The Biggest Mistake Copywriters Make

Most of the copy peo­ple ask me to rewrite seem to offer great prod­ucts and ser­vices. In fact, some offers are so good, prospects would be crazy to turn them down.

But they do.

And these sales pieces end up falling on my lap because they’re des­per­ately unpro­duc­tive. When clients ask me to cri­tique or rewrite copy, one of the biggest prob­lems I see is the fact that the copy is stale, limp, and anemic.

Copy so down­right dull, the only response it gets are yawns.

You’ve heard the adage, “copy­writ­ing is sales­man­ship in print.” This is noth­ing new. It comes from the age­less teach­ings of the mas­ters, like Hop­kins, Bar­ton, Col­lier, and oth­ers, which still ring true today. Includ­ing the Internet.

But peo­ple tend to for­get this axiom. Here’s why…

Writ­ing copy is like face-​​to-​​face sell­ing. And when writ­ing copy, the lack of human inter­ac­tion takes away the emo­tional ele­ment in the sell­ing process. There­fore, a sales mes­sage must some­how com­mu­ni­cate that emo­tion that so empow­ers peo­ple to buy.

As the say­ing goes, “How you say it is just as impor­tant as what you say.”

That’s why the chal­lenge is often not with the offer itself but with the lan­guage, the tone, and the “voice” of the copy. You may have a great prod­uct, but your copy must be effec­tive enough to make its case and present its offer in an irre­sistibly com­pelling way.

But the prob­lem is, some sales mes­sages get so engrossed in describ­ing com­pa­nies, prod­ucts, and prod­uct fea­tures that they fail to appeal to the reader specifically.

It’s under­stand­able. Busi­ness­peo­ple are often so tied to their busi­nesses or prod­ucts that they get tun­nel vision and fail to look at their copy from their read­ers’ perspective.

Under­stand­able, yes.

Excus­able, no.

My advice? Be more expe­ri­en­tial in your copy, as if the reader is expe­ri­enc­ing what you’re telling them. Let them feel or imag­ine how it feels. And be more benefit-​​rich, of course. But more impor­tant, appeal to the reader’s ego when describ­ing those benefits.

Often, peo­ple mis­take “emo­tion” for “hype.” Peo­ple buy on emo­tion. Even when sell­ing to other busi­nesses, peo­ple are still the ones okay­ing the deal, fill­ing out the pur­chase orders, whip­ping out their credit cards, or sign­ing the checks.

And peo­ple always buy for per­sonal, self­ish reasons.

Copy that uses con­vo­luted, com­plex, high­fa­lutin lan­guage, with hundred-​​dollar words, doesn’t sell prod­uct. It might in some cases, true. But this type of third-​​person, imper­sonal, “holier-​​than-​​thou,” ego-​​stroking corporate-​​speak is self-​​serving.

It may sell prod­uct. But when it does, it does so out of luck or mar­ket demand than out of good mar­ket­ing. (By the way, when I say “ego-​​stroking,” I’m refer­ring to copy that strokes the seller’s ego, not the buyer’s. Big difference.)

The fact remains that com­pa­nies and web­sites and com­mit­tees and C-​​level titles are not the ones who fork out the money, issue the pur­chase orders, or sign the checks.

Peo­ple do. Liv­ing, breath­ing human beings.

So don’t be shy or afraid in being per­sonal, con­ver­sa­tional, and emo­tional with your copy. Of course, I’m not talk­ing about being so lack­adaisi­cal with your gram­mar or spelling to the point that Eng­lish majors want to burn you at the stake for heresy.

(Granted, your copy might infu­ri­ate some purists. Unless you tar­get gram­mar­i­ans or offer a prod­uct that aims to help one’s gram­mar, these peo­ple are not, and never will be, your clients. Your clients are the ones that mat­ter. After all, they’re peo­ple, too.)

And I’m also not talk­ing about being crude, utter­ing pro­fan­i­ties, or using a style that’s so crass, brash, or laid back, you appear as if you’re on anti-​​depressants in an attempt to assuage your night­mares from ear­lier high-​​school Eng­lish class detentions.

I mean copy that goes “for the jugu­lar,” is down to earth, and is straight to the point. Copy that presses hot but­tons, ener­gizes hor­mones, and invig­o­rates buy­ing behav­iors. Copy that relates to your audi­ence at a per­sonal and inti­mate level…

… Not an edu­ca­tional or socio-​​economic level, but a level peo­ple can eas­ily under­stand, appre­ci­ate, and iden­tify them­selves with. One that shows you are con­cerned, gen­uinely inter­ested, and empa­thetic seem­ingly with each and every indi­vid­ual reader.

So, here are some tips.

Fol­low the rule of the “3 C’s.”

