Paint Your Copy With Pictures

A strategy in copywriting that’s immensely powerful is to use words and phrases that help to paint vivid pictures in the mind. When people can visualize the process of doing what you want them to do, including the enjoyment of the benefits of your offer, you also drive their actions.

I call them UPWORDS: “Universal Picture Words and Relatable, Descriptive Sentences.” In other words, words and phrases that describe ideas the market can universally appreciate and relate to.

That is, analogies, metaphors, action words, mental imagery, examples, testimonials, case studies, comparisons, colloquialisms, stories, etc.

Why?

Because the brain, according to “Psycho-Cybernetics” by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, is a goal-seeking mechanism. If I told you not to think of a white flower, you would still think of one because I directed your mind by giving it a goal. But if I told you to think of a pink one, you would then not think of a white one.

In order to direct your readers’ actions, you must also direct their minds. Thus, use mental imagery and picture words that invite, entice and incite. Guide the mind and you guide the action.

We think in relative terms.

And we are predominantly visual, too. Our brains have a tendency to translate messages into their visual equivalents in order to appreciate what they are being told. In plain English, the mind thinks in pictures, and not in words or numbers.

For example, if I told you to think of a garbage can, you’re not going to think of “G-A-R-B-A-G-E.” You’ll visualize a garbage can. But here’s the kicker: The more I describe it to you as well as the more senses I engage in my description, the more realistic it becomes in your mind, including its color, smell and texture.

During a televised newscast, a reporter, flying over the scene of a forest fire in her station’s helicopter, was asked, “How big is the fire?” In a voice partially drowned by the whizzing sounds of helicopter blades, she said, “It’s over 140 acres of land, which is about 200 football fields back to back.”

Similarly, compel your readers not only with vivid picture words and mental imagery but also with stories, examples, analogies and metaphors that they can intimately understand and appreciate. Help your readers to paint the kinds of pictures YOU want them to paint.

The more vivid the words paint, the easier it will be for the mind to decode the message you are conveying into something your readers can understand, appreciate, relate to and, above all, act upon.

Scientifically, it’s proven to increase sales. If you simply replace vague words in a currently unproductive copy with words that are more vivid, forceful and vibrant, you will increase sales.

For example, you’re a financial consultant. Rather than saying something like, “Poor fiscal management may lead to financial woes,” say, “Stop mediocre money management from sucking cash straight out of your wallet!” (People can visualize the action of “sucking” better than they can “leading.”) Instead of, “Let me help you maintain your balance sheet,” say, “Borrow my eyes to help you keep a steady finger on your financial pulse.”

Last 5 Posts by Michel Fortin

• Social Media Isn’t Dead, But It Can Be Deadly
• How to Extract Doubt From Your Sales Copy
• It’s Not About Facebook, It’s About Integrity
• Did Larry Winget Go Overboard?
• The Oft-Confused Features And Benefits

About the Author