3 down-to-earth ways to make your content more relevant and credible
These classic copywriting strategies still work but need an update for today’s more skeptical audiences.
Recently I was going through some old posts… I mean, really old, from when I was first learning copywriting. As a brand new copywriter, I was eager to show off what I’d learned, even before I fully understood the concepts myself. Needless to say, I’ve got a lot of cringeworthy content floating around out there.
Have you seen all those articles about updating the classics in your wardrobe and furniture?f “That classic little black dress…” or “That faithful blue suit”
A lot of copywriting strategies work the same way. They’re tried and true….but you have to update them for today’s highly aware audience.
Here are 3 copywriting principles I learned when I was new. But now I’m careful when I use them…and I try not to use them at all.
(1) The latte factor.
When the price seems high, you can point out, “This is less than you spend on coffee every month.”
True. When you’re buying something for $97, that’s much less than buying a beverage from your local coffee shop.
But after your customer buys 3 or 4 of these offers, she’s buying the equivalent of a steak dinner, not a latte.
And frankly, not every decision comes down to, ‘Is it worth more than a cup of coffee?” I’d like my clients to compare the cost to something meaningful.
For instance, they need copy for their website. It’s unlikely they’ll trade off that morning wake-up call or a couple of pages of hot copy. But they may want to compare the cost of coaching to write DIY copy with the cost of hiring an experienced copywriter to write 5 pages of copy. (Depending on the copywriter, it’s probably 3 to 5x as much to get DFY vs DIY). And then they need to compare DFY with the cost of their own time.
Old guideline: Make the price seem low.
New guideline: Make the price seem meaningful.
