What is Copy Writing and why is it so important?
In my earlier article you read about using an auto responder to stay in constant contact with your customers or visitors. At first you may have thought it’s a little impersonal to have a computer send your emails to your customers; you probably still think it’s spammy.
“Who wants to read computer generated emails?”
I’m with you on that thought: automatically generated emails can come across kind of cold-hearted and emotionless and when they do, they can have a negative impact on your business relationships. But your emails don’t have to be that way. It all depends on how you write them and how you set them up.
See, back a half a decade ago or so, most people wrote emails and web articles in the official school-learned book-written style. Kinda dull, stiff and boring, you know what I mean?
Not only were those emails and articles hard to read, it turned out that most people wouldn’t read them, because they either didn’t understand them or they lost interest after the first sentence. The writing style actually turned them off. Internet visitors didn’t want to have to be so focused and serious after working hours, I guess.
Then some marketing researchers started to experiment with a much freer writing style when they were trying to ‘talk’ to the general audience, the average guy (that’s you and I, by the way), on the internet. They did it in a way that was more a write-it-as-you’d-say-it style. They began to use eight grade level language, basically for two reasons:
- In advertising and marketing, part of the brain that helps the customer with buying their decision making understands only very basic commands: click here; do it now; read on; try this, etc. They found that emotionally charged words and commands get people to do what they want, i.e.: to click, to acts, to read, etc.
- The simpler English language is easier to read by people who have English as a secondary language: foreigners learn basic English and many will understand eight grade level written English quite well.
The result: a massive increase in sales!
It worked!
But… why did it?
Remember when you were a child and your parents would ask you politely to, say, go do the dishes, and you said: NO! Or you were pussyfooting around, pretending you didn’t hear them?
Did they get your attention when they commanded: “Come on over here RIGHT NOW and FINISH THE DISHES! “
You grunted, left what you were doing and did what you were asked to do.
That emo-talk still works on adults; it gets them to act, especially when they believe they will get some reward after their action. It won’t work if they feel they’re being set up or taken advantage of though.
In copy writing, you use emo-talk. But not punky or anything. Emo in the original sense of ‘emo’: emotional, from the heart. Like you actually have a real personal, heart-to-heart conversation with them.
Kinda like talking to a kid, without placating or down talking them.
Learn some emotional trigger words and start using them in your writings. It will take some getting used to, ’cause that’s not what you learned in school, but start practicing and soon you’ll get a hang of it.
Copy writing is probably the most effective method to increase your bitna business. (Sorry about that)
