The Easiest (and most common!) Way to Kill Response Rates

I saw my son stop on the trail about 100 yards ahead of me. 

A large mountain lake was on our right. 

On the left, a huge mountain peak covered with snow rose above us. 

My whole family (except two sons that are serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) was on the trail. As each one reached our son, they too stopped. 

I finally caught up. 

“What’s going on? This doesn’t look like the campground we were shooting for.” 

We had been hiking for about 3 hours at an elevation of over 10,000 feet. It was a warm, pleasant day, with a cool mountain breeze blowing through the trees. 

I breathed in deep and filled my lungs with pure, clean air. The smell of pines, streams, lake and earth filled me up. 

“Well, Dad,” Brigham said, “We’ve been following this trail, but now the GPS says to head North… but the trail continues East. There’s not really a trail going North.” 

I took the GPS and got my bearings. 

He was right. 

“Well, looks like we’ll just have to cut off the trail into uncharted wilderness if we want to hit the lake we picked out,” I said. 

I looked around at the family. 

“You guys comfortable with that?” 

All heads nodded approval. 

I could see the excitement in Enoch’s eyes, our eight year old son. 

Uncharted wilderness sounds AWESOME to him. 

“Ok, then,” I continued, “We’ll follow Brigham. Brigham, keep an eye on that GPS. You’ll have to pick out a route up and over that pass. Looks like our spot is just on the other side. Let’s go.” 

With a clear plan, we struck off the trail and plunged into the heavy timbers and rocky ridges of untouched wilderness. 

Have you ever been in a situation like this? 

You are heading somewhere… working on something… making something… 

And suddenly you come to crossroads… or a place of uncertainty? 

If you’re like me, then you stopped to reassess, discuss, get more data and think about it, yes? 

Sure! That is what we all do in times of uncertainty or when we’re not clear about our direction. 

Guess what? 

Your readers do the exact same thing. 

If you make things complicated for them, they are forced to stop, think about things, gather more data, reassess things. 

As persuaders, you and I don’t want people to stop and think. 

We want them to take ACTION! 

So the best way to stop them in their tracks is to create confusion for them. 

Give them lots of options… present conflicting idea… describe something in a long, jumbled, complex way… or anything else that makes them go, “Huhh??!” 

There are three simple ways you can avoid this moment of confusion: 

First, stick with one idea. 

Your writing should have one main idea… not two, not three. 

That idea should be something that is actionable and can be put into play right away. 

Second, keep your FK Score low… usually under 7. 

FK Score is a mathematical equation for how easy it is to read something. It is loosely based on grade reading levels. (so far this email has an FK score of 1.7… means a 2nd grader can understand it) 

In the thousands to split tests I have done, the lower the FK score, the better the response rate. 

My favorite FK scoring system is Readable. It’s cheap and gives you great insights. 

When you use simple words, short sentences and brief paragraphs, your FK score goes down. 

I used to average 9.7… these days I average around 5.1 on my writing. 

Third, one call to action. 

I said your one idea should be actionable… so give them just action. Should be a “do this or not”. 

Keep it simple so that the path is clear to them. 

Last thing I’ll say… 

People want to follow. 

They want leadership. 

They want to change things in their life, find solutions, and improve. 

But, usually they are like my family and I was… stuck on the path of life not knowing where exactly to go next. 

Your copy can give them some direction - even if it is in a small little way. 

I always love that feeling of helping people move forward :)

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Joshua T Boswell is a copywriter, marketer, copywriter coach, happy husband (he and Margie, his amazing wife, have 11 children!). He has a simple 5-step system for landing freelance copywriting projects FAST. Check it out here: www.5StepsToWritingWealth.com (FREE for a limited time!)