Why does one copy resonate with readers and another falls face down? Why does an ad sell and another does not cover its costs? What distinguishes a winner from a loser in the field of commercial writing?
Answer … persuasion!
So how do you write persuasively?
I’m not sure … but a persuasive writing almost always contains eight characteristics:
- Attracts attention
- It focuses on the reader.
- Highlight the benefits of a product or service
- Show why a product or service is different
- Provide proof of superiority.
- Show value for money
- Establish business credibility.
- Call the reader to take some action.
[1] How to get attention
If the reader you want to persuade does not read your copy, no matter how persuasive, you cannot do your job to convince him to do something. It will be commercially useless.
There are many ways to get the attention of your readers.
Simple headlines are the best. Avoid subtle or smart headlines. Instead, stay on top and make sure a headline indicates a clear benefit. For example: “Get rid of unsightly warts – without using acid.”
You always notice attractive illustrations, such as photos, sketches and other images. They become irresistible when they are seasoned with sexual connotations.
However, any visual element must be appropriate for the subject on which you are writing or you run the risk of the reader feeling cheated when reading the copy and rejecting your message.
Specific claims in the title or slogan will extract the usual vague claims and arouse interest.
For example, instead of “We will help you claim your overpaid tax,” a tax advisory firm might say “Last year, we claimed more than € 50,000,000 in overpaid taxes for our hard-working clients.” The 50 million figure gains the reader’s attention because it is specific and credible.
Asking a provocative question will arouse interest. For example, “What do French ladies who lack other women have?” Curiosity, at least, will ensure that the next sentence is read.
The use of current news in the headline or title can attract attention. Announcing that something is new or improved can also attract people.
[2] Why focus on your reader?
Your readers are not really interested in you, your company, your products or services. Their main interest is themselves … their aspirations, problems, fears, hopes, needs and dreams. Isn’t that true for all of us?
To be persuasive, your copy should be addressed to your readers & # 39; preferences and requirements You can only do this if you are writing for a specific reader whose needs, behavior, attitudes, traits and weaknesses you understand.
So how do you know what your readers read & # 39; Needs, attitudes and other characteristics are?
It’s relatively easy, but it requires a bit of research and leg work.
If you are targeting a particular industry, attend your trade shows and read some numbers of your trade magazines. You can also interview one or two active members of the profession, either in person or by phone.
To better understand your readers, you could attend some live focus group sessions or at least study the transcripts. You could even make sales calls with sellers and women.
The better you feel for your readers, how they think and what they think, the easier it is to address their concerns persuasively.
There are several ways to focus on your readers:
- Address the reader directly using the pronoun & # 39; you & # 39; … & # 39; you & # 39; It is one of the most important words in marketing.
- Write your reader’s point of view … for example: “How to beat those cheap imports that are taking you out of business.”
- Try using a copy that speaks directly to the personality of your reader … if you are promoting a DIY product, for example, contact the home maintenance staff.
He shouldn’t have trouble focusing on the reader and what he wants, as long as he understands it.
[3] Why highlight the benefits?
Why would the reader take any action you ask without first knowing the benefits of doing so? Every successful copy discusses the benefits without fail.
When you are writing a sales copy, your prospects will want to know, not only what a product is and what it can do, but how it can save them money or time, make them healthier, more attractive or more fit, grant them new knowledge, train them and so on. successively … that is, improve their lives.
The benefits depend on the characteristics. The degree to which you should analyze the benefits instead of the characteristics will vary according to the audience.
With ordinary consumers, you should focus on the benefits and just mention the features to convince your prospects that your product can offer those benefits.
But with professionals (such as engineers, doctors, accountants, lawyers, etc.) you must describe the characteristics in detail. But in doing so, you are assuming that the specialist reader will see the benefits that the functions provide. Therefore, it is better to link each function with its benefits.
In a copy that discusses the technical products or services, explaining the characteristics clearly makes the associated benefits more credible. For example, don’t just say that a function provides more power; To be convincing, you must describe how it offers more power.
[4] Show why you are different
This means measuring against their rivals, whether in consumer goods, commodities, industrial products, political messages or whatever.
In any supermarket you will find dozens of different brands for what are essentially the same products (for example, soap) and you must show that your product is different and better. This differentiation could be based on quality, ingredients, package size or price. There are many more criteria.
Companies that create a commodity-type product often differ according to an intangible benefit, such as experience or service.
For example, British Oxygen (before becoming a member of the Linde Group in Germany) could not claim that its product (oxygen) was better (since one molecule of oxygen is the same as any other), so they used their ability to combine oxygen With patented technology to show how they could benefit your customers.
It is possible to affirm that your product or service is unique. The US publication UU. IPO Insider He claims that it is the only independent investment analysis service that is tailored to help amateur investors. In doing so, it distinguishes itself from other IPO information services (initial public offering) that target professional investors.
Industrial manufacturers of intermediate products (i.e. parts for a finished product) can differentiate themselves from their competitors by emphasizing factors such as reliability, guaranteed delivery times for manufacturers just in time, superior service, product-free replacements defective or other variables
The competition between politicians and political parties in election time provides case studies in differentiation, all compete to demonstrate the superiority of their proposed policies and why they should be voted for the position. Unfortunately, unlike most contractors, politicians are not required to guarantee their campaign promises with performance bonuses.
