The ONE thing you can't overdo in your marketing copy

One of the toughest challenges in copywriting is resisting the urge to overdo it.?

For example, you don’t want to push?too?hard — and risk coming across as irritatingly salesy. Nor should you press?too?many emotional hot buttons — and be seen as transparently manipulative. And you certainly don’t want to use?too?many “we” words — the surest way to lose your prospect’s interest.

But there’s one thing you?can?do as often as you like in your sales copy.

Use social proof.?

In fact, social proof is a remarkably powerful copywriting technique. It’s like what spinach is for Popeye. The more social proof you feed your copy, the stronger it gets.

Case in point…

A few years ago, I was with friends looking for a café. As we debated which one to choose out of several in the area, my friend Jim blurted, “I just remembered. Jane told me the café across the street is nice.”?

We immediately went there.

The thing is, none of us (except Jim, of course) knew who Jane was! Yet, all it took was her endorsement to get us marching eagerly to that café.??

Robert Cialdini talks about this phenomenon in his classic book,?Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion.?Humans are hard-wired to be swayed by social proof.

That’s where testimonials come in.

For most copywriters — me included — testimonials are the go-to social proof. We use them all the time.?Yet, what I often see in marketing copy are testimonials placed here and there like mere window dressing.

There’s so much more you can do to maximize the impact of testimonials. For example, you can:

• Add a headline to a testimonial. (That doubles the impact.)
• Bold a key point made in the testimonial.
• Weave a testimonial into the body copy. For example:?Jane Pinkerton uses the product and raves…
• Use a testimonial in a marketing email. (This can boost CTA clicks.)

And while testimonials are wonderful, there are other ways to use social proof. For example, you can:

• Highlight years in business, number of customers, ranking in the marketplace, etc. Example:?Join 12,324 subscribers who…
• Refer to customers as a group. Example:?Our clients told us they…
• Point out publicity, product reviews, and endorsements.
• Tell stories of customers using your product and getting great results.
• Use avatars of your customers in examples and scenarios. Example:?Meet John the Plumber. He’s busy running his business and doesn’t have time for…

The lesson here is simple. When writing copy, weave in as much social proof as you can. When it comes to getting results — clicks, responses, conversions, whatever your KPIs are — social proof is just as important as the lead, benefits, differentiation, and offer.

A/B tests I’ve seen, well, prove it!

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What are the latest best practices in writing cold prospecting emails?

I do a lot of training on the topic of writing cold prospecting emails. The rules are constantly changing.?What worked like gangbusters just a year ago are now getting so-so results for salespeople.?

?This is clearly an area in copywriting where you need to stay up-to-date!

Next month, I'm teaching a?virtual workshop on writing sales emails?for the Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA.)?I'll be sharing the latest tips and formulas, as well as providing feedback.?

?This workshop is ideal if you're:

• A salesperson (especially an SDR) or lead a sales team.
• A marketing director creating content for the sales team.
• A freelancer who wants to offer writing "cold email templates" as a service to clients. (Very lucrative!)

Learn more about this virtual workshop?here.?

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Call for topic suggestions

Do you have a particularly onerous copywriting task or challenge you'd like me to cover in this newsletter? I'd love to hear your topic suggestions. Email me at [email protected].