MASTERING THE ART OF STORYTELLING IN COPYWRITING

Come along with me as I take you through my favorite copywriting exercise…

If you have been keeping up with me on LinkedIn, you would have noticed the numerous posts I have made about the most effective copywriting technique - STORYTELLING TECHNIQUE

Occasionally, I’ve heard and read comments like:

“I tried incorporating storytelling in a marketing copy of mine, and I failed woefully”

And despite wondering “WHY”, I always have to be realistic that everyone won't be great in this exceptional technique

But fortunately for you, you can easily learn and perfect in this...well if you wish to

To help better your understanding in the ART OF STORYTELLING IN COPYWRITING, let me ask you a simple question.

What's your present purpose in life?

• To be extremely wealthy at 30?
• Raise your kids with opportunities you never had?
• Build a reputable company before your 42nd birthday celebration?....

Whatever it may be, there are things that you must get done before this purpose is accomplished right?

For example:

• Figuring out the best source of income for yourself
• Discovering your talent and passion
• Growing with a circle of friends who you share similar mindset with…and the rest of them

The life you're living is a story of it's own

If you wish to take people into a fancy train that holds all the memories of your life...of course you will get to tell them about so many joyful moments and obstacles you've experienced, but where is the endpoint of this train?

And that's simply how Storytelling in copywriting works

The prior reason why you fail woefully with this technique is because your story doesn't have a PURPOSE

Where are you driving your customers to with those creative words?

• To buy the product?
• To book a consultation call with you?
• To render their email addresses to you?

Your purpose gives your creativity a direction and help blend your marketing message

Understood? (yeah, I can see your slight nod)

With that being said, shall we analyze another story-based marketing copy as we did in the previous newsletter?

While reading this particular sales copy, it occurred to me that I haven't spoken of one major benefit of using storytelling in your marketing copy

Except creating long lasting emotions, storytelling can serve as the the foundation of the solid TRUST shown towards your brand

Now, how often do visit your product or service page? (quite often I believe)

What does your customer's reviews look like?

Have you ever taken the time to investigate if the negative reviews are accurate?

I know that you’ve possibly noticed those stated flaws before they were mentioned by your buyers

And I get it, there’s a possibility that you can’t change those flaws at the moment due to some financial, scientific, environmental or personal reasons?

But!!!! Have you ever tried stating those flaws in your marketing copies?

YES!!...Have you tried criticizing yourself instead?

Practicing this gives your unsatisfied buyers absolutely nothing to say… I mean, you’ve already stated things they are about to say right?

But mind you....You can’t just say things like “my product doesn’t have the perfect composition for eradication of E.D for men above 47”

You’re simply belittling yourself if you do that

The most dramatic and fun way of stating your product flaws is with storytelling

And how do you do that?

Well, read on to discover that

To make this a practical based newsletter, I borrowed a sample of a marketing copy from “ ADS WEEK” written by Joseph Sugarman and together, we will analyze the copy and point out the possible features we've mentioned both in the previous newsletter and this one as well

Just like using novels to learn the simple basics of storytelling, let’s use this copy to master the art of storytelling...and slippery slides

Now, without long talks, join me to dissect this amazing copy below

Ready???!!

Let’s go!!

**********

Headline: Magic Baloney

(This Ad was published around 1983. You can't possibly compare peoples attention span back then to our technological infused era.

I would love to know what you think about this headline in the comment section. Will it work in the present market? …just let me know your thought… I could learn from you)

Subheadline: You’ll love the way we hated the Magic Stat thermostat until an amazing thing happened.

(This gave a better insight on what magic baloney actually is… and coupled with that, it promised to tell you the flaws of this product which everybody will be interested in. It’s funny how humans invest so much time to learning reasons why a particular thing isn’t good for them. This lead is a perfect beginning of their slippery slide)

Caption: It had no digital readout, an ugly case and a stupid name. It almost made us sick.

