Content marketing tools and training.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about some ways you can keep your reader’s attention. But I didn’t mention one of the most important techniques–one that requires no particular writing ability, no creativity to think of a great hook, and no hours of research to find the most compelling facts to tell your story.
This easy technique is infinitely versatile. I use it in nearly every piece I write. But it’s so deceptively simple, you might not be taking full advantage of it.
Don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing . . .
Whenever you study a creative form like copywriting, you spend a lot of time on technique. You think hard about headlines and metaphors and what specific details you’ll use. You worry about positioning and persuasive structure. You’re trying to keep all the rules and guidelines in your head.
But if you want your content to keep bringing them back, it’s gotta swing.
Your copy might focus on benefits instead of features, have the right balance of emotion to logic, and maybe you’ve even snagged the reader’s attention with an arresting headline. But after your reader clicks through, does your copy hold her interest?
If you can’t keep the reader’s attention, nothing else matters. And the online world demands your best techniques to hold reader interest, because tempting distractions are always just a click away. All writers and marketers have their favorite tricks to glue reader attention to their content, so here are three of mine.
In earlier posts, I talked about how to use emotional benefits to drive reader interest, and gave you some sample headlines you could use as a jumping-off point.
Emotional benefits trigger the “me-want” response. They create desire for our offer. But creating desire isn’t usually enough. Unless you’re selling a purely emotional product like fashion or music, you also have to give your reader enough logical ammunition to justify the purchase to himself.
This is where logical benefits come in. These are all the rational, intelligent reasons we have for buying the stuff we want. You hook prospects with the heart, but you close the deal with the head.
Last week’s post talked about why emotional benefits are critical to persuasive copy. But it’s one thing to talk about general concepts like “connection” or “fear,” and another to actually get these ideas into your writing.
In honor of Friday the 13th, I thought I’d give you 13 actual examples of emotional benefits you can use to persuade your readers. These emotional triggers have been used effectively in countless promotions, because they speak to underlying desires and fears that nearly all of us have.
We humans like to think of ourselves as rational creatures. Intellectual curiosity took us to the moon and back, beat smallpox and polio, and invented the Internet.
But when you come down to it, emotion always wins. The most powerful man in the world can be humbled by a buxom girl in a blue dress. We use our brains, yes, but we’re driven to act by our hearts (and other body parts).
