Can men write copy that appeals to women?
Well, if you’re a man you will read this headline completely differently to a woman. Let me take you back to the 1950’s when there were three things a lady should not do.

1. She should not smoke in public
2. She should not wear long pants, unless under an overcoat
3. She should not colour her hair

It was into this environment that Clairol first introduced their revolutionary “Miss Clairol Hair Colour Bath”. Previously hair colouring was mainly restricted to prostitutes. It was also quite a complicated procedure taking a few hours to complete.

The aim of this product was not only to make hair colouring more mainstream. It also made it possible for women to easily colour their hair themselves… at home…in just 20 minutes! 

So how should they market such a new concept?
This was almost too revolutionary to sell. Within 6 months of introduction the number of women visiting salons for hair colouring increased by more than 500%!

Women still didn’t believe this was possible to do themselves in their own home. In fact it took three years before “Good Housekeeping” magazine would accept ads for this amazing new product.

The person chosen to head the campaign was one Shirley Polykoff. She understood emotions and also understood that you can be very naughty…as long as you are first seen to be nice!

She chose to go with the naughty headline accompanied by a nice picture. Her first thoughts were, Does She…Or Doesn’t She? Only Her Mother Knows For Sure. She didn’t want to upset the salons too much so she changed “mother” to “hairdresser”.

Men automatically assumed the answer to the question to be sexual. 
Life magazine were in fact reluctant to run the ad until a survey showed that women were not filling in the ellipsis the same way as men!

So successful was the Clairol campaign it skyrocketed sales by 413 percent in six years and influenced 50% of adult women to colour their hair. Very clever when you consider, once someone has coloured their hair they have to keep doing it…hair grows and roots show!

Would this campaign have been as successful if a man had been in charge?
Well without sounding sexist…I doubt it! Men just can’t think the same way as women.

So if your target market is female…you need a woman.

Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter

http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979

Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.

It was only after I had read a few personal development books that I understood that when stripped down to the basics, the process of thinking is really just about asking yourself questions and then making a decision based on the answer your brain turfs back out.

“Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question.” E. E. Cummings

To illustrate this, lets use an everyday experience of crossing the road where there are several possible questions to ask and answer before you get to the other side…

“Shall I walk down to the crossing or try to cross here?” If you decide to walk down to the crossing, then: ” Shall I press the button on the crossing and or run across when there’s a gap? Shall I wave thanks to the car that stopped or not bother to take my hand out my pocket?”

You are probably not aware of all this internal questioning and turmoiling because the answers seem to pop up out of nowhere. And this is how it is for your reader when you ask them a question. What this means for you is that they are more likely to believe an idea seemingly conjured up by their own brain over a concept presented from the outside.

And this is the important thing – a question generates an answer, not an argument.

Consider these two headlines…

What if there was a way you could convert 25% of your website visitors into customers,
how much money would you make?

OR

Your website can convert 25% of your visitors into customers and make you a lot
of money.

The second statement makes a claim that a reader may not believe and they can disagree with, but the question in the first headline introduces a possibility for the brain to draw its own conclusions and fire up the imagination. The questioning approach leads your reader towards their own vision of possibility to fit in with their particular circumstances. The chances of a delivered fact marrying one hundred percent with the readers own experience is negligible and so positively invites disagreement.

When you are writing direct response copy, there is no escaping getting intimate with the product, the producer and most definitely the customer. But the right questions can bring focus and organisation to the process.

If you answer just these five simple questions then you can write web copy for almost any product…

1. What is the problem?

Here you are identifying the pain, problem or predicament for your target audience. Your audience may not even realise they have a problem and your role as the copywriter is to ensure they recognise this.

2. Why Hasn’t The Problem Been Solved?

This question forces you to delve into the history of your reader’s predicament to identify supposed solutions which have already been tried and failed.

3. What Is Possible?

This is introducing the possibility thinking for your reader – setting the stage for what life could be like when the problem, pain or predicament is sorted. This is where you paint a picture of the way life will be from now on.

4. What Is Different Now?

Why will your remedy work while others have failed? What is different about your product or service? This is the Unique Selling Point (USP) for your product and your competative advantage.

5. What Should You Do Now?

Tell your reader what they have to do next – Sign Up, Telephone, Register, Buy Now – this is the call to action.

When you’ve dispatched these five questions you have the game plan for your copy. But you only have the touchdown when you answer this…

How Do I Inject Emotion Into My Copy?