(Dramatically stating the flaws of this product. You will never believe that they will actually try to sell to you with this copy)

You’re probably expecting our typical sales pitch, but get ready for a shock. For instead of trying to tell you what a great product the Magic Stat thermostat is, we’re going to tear it apart. Unmercifully.

(And with this simple sentences, your attention has been tightly bottled up. Now you see why I love Joseph Sugarman)

When we first saw the Magic Stat, we took one look at the name and went, “Yuck.” We took one look at the plastic case and said, “How cheap looking.” And when we looked for the digital read- out, it had none. So before the salesman even showed us how it worked, we were totally turned off. REAL LOSER!!

(Now, you’re undoubtedly invested in this marketing copy at the moment. You will probably take a seat to learn more about this LOSER product giving them the key to further dive into your attention. A part of you will even think that the writer has a personal issue with either the company or the product itself. And we all love to get something juicy to gossip about with our neighbors)?

So there it was—at first blush a real loser. But wait, we did find one good feature—a feature that led us to a discovery. The Magic Stat installs in a few minutes and no serviceman is required. Thermostat wires in your wall follow standard color codes. So when you install Magic Stat, you attach the red wire to the red location and the white to the white. That’s play school stuff. And it’s safe. Conventional thermostats installed over the past 20 years are generally only 24 volts, so you can either turn off the power or work with the “live” wires without fear.

(They didn’t pull up any claim here, just stated mere features. “No service man required to install the magic stat”…this was an utterly unique feature that’s economically based. And it went further to tell you how to use this on your own. Even if nothing interests you here, the simple phrase “new discovery” plays a great deal)

OK, LET’S TEST IT

The Magic Stat installation was so easy that the least we could do was test it. And that’s when we made an incredible discovery.

We discovered that the Magic Stat was probably the most consumer- oriented, technologically-advanced and most sophisticated thermostat ever developed on the face of this earth and in our galaxy for all times ever. What made us switch from hating the thing to loving it? Read the following:

(I’m actually out of words at this moment. Not only will you be invested in this copy at this moment, you will be also interested to know why their perspective on this product changed so fast)

The Magic Stat has six setback settings per day and a seven day program. That means that you could set it for 70 degrees when you get up in the morning, drop the temperature to 54 degrees when you go to work, raise it to 68 degrees when you return for dinner, raise it up to 70 degrees after dinner as you watch TV and then drop it down to 62 degrees when you go to sleep. Count them—five settings with one to spare.

In one day the Magic Stat is programmed for the whole week and for the weeks to come. If you want a different schedule for weekends, you can individually program the thermostat for those days, too.

“Big deal,” you might think. “What’s so great about that?” Read on.

(Now, we know that some readers are already sold with the stated features of this product at this moment. But what about those that aren't impressed yet?The constant use of “Find out” “learn more” “read on” keeps taking you down this copy even if a named feature or benefit haven’t caught your interest yet. That’s what those phrases are for. They are simply not there to just make you to “read on”, they are giving another comprehensive shot to closing the reader of this copy)

You set most electronic setback thermostats to the time you want the furnace to go on in the morning, so when you wake up, your room is once again warm.

But what if one morning it’s bitter cold outside and the next morning it’s much warmer? This means that setting your furnace to go on at the same time may, on one morning, leave you cold and on the next morning cause you to waste energy by warming up your house too soon.

By golly, the Magic Stat has everybody beat on this one too. Throughout the night it senses and computes the drop in temperature and the time it will take to get your room to your exact wake-up temperature.

So if you want to wake up at 7 AM to 70 degrees—that’s the temperature you’ll wake up to every time. Because it’s a patented concept, no other thermostat has this feature. But wait. There is also a patent on the setting feature.

(Noticed how the objections were simply tabled in the paragraphs above? They came out naturally and perfectly. Timing is really crucial in stating objections, and you may likely not get it right if you are unable to put yourself in your customers shoes)

SIMPLE TO SET

To set the thermostat, you press just one button. A small LED light scans the temperature scale until you reach your desired temperature and then you release the button. You change the tem- perature naturally, throughout the day, up to six times. The unit responds and remembers that exact living pattern. The present temperature is displayed by a glowing red LED on the scale.

