Marketing has only one goal... To make SALES!
Great resources for copywriting/ads:
If there's a CTA, it's direct response. Otherwise it's brand awareness.
One aims to influence your decisions right now, while the other influences your future decisions.
Direct response copywriting is a goal, NOT a technique.
The objective is to persuade people to take tangible actions IMMEDIATELY through tone, language, urgency and a CTA.
Most think this type of copywriting is a style that is salesy and pushy like it is written by a "needy salesperson".
Heck, some believe that it’s a thing of the past.
But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
And these actions can be:
- Clicking a link
- Submitting a form
- Giving access to personal information (e.g. name and email address)
- Making a purchase
- Hence, the call to action (CTA) is the MOST OBVIOUS indicator of a direct response copy.
ALL direct response copywriting pieces should include a CTA somewhere in the copy.
Brand awareness
Мost people think this is marketing... ex. Billboards, 30 second TV commercials, print ads, witty jingles, cute slogans...
The viewer may or may not purchase in the future.
Direct response
Like "infomercials", you must respond directly to the ad to take advantage of what is offered. You call a specific number set up for tracking.
With direct response, you know how much the ads are making i.e. which sales tactics work.
In direct response's world, brand awareness marketing is the stupidest, most ineffective form of marketing out there.
Wrtiting a sales pitch that prompts action now, not later.
Direct response copywriters are salespersons in print.
2% conversion rate is enough for a campaign to be successful.
It is a trackable scientific form of marketing, that's low cost, has instant results, and is scalable.
It started a long time ago with "mail order catalogues". Businesses place ads inside them, which are then mailed to 100,000 people, who send their orders via mail.
They then tested their ads by sending one ad to 50,000 people, and another to other 50,000. They they try to beat the winning ad, which becomes the control.
Copywriters usually get a 3%-7% commission, on top of the $5,000 base pay to write the copy, to be motivated to improve the ad.
Nissan's famous toy commercial... Despite winning countless awards for their creative ad, while spending millions of dollars, Nissans' sales kept tanking...
Meanwhile, Toyota kept growing with "boring" direct response marketing, by talking about the benefits of their products, driving home their Unique Selling Proposition. They offered large rebate incentives to get people in the door (available only IF they came in the door)
As Nissan's sales kept tanking, dealers revolted, and Nissan kept blaming the economy and the "non-visionary" dealers.
This is what happens when ad agencies measure success by all the wrong metrics. They produce entertaining, orignal, creative content and judge the effectiveness by how many people ENJOYED the ad and if they got an award... vs seeing if it actually made SALES.
Brand awareness can't be tracked.
Over the years, direct response marketing has not changed, regardless of medium or technology.
In the mid 1950s onwards, copywriters found that if they buy a huge amount of ad space in a magazine, and write a 3,000 word article about a product or service, many readers simply assumed the "article" was endorsed by the magazine, which gave it more "percieved value".
At the end of the article, there would be a special number to call or a form to fill to get more information i.e. talk to a sales person or be send a sales page.
This is no different from a Facebook timeline ad, which looks like a regular post from a friend, that leads to a blog/article about a product, which at the end asks for an email to gain access to a special presentation, free tutorial or report (these are all sales pitches).
These are called "Advertorials" (Ad + Editorial).
All online marketing, is in effect, direct response.
Focus on communicating these:
- What is it?
- How it works?
- Is it for me? (explain the value, not the benefits ex. increase sales vs have precise reports)
Try to show use cases based on user personas. ex. managers, sales, marketing, accounting...
It takes a NORMAL idea (lots of competition, is boring) and turns it into something exciting, different and interesting. It's the "secret ingredient" which makes the common seem novel.
Everything is built around this concept.
Great "big idea", terrible copy > Amazing copy, no "big idea".
Nobody is going to read your promotion unless the headline gets their attention.
Formula:
Intellectually interesting appeal (big idea) = Emotionally compelling primary promise + delivery mechanism
How does the primary promise work with the delivery mechanism? What is the unique delivery system upon which the promise will be delivered?
Common: How to outsource - Outsourcing business for profit explained
vs
BIG IDEA: The 4-hour workweek - Escape 9-5. Live anywhere, and join the new rich
Promise: Escape 9-5. Live anywhere, and join the new rich
Delivery mechanism: The 4-hour workweek
There is no difference between the idea, the methods, and knowledge in these books. The only difference is how the content and idea is presented.
