Winning Words #02

Gary wastes no time calling out his target audience - job seekers. He thrust forward the question, grabbing the reader's attention and jolting them out of their indifference.

"Do you make these mistakes in job interviews?"

A headline like this is certain to get the reader's curiosity spinning. And that's exactly what it does.

"What mistakes?"

"I might be making them in my interviews"

"Let me read further to know them".

These are the train of thoughts running through the reader's mind.

After the headline, Gary then proceeded to ask a series of questions without revealing the answers immediately.

Do you know why you should never eat a spinach salad when you're being interviewed over lunch?

If you're a man, do you know why you should never wear a gold bracelet to a job interview?

If you're a woman, do you know the kind of blouse that makes interviewers of both sexes think you're a loser?

What this does is that it creates open loops that propel the reader forward through the copy, making them actively seek answers to fill in the gaps.

Next comes the problem.

If you've heard of the PAS framework (problem-agitate-solve), then you should be familiar with the idea here. Gary highlighted the major problem in job hunting - crippling competition.

He made a case for the white-collar job market being flooded with thousands of contestants. This brings us to the prospect's challenge - knowing how to stand out in a congested field.

With a copy like this targeted at the prospect's problems, it's obvious that Gary did his homework. Research is an integral part of any marketing campaign. It uncovers your audience's pain points and competitors' flaws, giving you the edge to position your products/services effectively in the market.

After identifying the reader's problem, he then introduced the solution in the form of a book report - "Interviews That Win Jobs". A crystal-clear title for the book. It conveys the value of the book, letting the readers know exactly what the book is all about.

Gary then went on to induce scarcity for the book by stating that the report was privately published and wasn't available in bookstores. This boosted the value of the book. Taking a trip down memory lane to our high school economics class, you'd remember that when the quantity of a product is limited, its perceived value tends to go up.

Good thinking.

But that's not all. People would still be curious about the content of this book and Gary doesn't disappoint. He talked about the details of the book in bullets, wrapping them up in enticing benefits.

Remember, benefits over features.

He also highlighted the critical mistakes of job applications that the book addressed. He dimensionalizes them well, using language and analogies that were easy to understand and relatable to the target audience.

You see, jargon and technical words complicate the messages of your copy. Always simplify your messages with expressions your audience is familiar with.

While advertising several contents of the book and the different problems they solved, Gary never lost sight of the primary promise of the ad, which boiled down to showing the reader how to stand out in the job market, ace an interview, and get hired.

Although he presented the benefits of the book from different angles, he never strayed away from the ad message. The point to note here is to always maintain a single idea throughout your copy. Too many ideas littered in your ad might end up confusing your readers.

Gary bolsters the features of the book with promises of what they'll know and the results they'll get if they read the book. He didn't just drop the table of contents and bounce. He stayed around on the topic, convincing, explaining, and adding layers of benefits on benefits, solidifying the product as a no-brainer.

After all was said and done, he subtly presented the price of the book with a money-back guarantee to eliminate risk for the prospect. This took some financial pressure off the readers, giving them assurance in purchasing the book.

Sometimes, that's all you need to knock your prospects off the fence and get them to buy your product.

The end?

Well, Gary could've ended there but he made sure he took no prisoners as he went for the close with 5 report bonuses for readers who bought the book now.

This injected some urgency into the offer. I mean, who doesn't like free stuff?

Nobody, that's who.

So, why not buy now and get these as a plus? It was a good deal. One that the prospect will most likely not turn down.

Now, adding bonuses to your offer is a little bit tricky. Even though you happen to be giving out stuff for free, you still have to be strategic about it.

How?

By only including stuff that is relevant to the original product or else they might come across as fluff and do more harm than good to your offer.

For example, if you're selling a notebook, a pen works as a gift. Selling a smartphone? A headset complements it. You get the idea. And that's why all the bonuses that were given out in Gary's copy were tied with the theme of job hunting and interviews.

To get a better picture, here are what the bonuses included:

• How to answer 64 toughest interview question
• Red hot cover letters
• Get a job now
• Negiotiate your best compensation package.
• The greatest job finding secret

Now, as you can see, all the bonus reports ranged from interviews to cover letters to job searches to negotiation topics. All relevant content to the main product.

That is how your bonus package should work too.

When all the contents of the bonus were listed and explained, Gary closed the offer with a call-to-action and details of the delivery.

Now, that was a solid structure for a sales copy. Here are the key takeaways:

• Identify your audience in the headline of your copy.
• Create open-ended questions that poke at their pain points.
• Agitate the problem further.
• Maintain a common theme in the message of your copy. One idea, one reader.
• Present the benefits of your product/services in clear language and relatable analogies.
• Solidify your offer with a guaranty package, this lessens the risk for your prospects.
• Bonuses in your offer should complement the main product.
• End your offer with a clear and compelling CTA, with sufficient details about the delivery of the product/service.

And that's a wrap!

I hope you found this breakdown helpful. Feel free to apply this structure to your sales copy.

If you need a copywriter to help you craft a killer copy like that, I'm just a DM away.

I'll be posting more breakdowns in the future, so keep your eyes peeled. If you're interested in getting a copy of this ad for further study, simply send a message and I'll get it to you.

Until next time...

Stay ahead of the curve,

Akeem.