The system also computes the ideal length the furnace should stay on to keep the temperature within a range of plus or minus one and one-half degrees. A battery backup lets you keep your stored program in its memory so power outages as long as eight hours won’t let your unit forget. And if something happens and your power is out for a few days, the unit will automatically maintain 68 degrees when the power is restored.

Quite frankly, we were so impressed with the unit, its ease of in- stallation and setting plus its many energy-saving features, we seriously considered advertising it until we realized that our cus- tomers would probably not want to trust their future comfort to a product called Magic Stat.

What if something went wrong with the unit? How substantial was this Magic Stat outfit? Remember, a thermostat is something you live with as long as you live in your home, and they’re supposed to last ages. After all, your comfort depends on it.

(Raising possible objections at the perfect time again. If you noticed the third paragraph before this comment, the writer didn’t position himself as a sales personnel. This simply means that he had his introduction in mind and still acted like a customer critiquing a product. You story should always blend in well!!)

Well, we did our homework. We found the company to be a sound, well-financed organization. They have been in business for several years, and they back their products with a three-year limited warranty.

In addition, the company has a policy of buying back your unit in one year if you haven’t saved its full cost in energy savings.

We were satisfied with the company, the people, the product, its incredible features, the company’s commitment to the product and above all, the energy savings.

We are so impressed now with the Magic Stat that we’re going to make buying one irresistible. Buy one from us for only $79.

(CREDIBILTY backed up with a GUARANTEE. What could make a well finanaced organization sound more credible? Did you notice anything in the last sentence? Let’s know if you’ve been following. Drop your thought in the comment section)

Install it yourself in a few minutes or hire a handyman to install it. Or order the new deluxe unit for $99 with the exact same features as the regular model, but with a beautiful new case.

Then enjoy the savings this next winter. Not only will you save up to 30% on your heating bills, but you’re eligible for the 15% energy tax credit. Then if you’re not absolutely in love with this product one year later, return it to JS&A. You’ll get all your money back and you can reinstall your old thermostat.

(A money back guarantee which will make propel people to actually buy the product)

REALIZE SAVINGS

But we’re counting on a few things. First, you will realize an energy savings and a comfort that will far surpass what you are currently experiencing.

Secondly, you probably will sleep better breathing cooler air yet wake up to just the right temperature. Beauty is only skin deep and a name doesn’t really mean that much. But we sure wish those guys at Magic Stat would have named their unit something more impressive. Maybe something like Twinkle Temp.

(Summarizing the entire copy by restating the benefits. I believe you know that a summary is important in long form sales copy...if you didn’t, now you do. He didn’t fail to criticize the product one last time which will bring you back to the reason why you read this copy at first)

To order, credit card holders call toll free and ask for product by number below or send check plus $4 delivery for each unit ordered.

Magic Stat (0040C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$79 Deluxe Magic Stat (0041C) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

*****

I said that I will talk about slippery slides in my next newsletter (which is this one), but after losing count of going through this copy … I didn’t see the need for doing that

This particular copy will give you a better insight on all you need to know about slippery slides, so you can take your time to go through it all over...again...and again

And that brings us to the end of this newsletter for today. I really do hope that you've learned something new.

If you did, do well to drop a comment, like and share with others who will find it useful.

Thanks for reading and subscribing

Until next time...do have lovely days ahead.

Tracy.

Tracy is a versatile Direct Response Copywriter, Creative Content writer, Ghostwriter and exquisite Brand storyteller who focuses on B2B and B2C e-commerce entrepreneurs.

For over two years, she has helped various failed businesses get back on their feet with her strategic marketing copies and positioning techniques.

Today, she’s on a mission to making a positive, recognized and commendable impact on various businesses that can’t find their fit into the competitive online space.

You can contact her by connecting with her on LinkedIn Tracy Anosike or send a quick email on #tracywritescopy1306 @gmail.com