It sparks interest by asking yourself, what exactly is the 4-hour workweek, and how will it help me escape 9-5.
| Product | Promise (Subtitle) | Delivery mechanism (Title) |
|---|---|---|
| Book | Escape 9-5. Live anywhere, and join the new rich | 4 hour workweek |
| Tool | Hammer | Indestructible Big Bertha |
| Workout | Get shredded with P90X program | Muscle confusion |
| Food | KFC best tasting chicken | 14 secret herbs and spices |
| Supplement | Vitamin D supplement | Astronaut's nutrient |
| Newsletter | Gold investing newsletter | Secret currency used by the elites |
| Investment | Make 1,435% (aimed at investors) | Batman gun |
| Options trading | Make 10% - 30% gains a week, even in bear markets | The bloodbath millionaire system |
| Cobalt trading | Make 10% - 30% gains | Strange "goblin" stones fueling the future (cobalt ~ cobol german ~ goblin) |
| Investment | Turn a single $50 into a massive fortune | Secret "$50 Marijuana stock blueprint…" |
| Supplement | Slice 20 years off your age | Founatin of youth discovered |
| Course | Collect $80k in a matter of days | "Dark trades" the anonymous trades behind every major stock move |
| Supplement | Gain robust heart health | Napoleon's spies discover the Spanish army's secret weapon for superhuman health |
| Course | Turn $2,000 into $10 million | "Wiretapping" America's richest investors |
| Supplement | Prevent diseases like Alzheimer's and diabetes | Mysterious "Fingerprints of God" confirmed inside human cells |
| Course | Get paid for every ounce of gold pulled from the ground | Gold skimming |
| Investment | Get in on a ground-breaking IPO investment | New "Gene Hacking" technology ends all disease |
| Investment | Get in on a stock that could go to 35,000% by January 12 | FDA anomaly "God Key" |
| Course | Learn my 3 favorite trading patterns | California man makes $2.8M trading from home |
| Course | Get MBA smart without crippling debt | MBA ASAP - Complete MBA knowledge for the price of lunch |
| Course | Predict trades with 90% accuracy. turn $500 into $96k like clockwork | Oppenheimer's Blackbox "POP-P Indicator" |
Bank 1,435% (or more) on Law Enforcement's new "BATMAN GUN"... The only truly non-lethal tool for police, military and security forces that's about to put tasers out of business.
This is read as: "What is this new Batman Gun law enforcement is using, and how is it going to make me 1,435% gains?"
Ask yourself 2 questions:
- What is my emotionally compelling primary promise?
- What is the unique mechanism in which this promise will be delivered?
This is the overall flow:
Bid idea (promise + delivery mechanism) > Ads > Advertorial > Landing (squeeze) page > Sales
The ads can lead directly to the landing page, without an advertorial.
This is critical!
SHOW, don't tell. PROVE it!
The reader should be stunned by your claim i.e. "That can't be true... or can it?", "That's bullshit... or is it?", "It sounds too good to be true... But what if it isn't?"
The biggest mistake is promising/telling, but not proving/showing. If you don't do this, you are scamming.
Anything over 70% is boastable.
The claims don't need to have happened to someone, they just have to be possible. They are justifiable hypotheticals that you have to prove.
Provide at least three proofs like:
- "This well know publication said this..."
- "This important and reputable guy said that..."
- "Here's a list of documents proving it..."
These come from the years of market responses and sales results.
Longer sells better
- When someone is interested, they want to consume more information.
- Percieved value i.e. thicker books seem like better value.
- It takes time to get someone attention, address problems, overcome objections, build trust and get them to buy.
Split test - Beat the control!
Control is the best performing ad, and the goal is to alter the copy until the new ad becomes the control.
There's the reason someone actually buys, and then there's the reason they tell everyone to look like a good person.
Ex. "I learned to play the piano becasue I love music" vs "I learned to play the piano to get laid."
The goal is not to outright state what the primal desire is, but rather to "massage" it, make them "imagine" what it feels like to achieve it.
In the piano example, make the reader imagine the social praise and validation, without outright saying "Wouldn't you love for everybody to LOVE you and be IMPRESSED by you?"
Ways people handle their primal desires:
- Deny
- Rationalize
- Don't care
Everybody si driven by primal desires, and you need to identify what they are for your product/service, and subtly "massage" them throughout the copy.
Ex. When trying to promote freelancing: "My neighbors think I've taken an early retirement - probably because they never see me working."
In finance, there are 2 main primal desires:
- Greed - A ton of easy money with little to no work.
- Fear - Protecting the money.
All promotions have 4 parts:
- Headline (most important)
- Lead (most important) - Some gripping story
- Body (Testimonials, winning track record, bullet points what you're getting)
- Close (CTA)
How to not feel slimy when selling?
Only sell things you believe in... to people who want what you're selling.
Never agree to sell anything you don't believe in, aren't excited about, or goes agains your moral compass. Nobody feels bad about selling helpful products.
The person being sold to will never feel bad when they actually want the product. They won't notice the marketing and say that they were looking for the product, and made an educated decision to buy after reading about the benefits and features.
4 primary categories of things you can sell:
- Products/services
- Information/knowledge
- Beliefs/ideas
- Entertainment
6 principles of influence:
- Reciprocity - "Help me move, I'll buy you lunch." Favors put people into "psychological debt" i.e. they will feel obligated to pay the favor back. In marketing, this is done via free incentives ex. get a free webinar if you signup for newsletter.
- Commitment and consistency
- Social proof - "This restaurant has 5 stars... Jim, Bob and Sue love it!"
- Authority - "9/10 doctors recoomend this toothpaste."
- Liking - Mirroring, because people buy from people that are like them.
- Scarcity/urgency - "Only 5 items left!"