Best wishes to you

Sian Murphy
———————
100% Results Writer

sian@sianmurphycopywriter.com
01634 251079
0800 0086464
07515 951354

How do you measure the success of a sales letter?
Well the only thing that really counts is the number of sales it generates. You can read any number of books on copywriting. You can research your product and your target market. You can have the perfect headline and clearly defined all the benefits. But without that vital call to action all your efforts will be wasted.

If you feel uncomfortable closing the sale you’re not on your own. The close is probably the weakest element in all direct marketing. I’m sure you’ll agree however there’s not much point working hard on a fantastic sales presentation without closing the sale. So after you’ve done a fantastic job presenting the benefits of your product:

Ask For the Order.
The close has to be handled smoothly or sales will be lost. One big factor is you must have a product and offer that is of true value for the buyer. If you don’t truly believe this yourself it will show through your copy.

There is naturally a certain amount of inertia in all of us. In other words we might appreciate being led to an action that will benefit us but we need a bit of a push to make us act. You must provide a compelling reason as the “push” to take action.

A Reason to Act Now.
You must use a “hook” in every closing situation to make sure that your prospect acts now. A delayed sale is almost certainly a lost sale. Your “hook” must always be specific and definite.

Here are a few examples:
• Limited quantity. Only limited number available. Avoid disappointment. Order now. When xxx sets are gone this offer will expire.
• Price will rise. Orders will be honoured until xxx, after which the price will increase.
• Special combination offer. The special price for this combination will expire on xxx
• Early order discount. If your order is received by xxx you will receive 25% discount. Place your order now.

Free Bonuses.
We all love to get something free don’t we? Free is after all one of the most powerful words you can use. The bonus does have to be beneficial to your prospect. It has to be something your prospect would happily pay for. If the bonus is dull and uninteresting it won’t enhance your offer. Always make sure you tie in the offer of the free bonus for acting now, for example:

“The first xxx people who order will get this amazing xxx worth $xxx, absolutely free. So order now.”

Guarantees.
In this world of scepticism an unconditional money back guarantee is almost essential. If your product is of superior quality your returns should be minimal. Here is an example of the wording you could use:

If for any reason you are not delighted with your xxx, after you have examined it for xx days, you may return it for a prompt refund.

So don’t be shy Ask For the Order…chances are your prospect wants to buy, they just need a little push to take action.

Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter

http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype – mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979

Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.

Just how important is the headline anyway?
Probably the single most important thing you will write in your copy. There are a number of reasons that the headline is so important, one of them being that on average five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy…that’s five times! The headline is the red flag waving to attract the attention of your prospective buyer. It stands to reason then that by reading your headline your prospect should immediately know you are speaking to them. For example if you are selling a cure for a Bad Back it’s a good idea to use the words “Bad Back” in your headline as anyone who suffers from one will be immediately drawn to it.

I think it’s important at this stage to point out the dangers of excluding readers who may be prospects. For example if your product can be used equally well by men and women don’t slant your headline purely towards women or you will lose the attention of the men.

We know that copy has to appeal to the self interest of the reader and nowhere is that more vital than in the headline. The headline should always include a benefit for your prospect, after all people act 90 percent on their emotions. Benefits help to bring out those emotions.

Don’t forget the all important question “What’s In It For Me?”

The type of words you use in your headline will also influence it’s effectiveness. People are always on the look out for new products or the latest model. Two of the most powerful words you can use in your headline are Free and New. Now it’s not very often you can use the word Free because the aim is to sell your product not give it away! You can however use the word New quite effectively along with other powerful words such as introducing, it’s here, just arrived, amazing, remarkable, revolutionary, sensational and so on. There are a lot of powerful words you can use so just experiment with a few.

Don’t fall into the trap that some copywriters do of writing tricky headlines. If your reader has to decipher the meaning of an obscure headline you have lost them forever. Your headline has to telegraph what you want to say in plain language.

One more thing to avoid in headlines is negatives. These can be dangerous as many readers will miss the negative as they read for example…“Our pies contain No Dog Meat”  

Most readers will go away with the impression that you wrote…"Our Pies Contain Dog Meat"

So you can see how damaging that could be!

Anne Pearson
Compelling Copywriter

http://www.mapcopywriting.com
anne@mapcopywriting.com
Skype - mapcopywriting
Tel / Fax – 01772 468979

Please feel free to use this article. All I ask in return is that you include the above signature and URL.