magic lamp which can tell you in advance whether what you say will be effective in persuading an audience.”
Say it anyway.?
And hope that your words filled with empathy channels and directs your reader to trust you enough to purchase your product or service, that promises to transform their lives for the better.
What do you think?
Would you like me to write more on this topic?
Let me know in the comments below by typing “yes.”
I'd love to hear your take on this; what copy or content made you feel seen and heard so much that you just had to buy that thing or hire the service provider there and then?
Ezra Dela Cruz, CPA Debra Angilletta James Aylwin FMAAT AATQB Jamie White Nicola Barber David Fernandez II David Fernandes Olivia Sambo ??Norbert Ackermann?? Noemi Valenzuela
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Principal at INSTINCT
7 个月Interesting take - never thought about it this way' the desire already exists, the copywriting 'just' channels it...'
Every organisation wants Big Things Fast! But few know how to achieve it. We bring the how and help you unlock the human capital within. Simple, not easy. Thinker. Doer. Author. Keynote Speaker. Follow for more insights.
7 个月Great quote and so very true. Or is it? ??
Real Estate Disposition Partner | Digital Marketing Strategist | Certified Customer Value Optimization Specialist
7 个月I really enjoyed this article Celine. Using copy that is genuine and used for the purpose of guiding the customer to their desired result. Don't manipulate the customer or their emotions. Awaken their desire to purchase.
Marketer | Full-stack Developer
7 个月Yes! Another Gem Celine ??, thanks for sharing.
Founder @ ProductXcelerate Co | Financial Advisory, Business Process Improvement
7 个月Despite the prevalence of logical justifications, the initial impetus for buying stems from emotional needs, desires, or impulses. Great Insights Celine!