[5] How to prove what you claim
Readers are a skeptical group, especially when you try to sell them a consumer product. They require proof of the benefits you have been promoting and your claim that your product is different.
The best way to prove your case is to show a favorable track record.
There are several ways in which you can create the perception that your product or service is successful in delivering the benefits you claim. In your copy you can include:
- case stories and success stories
- testimonials from satisfied customers
- selected lists or lists of your customers
- Specific results you have achieved for individual clients or groups of clients
An investment advisory company, for example, can demonstrate its history by listing its recommendations for successful actions that show the name of the action, the purchase price when recommended, its percentage increase over a specific period of time and the gain in cash that an investor could have obtained with an investment of € 1,000 … all presented in an orderly and easy-to-read table.
British Oxygen, when addressing engineers, demonstrates that its intermediate industrial gas products are mixed strictly by explaining in technical terms how the gases weigh and mix.
Whatever you do, don’t cheat … all these ways of substantiating your claims can be easily verified. Industrial buyers generally do, but consumers are unlikely to bother.
[6] How to demonstrate value for money
No one will buy your product or service if they think it is too expensive. It must always be shown that it offers good value for money.
There are four basic ways to demonstrate that its price represents an excellent value for money:
- compare total cost of ownership with purchase cost
- show that the price is a fall in a bucket compared to the benefit
- Compare your prices with the prices of more expensive products or services that do the same
- Show the daily cost during the period during which the product or service will be used
Corporate buyers are especially concerned about the total cost of ownership … the total purchase cost, operating costs, support and maintenance, repairs and renovations, and so on for the expected useful life.
When you compare the total cost of ownership of the same product or service between different suppliers, you are likely to discover that the one with the cheapest price represents the highest total cost of ownership.
So, if your price is higher, you must show that your offer is the cheapest over time.
Proving that its price is only a drop in the cube compared to the benefits expressed in terms of money made or saved in many circumstances.
For example, a regulatory compliance advisory service could emphasize the high potential costs of fines for non-compliance with environmental and health and safety regulations.
A seller of training courses could demonstrate that the cost-price of the courses is only a tie-breaker compared to his students & # 39; Possible future earnings.
You can also show good value for money by comparing its price with the prices of more expensive products that meet the same need.
If you were to sell a high-cost DIY (DIY) maintenance manual for machinery or IT products, for example, you could compare the cost of the manual with the cost of a service engineer performing the maintenance.
You can make a high-priced product or service seem more affordable by expressing the cost as a daily cost for the period of time during which it will be used or effective.
For example, if you are selling home insurance and the cost is (say) € 350 a year, you can say that it costs less than € 1 per day to protect your family’s home … which seems very good deal of done.
[7] How to establish business credibility
In terms of persuasive writing, your business history is probably the least important feature. Your reader only has an interest in your company to the extent that it relates to your ability to make your share of a purchase offer.
The way you establish your corporate credibility depends on where your company is in its life cycle. The credibility creation technique of a long-established company would be very different from that of a new company.
For a long-standing company, brief details of when it was founded, how it grew, its financial, human and technological resources, locations and number of employees, annual sales and revenue figures, current patents, technical innovations achieved, awards and seals of approval … in other words, practically anything you can succinctly show off and without saturating the copy … with an emphasis on awards, approval stamps and technical innovations in addition to its size.
A startup, of course, cannot boast of any of these matters. You need to establish credibility by showing that it is ‘hot and hungry’. You can do better by focusing on your founders and key personnel, using potted biographies to show the quality of your sales, technical and management teams and explaining the innovative nature of your technologies and business model.
[8] Call to action
All writers have an agenda, something they want to do with their writing. In the case of a novelist, it can be as simple as wanting to tell a good story. Or it can be as complex as using a story to point out something (usually a defect) about society or the physical world.
In the world of commercial advertising writing, the purpose is always to make the reader take some action … to buy a product or service, to change the reader’s opinion, belief or attitude towards a company and its products or services, etc. .
But your readers will not take the action you want unless you ask … this notice is called a call to action. To be effective, the call to action must be specific:
… buy now … call xxx xxxx now for more information … visit our website at yyy.com … send an email to xxxxx @ 3yyy.com … visit our showroom. .. request a free quote … subscribe to our newsletter … vote for me … etc., etc.
People usually do nothing unless they specify the next step accurately and directly in their copy.
And your website should be structured in such a way that it is very easy to find the Buy Now button. There must be at least one such button on each page. You must put several buttons on a long page.
conclusion
It would be difficult to find a persuasive writing that does not have these eight characteristics. But that does not mean that everyone is contained in the same proportion. Some characteristics will be predominant, others subordinate … depending on the circumstances.
For example, reputable companies such as Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics, Foxconn, Dell Technologies and Microsoft do not really need to prove their case and establish their credibility.
In comparison, in the absence of a history, a new technology company should prove itself by emphasizing the benefits of its product or service or how they are different from its competitors … emphasizing different characteristics compared to a mature company.
However, the eight characteristics must be present to some extent for the writing to be persuasive.
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