Copywriter Motivators--What Makes People Pay Attention? Part 2...FEAR

OK...FEAR...it gets people to watch movies...it also gets readers to pay attention. Losing something important. Not getting something. A copywriter must use fear with great care as it can be extremely powerful. You have to be able to back it up. It's like my favorite headline, the Warning headline...

WARNING: NEW TAX LAWS COULD DESTROY YOUR RETIREMENT NEST EGG...

However, I read a lot of tepid Warning headlines...

WARNING: YOU MAY NEED NEW TIRES

Fear of losing your retirement nest egg trumps losing the opportunity to buy new tires.

How about this though?

WARNING: BALD TIRES LEADING TO CAR CRASHES WITH INFANT FATALITIES

OK...now I've got parents involved.

The copy must back up the headline or the reader departs. The body copy must keep up the pressure...which can be difficult. I use fear for products with a clear link to fear. Medical items. Financial instruments. Cures for Bubonic Plague.

The risk with the fear motivator is overuse or insulting the prospect with a false or convoluted premise...

WARNING: PLAY ROLLING LAKES GOLF CLUB AND YOU'LL SINK A LOT OF PUTTS...

Rolling Lakes may have great greens but...

Not sinking a lot of putts is not very frightening.

With fear, it's also important to get in and get out...state you have the solution quickly then detail the remedy, the salve.

I often add the other motivators, if applicable, to fear...greed, guilt, exclusivity...but only when it makes sense.

WARNING: GOOGLE IS "GOOGLE SLAPPING" HYPERVENTILATING LANDING PAGES AND BECAUSE YOU HIRED AN ELANCE COPYWRITER FOR $50 TO WRITE THE MULTI-EXCLAMATION MARK COPY THAT GOT YOU IN TROUBLE WITH THE 'BIG G' THIS WILL RUIN YOUR HARD-EARNED ORGANIC SEARCH RANKINGS AND REDUCE YOUR REVENUE BY UP TO 75%

But I can help you regain your Google ranking and improve conversion...

Next installment...GREED...still good?

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On another note...I like to write in a local coffee shop but this has disadvantages...like having to listen to a cell phone conversation...I was next to a person today who was "buzz word" proficient...chain of command...green...creative class...renewable energy..."I'll bird dog that." It's VITAL in direct response copy to avoid this buzz word piffle.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte North Carolina USA. My website is here.

Copywriter motivators--what makes people pay attention?

What makes people buy? You'll hear this answer quite a bit..."a solution to a problem" and while that's correct in most cases, a copywriter has to go one step further...and find the perfect motivator. In the next few days, I'm going to write about five motivators although I reserve the right to come up with more. It's my blog and I'll add motivators if I want to. Right?

Five motivators...

FEAR

GUILT

GREED

EXCLUSIVITY

SOLUTIONS

I'm going to reveal how I determine which one of these to use and how to find the motivator within the motivator. This will determine headline and opening paragraphs: the crux of the impact.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte North Carolina USA. My website is here.

The power of exceptional service...all copywriters (and everyone) take note.

Noticed this sign today in my local shopping center.

The result of exceptional service...

It's on the door of Blackhawk Hardware, a local independent hardware store in Park Road Shopping Center here in Charlotte.

This sector is extremely competitive. There's a Home Depot two miles away and a Lowe's about four miles away. And if you're not familiar with Lowe's and the Depot, they are the 400 pound gorillas. Yet Blackhawk Hardware rocks on, having its best December ever. In 38 years.

Why? How?

SERVICE...

The second you walk in, there's an employee who asks, "how can we help you?" If you need a screwdriver, the person at the front desk directs you to "row 9" and when you get to row 9, there's a screwdriver specialist right there who will show you all the screwdrivers, including the "house" brand which provides excellent value. Yes, you might save a tiny bit at Lowe's or Home Depot but, if you're like me and hate shopping for screwdrivers, Blackhawk provides a fast and easy "shopping experience."

And there are always plenty of people at the check out...the check out people almost fight over me...

And there's more...if you buy something like several bags of manure, there's a person at Blackhawk who will load the car and they will even deliver. It's like the owner is constantly asking, "how can I make life easier for my shoppers?"

I've been to Home Depot and the service is appalling and it takes 20 minutes to check out sometimes.

I hope I offer a Blackhawk level of service to my clients. Every copwriter should strive to make life as easy as Blackhawk...look at the results.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte North Carolina USA. My website is here.

Copywriting for awards...or results?

Maybe I should be but I'm not big in the local ad agency scene in Charlotte. I might be mistaken but there really isn't a big-time direct response agency in the Charlotte area; if I'm mistaken, then let me know because I'm a direct response copywriter and I can help you get results.

The Charlotte ad club announced their annual creative winners. One of the big winners was an agency with the Bojangles' account. Bojangles is a fast food restaurant. The food is inedible, in my opinion and I'm not really that fussy. The ads are funny. Let's check back next year on results and see if the campaign, which bleats "It's BO TIME!" with Geico-esque frequency, is still around. And I'll email the company to ask about the ROI.

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte North Carolina USA. My website is here.

This copywriter would like a little less hyperbole, in fact a LOT less...

I've published three magazines in my admittedly somewhat peripatetic career and so one of my email addresses is on a list of magazine editors...a list that someone is selling...A LOT. So I get a massive number of unsolicited press releases from PR people. And even when I unsubscribe, these emails continue to roll in with the type of tenacity the spammers in Nairobi, Ghana, etc., so ably demonstrate.

I won't complain more than I've already complained. There's an important copywriting lesson in many of these press releases: avoidance of hyperbole.

For example, I received a press release telling me:

Important Announcement - Arthur Rutenberg Homes Now Building at The Club at Longview, South Charlotte.

I'm sorry but this announcement is totally unimportant.

Another press release trumpets...

Compelling interview:  Man on the Cutting Edge of "Information Medicine"- changing the way people heal in the Carolinas.

I sent an email to the sender saying, "there's nothing compelling about this whatsoever."

I receive emails from four people I admire in the direct marketing business: Will Swayne, Bob Bly, Craig Huey, and Andrew Wood.

Let's take a look at some of their email subject lines and headlines.

How the "Down Sell" Hooks a Prospect for Life

4 recession-marketing tips

6 surprising keys to profitable direct mail in 2011

Client gets 870 paying client in 1 *week*

These are informational...giving me information I find valuable.

Sometimes, when copywriting, it's tempting to drift into hyperbole then I remind myself I have to back up everything with raw numbers. And even if the raw numbers are amazing, or compelling, or important, if they're off the scale, nobody is going to believe them.

Let's all remember, potential clients are intelligent...and skeptical. If they think it sounds too good to be true, they will stop reading...just like I do when I receive a press release telling me something is "compelling" or "important."

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I'm a direct response copywriter based in Charlotte NC USA. My website is here.