The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.
Herbert Spencer
Contrary to the belief of millions of web site owners,
copywriting is not just a bunch of "hype" words pushed
together to make a sale. Your advertising approach must
create a lasting impression or a memory, if you will.
Successful copywriting is the technique of implanting a
thought or idea that will invoke a response from the
reader. Although a very popular approach, advertising
does not necessarily need to leap out and attack the
reader, quite often it is better to have the reader
voluntarily surrender to the idea. But, no matter what
your advertising approach, your end goal is not a sale,
but a thought. You want to leave something behind that
the reader will take away with them, whether knowingly
or unknowingly.
How can you leave this implanted message?
1. Headlines
You must first get the readers ATTENTION!! In a sea of
advertising it is often next to impossible to catch the
quick eye of the consumer. You are not only swimming in
a shark-infested pool of competition, but today's
consumers are more skilled than ever at tuning you out.
This by far is the most important part of copywriting.
Poor copy sells sometimes, but poor headlines sell no-
times. If you can't get their Attention, you can't
leave your message behind.
2. The "Conscious Stage"
Ok, you have grabbed their attention! Now what? At this
point the reader becomes consciously aware of your
advertising. Your ad now has a glimmer of life
sparking. This is what I refer to as the reader's
"Conscious Stage". That over-rated and underused memory
chip you call a brain has just engaged. No matter how
shallow or deep, the memory is now there. Often,
building a conscious awareness can be a process of
familiarity. The reader may not respond to you the
first time they see your ad or the second, but
eventually they will respond to your name for no other
reason than the familiarity of seeing it repeatedly.
3. Decisive Reasoning
After the reader is consciously aware of your
advertising presence, they must form an "opinion". The
reader must use decisive reasoning. Decisive reasoning
does not mean that the reader will react logically.
There are many factors and formulas (known and unknown)
for why a reader will react to advertising. Logic is
one of them. But it could also be directed impulse,
fear, need, personality or many others. The key is to
get them to react. Your approach to advertising and how
you provoke the reaction depends largely on the
audience you are targeting. Nevertheless, you must get
a reaction strong enough for them to buy from you or
get more information.
4. Reaction Theory
My theory is that the reader will react one of three
ways.
a) They will react positively and most assuredly
move into the fifth and final stage of the sale.
b) They react negatively and your efforts have
failed.
Please note that you may sometimes use what I
refer to as "Negative Advertising". This is
where the ad copy will draw the consumer in by
creating a negative atmosphere by openly
attacking it's competition, another third party
or even the reader themselves.
c) They have not yet formed a substantial opinion.
These are your most critical prospects. The other
readers have already opted to continue or abort
based on the opinion they have already formed.
These people have not yet drawn a strong enough
opinion to pull them through this stage.
5) Your potential customer now decides to take that
final step of action. It all comes down to this:
a) They buy your product, try your product, or ask
for more information. But no matter what, your
potential customer is now a legitimate sale or lead.
b) They have followed through and decided against
you.
If you have made the sale, Congratulations! You must be
doing something right!
If you have not, here are things to consider:
When writing your ads, leave a tag on the end of your
URL such as:
When I check my web site statistics, I can tell just
how many clicks I have from this article, by watching
for the tag (?fawss). If the ratio is low, I know my
ad needs more work. If the ratio is substantial, then
it comes to reason that the problem lies at the web
site and the copy there in.
The "web site" makes the tracking of this individual
much easier. If you track the movement of the reader
from the time that they enter your site from the ad,
you can assess the strengths and weaknesses web copy.
If you find that many have made it to your site, but
have not purchased, you are better able to see where
you are losing them by tracking their movement. For
this reason, you may want to divide your copy into
different pages "stringing" the reader from one
(tracked) page to the next.
Website owners, don't forget about that second
impression (Invitation & Follow-Up). If you can
obtain their email address voluntarily, you have a
much better chance of regaining some of those lost
clients, by creating a good follow up system.
Remember:
"Not Now" does not necessarily mean "Not Ever".
About the Author
"Wild Bill". TRADE SCHOOL FOR INTERNET MARKETERS!
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