Express your offer as 1) clearly, as 2) con­vinc­ingly, and as 3) com­pellingly as possible.

1. Use words, phrases, and imagery that help paint vivid men­tal pic­tures. When peo­ple can visu­al­ize the process of doing what you want them to do, includ­ing the enjoy­ment of the ben­e­fits of your offer, you drive their actions almost instinctively.
2. Be enthu­si­as­tic. Be ener­getic. Be excited about your offer­ing. Because your job is to trans­fer that excite­ment into the minds and hearts of your readers.
3. Denom­i­nate, as specif­i­cally as pos­si­ble, the value you bring to the table. And how what you bring to the table will meet and serve the needs of your prospect.

In other words, you need to make them feel impor­tant. Write as if you were speak­ing with your prospect, right in front of them, in a com­fort­able, con­ver­sa­tional manner.

(Not to or at your prospect.)

When you do, your copy will imply that you under­stand them, you feel for them and for their “suf­fer­ing” (for which you have a solu­tion), and you’re ready to serve them, nur­ture them, and take care of them. Like a friend or confidante.

As top copy­writer Brian Keith Voiles often notes, “Write as if you and your offer are a bless­ing, a bless­ing to your reader at this point in their lives. Because you really are.”

For­get things like “we’re the best,” “fastest,” “cheap­est,” and other uni­ver­sal, broad claims. Steer clear from self-​​interested, pompous state­ments, like “we’re num­ber one,” “we’ve won awards,” “we offer the gold stan­dard,” and other nonsense.

Because the worst thing you can do, sec­ond to mak­ing broad claims, is to express any claim broadly. Be spe­cific. Spec­ify what those claims mean to the reader. Tie them in with direct ben­e­fits to the reader, or sim­ply leave them out altogether.

You can still make claims, sure.

But be inti­mate. Be ego-​​driven. Above all, be emotional.

Peo­ple buy on emo­tion first. They then jus­tify their deci­sions with logic. Which is why you should include logic and rea­son­ing and ratio­nale in your copy — most often, to give them rea­sons they can use and call their own for jus­ti­fy­ing their pur­chase from you.

(And that, after they made the deci­sion to buy.)

Look at it this way: if you want to tell peo­ple how bet­ter or dif­fer­ent or supe­rior or unique your offer­ing is, make sure you express those claims in your sales mes­sage in a way that directly ben­e­fits your buyer and appeals to her ego.

Being dif­fer­ent is impor­tant. There’s noth­ing wrong with being the best and express­ing it. But don’t focus on how bet­ter or unique you are. Focus on how that unique­ness or supe­ri­or­ity directly ben­e­fits your prospect, even to the point they can almost taste it.

Again, peo­ple are peo­ple. They always buy on emo­tion and they always will. Even if they seem to be the cold­est, most con­ser­v­a­tive peo­ple in the world. They only jus­tify their deci­sion with logic, and ratio­nal­ize their feel­ings about your offer­ing with logic.

Once you accept and inter­nal­ize that fact, you’ll clearly have the first rule of copy­writ­ing (or sell­ing, for that mat­ter) down pat. Plus, accord­ing to my expe­ri­ence, you’ll also gain an edge over 98% of all other busi­nesses and copy­writ­ers out there.

Even when sell­ing to multi­na­tional, For­tune 500 cor­po­ra­tions, the buy­ers are peo­ple, not com­pa­nies. Pur­chas­ing agents are peo­ple. Decision-​​making com­mit­tees are made up of peo­ple. Even C-​​level exec­u­tives with seven-​​figure incomes are people.

They are stuck with the same “prob­lem” we all share: being human.

And peo­ple always buy for, or are influ­enced by, per­sonal desires, self­ish rea­sons, and self-​​interested motives. It’s been that way for mil­lions of years, and nothing’s changed. My friend Paul Myers said it best: “We are but only two short steps away from the cave.”

Out­wardly, they might seem like they’re not. That’s because their job, their ego, their supe­ri­ors or sub­or­di­nates, and their peers demand it. But don’t let that fool you.

So don’t try to sell to some inan­i­mate object called a “busi­ness,” or even a “prospect.”

A busi­ness is just a bunch of bricks and mor­tar, or a bunch of com­puter chips and elec­trons in the case of online busi­nesses. And a prospect is not some name and address on a mail­ing list, a credit card num­ber, a float­ing wal­let, or a “hit” on your website.

Remem­ber, it’s not busi­nesses or prospects that buy from you. It’s peo­ple. So your job is to express your offer in terms that trig­ger their emo­tions, press their hot but­tons, jerk their tears, tug at their heart­strings, and nudge them into tak­ing action.

If not, then you’re only brag­ging instead of sell­ing.

About the Author

Last 5 Posts By Michel Fortin

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