Author Archives: Jodi Kaplan

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The Most Powerful Word in Copywriting and Marketing

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you made me love you..

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Did you know that there is a word that will have clients and readers running to do your bidding (and buy from you). Many call it the most powerful word in copywriting.

It’s a really common word, used everyday.

But, only a few thousand smart copywriters know how to use it properly.

In fact, many businesses make the mistake of failing to use it at all.

Do you?

What’s the word? I just used it. Right there above this sentence. OK, OK, the word is “you.”

Why is this word so powerful?

Because people want to know that you’re talking to them – directly. Using the word “you” reinforces that. It’s much more powerful than saying “they” or “their”. Who is “they”, anyway? And, it’s much more persuasive than “we” or “my” or “our.” More on why that’s true in a minute.

Nobody comes to a business website to read about the company’s talking about your “cutting edge” graphics or its years of business experience. They don’t even care if the site won a Webby award.

If they aren’t technically minded, they might want to know you can give them a site they can update themselves. They may also want to know that you can translate geek-speak into English.

Or, that you are familiar with their industries’ compliance requirements and understand why they may need extra bandwidth or paperwork.

Ultimately, your clients want to read about themselves.  They want to know that you can solve their problems.  The stuff that frustrates them. And, if you can show them how to solve those problems, even better!

Avoid we and us

The other side of the coin is avoiding words such as “we”, “us” and “our.” Your audience wants to know that you will focus on them (and their needs), rather than your own.  They want you fix their problems, not your own.

Try my one-minute marketing test on your own website to see how well it’s doing.

Personalization

This works even better if you can personalize your message.  You can’t necessarily do that on a web page, but you can do it in email marketing.  Get those first names on your sign up forms.

Your readers will love you (even if they didn’t want to).

The Real Reasons Why People Buy

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Schaffnertasche mit galoppwechsler

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What are the reasons why people buy from you? Or anyone else? Is it because you’re better? Faster? Cheaper?

Not really. Yes, those are perfectly logical reasons. But people generally don’t make decisions logically.

We like to think our reasoning is logical, dispassionate, and completely unemotional. Cool and rational, just like Mr. Spock.

We’re wrong.

The real decision-making process when we buy something is a bit different.

We decide based on emotional factors, not logical ones.  We then use those emotions to justify our decisions, and tell ourselves we’re being completely rational.

The real reasons why people buy:

1) To make money

More money means we can buy more, take better or more frequent vacations, or buy some gadget we’ve always wanted.  It means, we think, less stress in our lives, and less worrying about our futures.  So, something that promises to give us those results (not really the money, but what it represents), is highly appealing.

2) To save time

More time means we can spend more time with our families, take longer vacations, learn a new skill, or spend more time on a favorite hobby.

Promises of greater productivity appeal because we want to get more done, without spending as much time doing it.

3) Be popular/cool

Another emotional factor is “shiny new toy syndrome.”  We want the latest gadget, the newest phone, and the biggest TV.

The reasons: not just pride in ownership, but also being able to improve our status, be admired, and impress others.

Hey, look what I have! Isn’t it cool?  Doesn’t it make me cool too?

4) Protect their jobs

If the economy is bad, or your boss is nasty, something that can help protect your job, or get you promoted is extremely attractive.  If you’re worried about losing your job, a new skill may help improve your job security, protect your family, and give you peace of mind.

5) Belonging to something

Humans are generally social (even the introverts).  We like being part of a group and we like to interact with people who share our interests. We go to sporting events, buy t-shirts with our favorite team’s logos, and proudly point out the professional organizations we belong to.

What do these buying reasons have in common?

Emotional reactions to belonging, fear, security, or promises of stability are called emotional triggers: the desire to get more, to fit in, to be successful, look good to the boss, protect your family, make difficult problems easier to solve, etc.

There’s a full list of emotional triggers here. 

When you write your your sales letter or web copy, think about the emotional reasons people make decisions, not just the logical ones.  This applies even if  your product is highly technical software or machinery. Sure, add the specs and the sizes and the capacity, but don’t forget why people really buy things.

Emotional triggers in action

Here’s an example that’s so common we hardly even notice it.  It doesn’t make it any less effective though.  We’ve all seen the label on Ivory soap proudly proclaiming that it’s 99 44/100% pure.  We don’t know pure what, but it appeals to our emotions because it sounds both scientific and friendly.  It says this product is wholesome and good for your skin.

Another popular trigger is belonging.  Take beer ads for instance. A carefully chosen group of unusually attractive people are in a bar, having the best time you’ve ever seen anyone have.  The advertiser wants you to associate this with their beer.  They’re appealing to your sense of belonging.

Then there are the bourbon ads: hand-crafted, made in small batches.  This time the appeal is to snobbery and exclusivity.  Not everyone can buy this (we don’t make that much of it).  Only people with great taste and disposable income can purchase the product. And, of course, if you do buy it, it shows how smart and refined you are.

 

How to Hook Your Clients

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carved fish hook..

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Do you want more clients?  Having trouble catching them?

Clients are like fish.  To catch them, you have to think like a fisherman,  figure out where to find them and what they like to eat.

Potato chips may be your favorite food, but if you want to catch trout, you’re going to need some flies. Or at least, something that looks like a fly.

Think about what problems they have, and create posts, ads or ebooks that will attract the sort of people (or businesses) that you want to catch.

Use the right hook

Say you’re an expert on digital photography. That’s a pretty broad area of expertise.

See if you can narrow that down a bit. Who is your audience? Do you help grandparents learn how to take photos of their grandkids? Or, do you help experienced photographers take pictures in tricky light conditions?

Since each group has different needs, they’ll need different hooks.  The grandparents might want an ebook on “Digital Photos for Beginners.” The pros will go for “Three Steps to Successful Twilight Photography.”

The right hook gets a response.  The wrong one will be ignored. Like a trout that sees a potato chip float by.

(Attention: Yahoo! Putting photos of cars all over your login page won’t get me to buy one.  Surely, you can tell that I’m in New York City, where only 25% of the population even owns a car).  Wrong hook!