3 levels of writing headlines, 5 tips to write copy that sells and more.
Market Curve Episode XXXII
Hey friends,
Welcome to Episode XXXII of Market Curve - a bi-weekly newsletter exploring the intersection of marketing, writing, and persuasion.
Take your prospect to their dream land
A good product needs to take the prospect’s pain points and show them how it can solve that pain. If today is full of pain and misery, then the product needs to promise that tomorrow will be bright and sunny.
Instead of stating the vision of tomorrow, ask a question that will allow them to envision the scenario. This is something I do o my sales calls as well.
Every time I book a call with a prospect, I ask them this question:
“What would your business look like in a year if you optimized your landing page copy?” Feel free to replace the latter half of that sentence with your specific offering.
This is known as future-pacing. A story-telling technique where you paint a picture of what their life would look like once you fulfil their big problem.
And remember to bring it back to the present - ask them to imagine that one year vision and what would life look like for them now.
By Shounak.
The 3 levels of landing page/email headlines
There are 3 levels of effectiveness when it comes to writing any headline. Think of it as concentric circles.
Level 1 is the least effective and Level 3 is the most effective.
Here’s the TLDR version of these 3 levels:
Level 1: Invoke the reader’s curiosity.
Example: The secret railroad that boomed during the 2008 financial crisis.
Level 2: Invoke the reader’s curiosity + provide a benefit to the reader.
Example: The secret railroad that gave investors a massive return during the 2008 financial crisis.
Level 3: Invoke the reader’s curiosity + provide a benefit to the reader + add specific value relevant to them.
Example: The secret railroad that gave commodity investors a 1000x return in 21 days during the 2008 financial crisis.
Get it? See the difference between the 3 headlines?
If you want me to weave up similar magic for your landing pages, then feel free to book a slot on my calendar.
5 short tips to write copy that sells.
Tip #1: Intrigue your reader but not irrelevantly. Lead him or her in the right direction
Tip #2: Single out your prospect. Understand their problems, hopes and needs. Ignore everything else
Tip #3: Always demonstrate your product's superiority if you possibly can.
Tip #4: Facts are more important than empty claims
Tip #5: Create a desire - a shortage perhaps of your product.
Words of wisdom from Bill Bernbach
Bill Bernbach is one of my gurus when it comes to writing copy. And I read almost everything he has ever written. He is a living legend in my eyes.
Here is one of his gems I found the other day.
Here’s Bill now…
“There's a need for both emotion and reason
Start with a fact but don't stop there
How you say something is more important than what you say
If you have nothing to say, it will soon be apparent
No one will be fooled
Think of it as an oyster
You start with a piece of grit and build a pearl around it
People buy the pearl. Not the grit
But no grit, no pearl”
I missed last week’s issue - I was down with a fever. But I’m back now and I’m looking forward to the end of the year and the start of the next. This year has been extremely good to me and I am grateful for all the good things that have happened.
One of the good things is this newsletter which is now 1-year old. And there are no 170 of you here, and I am glad you guys are coming along with me for the ride. I really appreciate that.
If you wanna go the extra mile and want to shower a little more love on this young entrepreneur from India, then you can do any of the few things below:
You can tweet me (free)
You can buy my landing page guide ($9)
You can buy a copy of my “landing page tech stack” ($9)
You can buy the first issue of my paid newsletter ($12)
You can buy a mini landing page roast ($49)
You can rent my time to live roast your landing page ($99)
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