Talk to most copywriters. Read most books on the subject, listen to marketing mavens, and you’ll hear the same thing over and over again. Fear and Greed is all you need to motivate your buyer.
And yet,when the marketer and his copywriter get the results back they scratch their heads in bewilderment when they realize their test promotion generated only mediocre results.
So what happened? The copywriter only wrote the way he was trained, right? He went by the book.
Now, here’s one possible reason why the campaign fizzled out and how it can be improved (so you won’t make that mistake.)
Your prospect is a human being.And, like all human beings, we are complex creatures. We have different emotions that drive us through life. People can experience overzealous joy to anger in the course of a simple conversation.
The Real Truth As To Why People Buy!
Let’s face the hard facts. A direct mail campaign is an expensive gamble that you have to win for your business to stay solvent. That’s why you have to have all your bases covered.
And to do that you must massage in as many different emotions, feelings and core beliefs as you can into your sales letter.
Succeed and you’ll have a better chance of reaching different segments of your target audience – but more importantly you’ll reach them more deeply.
Because all your prospect is really thinking about as he reads your copy is WIIFM.
What’s in it for me?!”
And people don’t like to be sold.That means they’re not in control. No.They like to buy — and when they buy, it’s for emotional reasons. (Once hooked, they’ll want to justify their purchase with logic.)
An insecure man buys an expensive sports car – not so much that it can reach 60 mph in 10 seconds (that’s a feature).
The benefit is the way that car makes him feel. A flood of emotions wells up inside of him as he sees himself driving that convertible Mercedes.
With the warm sun enveloping his body… he cruises down the street with the engine purring, and the bass pulsating out of his expensive CD player which is cranked up with his favorite tune.
As he adjusts his expensive Armani sunglasses he notices men pointing to his car in admiration. Women impressed, nod and smile at him. Oh, yeah. He’s “the man,” he’s in heaven, because he feels — recognized, powerful, and irresistibly sexy to women.
“Yeah, baby.Look at me.Look at what I’ve accomplished.”
And that’s why emotion is so important.
And that’s why compelling copy needs more than just fear and greed. When a prospect reads your sale letter he has to feel the passion in your words that will stir emotions in him…
…emotions that will drive him to action and do the one thing you want. And that’s to send you money for your product or service!
Yes, you want to deal with the customer’s usual frustrations and anxieties that come from fear and greed. But keep in mind, people also respond to… curiosity, insecurity, happiness, sadness, anger, passion, benevolence, confusion, confidence, surprise, disgust, wit, loneliness, embarrassment, optimism, guilt, lust indifference, envy, exhaustion, laziness, annoyance, surprise,lust, pride, patriotism, shyness…
I came up with an idea for an offer. (A very rough draft.) It’s a home-based business targeted to prospects who want to leave the rat race behind them and make big bucks quickly.
Want to downsize your boss – before he downsizes you? Want to earn gobs and gobs of money—and not work hard at it? Well, the best way to do that is to learn to trade with the Acme Options Course.
Trading options is pure capitalism. And capitalism is what made America strong. Our country was built on the values of freedom and what it can give us. Freedom to work when you want to, and for whomever you want to. And the best person to work for? Yourself.
Just imagine earning $5,000-$7,000 a week working just 20 minutes a day. Start at 10:00 AM and be finished at 10:20 AM. Won’t your friends be jealous when they discover you’re raking in the big bucks by mid-morning… and then taking the rest of the day off?
Live the life you deserve! Have fun. Go bowling, play tennis, spend quality time with the family. Answer to no one. Why? Because YOU’RE in charge!
Notice how I targeted my prospect. I knew he purchased other home-based business products in the past… which is why I addressed him as “future entrepreneur.”
I also know from research that he had a “high roller mentality” in him. (Thus, high risk, high return options course.) Plus, I dug a little deeper. In just those five short paragraphs I weaved through my copy – fear, greed, envy, patriotism, independence and laziness.
Remember: A successful direct mail campaign can be yours if you continually hit all your buyer’s hot buttons… every time. How To Come Up With Your Company’s USP
And for your company to make insane profits through its marketing efforts, your USP has to stand-out from the pack. It has to be concise and it has to deliver… every time.
Your customer demands it. He needs a reason to give you his money over the other guy. If you truly can’t deliver on your USP…then work with your marketing people to come up with one that you can.
Brainstorm. Here are questions that Master Marketer Jay Abraham thinks are important to discuss with your copywriter about your USP (and if he’s a really good copywriter he’ll ask you.)
* Is your product or service of the highest quality in the marketplace? * Is your product or service sold at the lowest mark-up in its industry? * Are you selling an item or service that no one else can deliver in your particular location or industry? * Is your inventory always stocked so your customers are never inconvenienced and they don’t have to wait for a back order? (i.e, Blockbuster Video’s USP on new releases.)
list of what your product or service is offering, you then ask yourself two questions:
“Who am I selling to?”
All customers are not created equal.Your USP can’t be “everything” to “everyone. ”Folks that shop at Target are not shopping at Bergdoff-Goodman.
And then you have to ask:
“Why should my customer buy from me rather than from my competitor?”
Your goal is to get down to the “nitty gritty” and find two or three benefits that you have and he doesn’t.
You then choose the strongest one you can deliver on. Then you have to determine. Is it strong? Is it honest? Is it reliable? And if you can stand behind it, put that USP in your headline and run it in every ad. And just like the Nike commercial says: “Just do it.” Here’s an example
SERVING THE GREATER CINCINNATI AREA SINCE 1945 DELEO AND SONS HEATING AND OIL DEPENDABLE 24/7 SERVICE CALL 800-NEED OIL
Does it work? Well, if you live in Cincinnati and your burner goes down in the middle of the cold, dark, drab winter – and your wife and kids are complaining because they’re freezing – who you gonna call?
Why Deleo, of course. And if he can’t do it, then one of his sons will.Thank heavens they’re available whenever you need them. Not only is it an easy phone number to remember – but the call is free too.
Other heating companies come and go. But not the Deleo Family. They’ve been around for over 50 years. They must be good.