I just want to quickly share something valuable with you, which happened to me a couple of days ago. It’s a simple, yet powerful example of how extremely persuasive words can be, when we use them to create strong, mental images.
I’m writing this post just after returning home from a delicious lunch with my wife and son. We went to a small local place, where the food and atmosphere are always good. After we finished our food, the waitress asked us if we would like some dessert. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but decided to ask what was on their lunchtime dessert menu anyway. Here’s what she told me:
“This afternoon Jim, we have a mouth-watering strawberry cheesecake and some freshly made profiteroles in a delicious, smooth chocolate sauce, which melts in your mouth.”
She listed several more options, but to be honest, I was already sold by the time she reached the freshly made profiteroles.
The marketing power of words
Here’s the thing: We all had dessert, even though we hardly ever eat dessert at lunchtime.
So, why did we have dessert?
Because it sounded delicious, before we even saw it! The mental pictures she painted in our minds, as she described each dessert, took them from being items on a list and turned them into tastes in our imaginations. If she had simply read us a list of dessert choices, I know we would not have had any.
Take a moment to look at the copy (wording) you currently use for your marketing. Are you painting inspiring, compelling mental images with them? Are your marketing messages motivating prospective customers to; buy from you, recommend you, call you, email you, subscribe to your mailing list etc?
If not, it’s highly likely you are simply giving details of the benefits your services provide. I know you have been told that you should sell based on benefits, but you need to make those benefits come alive.
Your written marketing needs to jump from the page or the computer screen and produce the motivation required for the reader to take action!
Quick marketing tip
Copy writing is one of the master skills of successful marketing. If you are serious about making regular, high quality sales or filling your client base with brilliant clients, I strongly recommend you make 1 of the following 2 investments. I recommend that you either invest the time required to learn how to write effective marketing messages OR invest the money required to hire the best marketing copy writer you possibly can.
By relying on pedestrian marketing copy, you simply place a very low, uninspiring ceiling on your business’ potential.
What’s your take on this? Share your feedback or experiences of great (and not so great) copy writing, with a comment below.
Image credit: Steven Depolo
Hi Jim,
When I’ll go out today I’ll definitely buy a cake.
I think that when it comes to write good copy you have two choices (just like you stated at the end of the article). If you’ll pay a marketer to do it for you then you’ll have a faster result but if you learn to do it yourself (usually from trial and error) you’ll have more like a long term result and you’ll also have more control of your copy.
So, in the end it’s up to us to decide: can we afford to wait until the success comes, or we decide to pay for the services of a professional marketer?
Thanks
Thanks for the comment Toma.
I see the challenge that most small businesses have, as being that they don’t even realise how much their ‘home made’ copy is hurting them.
Because they have always used DIY copy writing, they don’t realise they can get not hundreds but thousands of percent more sales with powerful, professional copy.
This may or may not be relevant, but just like the last comment, I want a cake now.
Straight up! After reading the article and seeing the picture of the cake, I want a cake. 10 minutes ago, I didn’t.
Thanks John.
That’s the whole point of the post – to show how you can paint powerful, persuasive mental pictures with the right words.
Interesting how people, just by reading this post, now feel like they want a cake.
That’s the power of good copy in action.
Great post! The words do paint a picture in the mind and the taste in the mouth. This metaphor sure hit home with me….Hmmmm!
Thanks for the feedback Claudia!
I agree with Claudia, Jim… mmm, picture delicious food and see if your writing stacks up to it : ) Good stuff…
Thanks for the feedback sir!
Me too Jim. Read the post and immediately wanted a cake.
Tom – I’ve known you a while and you ALWAYS eat cake!
This is a fantastic example, Jim. Persuasion is easier when you can get your customers imagining doing the thing you want them to do. Kudos to the waitress!
You know what Tom? She’s just a kid, working a weekend job.
Thanks for dropping by the blog.
Jim, I love your intro line to this post:
“I just want to quickly share something valuable with you,..”
It certainly got my mouth watering and quickly set expectations. It’s a great example of you walking the talk.
Good job,
Robin
Thanks for the comment Robin. ‘Expectations’ is a great word.
This is a great example of the “old brain”. I have a blog post about why you can’t resist food, sex, and danger, and a chapter in my book, Neuro Web Design: What makes them click? about this.
There is a part of your brain whose job it is to scan your environment asking, “can I eat it?”, “can I have sex with it?”, “will it kill me?”. So anything that has to do with food, sex, or danger gets your attention.
By using the words to elicit the mental image…. the waitress had you hooked… yes, words are important, especially if they have to do with food, sex, or danger!
Hi Susan. That’s interesting!
Can you share the url for that post on your blog please, so we can take a look?
Thanks for the comment.
I agree Jim, many people do not understand the power of words. Especially words that already have strong emotions tied to them like “love” and “money.” Having an expert marketing copywriter on your side is priceless, even if they only whip you up a page or two. Usually the phrases they dream up for the initial pages can be re-used in many ways in multiple situations and can give your small business a better understanding on how to present things.