20 most powerful copywriting rules of all time
Ameinfo.com lists The 20 most powerful copywriting rules of all time:
1. Prepare, prepare, prepare
What are you selling? What are its benefits? Why should people be interested in it? What is better about your product or service than others in the marketplace? Do you have a USP? What response are you trying to elicit?
The most successful writers always think before they write. There really is no other way. It is vital that you ask yourself the questions above. You will be amazed how this discipline will help you focus and produce more effective copy.
2. Create a riveting and benefit-laden headline
The headline must contain a benefit and a relevance to the reader. On average, five times as many people read the headline of your ad and letter, than read the body copy.
Therefore it is a golden rule that the winning idea, the proposition, must be in the headline, not merely in the copy. Because if it isn't, there will be no selling proposition to 90% of your audience.
So, if you have news to tell, don't bury it in your body copy, which nine out of ten people won't read. Fire your biggest gun first.
John Caples once said, "Based on hundreds of tests conducted, a good headline can be as much as 17 times more effective than a so-so headline. And this is with exactly the same body copy!"
3. AIDCA
It was AIDA. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. I think in these tough times, we now have to add Credibility to it as well.
So now it becomes AIDCA.
A sales letter should always be written using that sequence. No exception.
What's more, it will never change, as long as the world keeps turning. Mess with it and your letter will underperform. I guarantee it.
4. Recognize the enormous importance of the first paragraph
The first paragraph must carry on in the same positive vein as the headline and/or envelope copy.
Remember that the reader will not remain with you unless your first and second paragraphs hold the attention and interest your headline and layout have aroused. And if you ask a question in the headline, answer it fast in the first paragraph, or you will lose the reader right there.
The benefit in the headline must be substantiated, enhanced and expanded if possible, in the first two paragraphs.
This is where the experienced writer starts to take control of the situation.
5. Use simple but effective words
Simple words are the most effective in selling copy. Use everyday words, words that people recognize and are comfortable with. Words that flow easily and have a natural rhythm.
Don't try to be smart or show off with your copy. No one is interested in how clever you are.
Remember some wise words from Copy Master Ken Roman 'New usage offends many ears. Established usage offends no one'.
Also try to understand the type of person you are writing to. Write to one person from that group and your copy will speak to all the people in that group.
6. People buy benefits not features
This is so misunderstood right now, it is staggering. The amount of mailings you see that talk about the company, how long it has been in business, its mission statement, what this product does etc - is mind-blowing.
No one is interested in the company, its history and its products and services, believe me. They are only interested in what those products or services can do for them.
So, when you write your next sales letter, make the benefits the star, not the features, the brand or the company.
7. Emotional words always work better than intellectual words
Keep any intellectuals that you may have, well away from writing sales letters.
People buy for emotional reasons and justify those reasons with logic. Gene Schwartz wrote an ad that ran for over two decades and sold so many flowers it exhausted nurseries. It is pure emotion. Here's part of it...
'When you put this into the Earth and you jump back quickly, it explodes into flowers. And everybody in your neighborhood comes and they look.
And people take home blooms because you've got so many you could never find a house big enough to put them in. And you've become the gardening expert for the entire neighborhood.'
8. Recognize the five basic objections your readers will have and address them within your sales argument
1. I don't believe you.
2. I don't need it.
3. I don't have enough time.
4. I don't have enough money.
5. It won't work for me.
9. Make sure your copy believes in itself
I call this 'making the words connect to the eyes'. It is so important in this skeptical world that your copy has energy, belief and that wonderful word - verisimilitude - the appearance of truth.
Show some excitement for your product or service. Because, let's face it, if you aren't pumped up about what you're selling, don't expect the reader to be.
Be enthusiastic, but be believable. Do not raise doubts.
The reader only wants an excuse to stop reading. In fact, they are looking for one all the time. Don't give it to them.
10. Understand that good layout and type will support and help copy
Words sell. Pretty pictures do not. However, the use of the correct graphics, fonts, and layouts can greatly assist the delivery and understanding of your sales message.
Use proven formats. For ads, consider an advertorial style.
This approach is doing well right now and can get 80% more attention than any other ad layout.
Correct typography helps people to read your copy, whilst bad typography prevents them from doing so. Best typefaces are serifs - courier, century, caslon, bakerville, trebuchet, times roman.
The rest, in tomorrow's MediaMix.
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