Copywriting can be a fickle thing. You’re selling a product, but you don’t want your content to come off as a hard sales pitch. Most folks are pretty savvy when it comes to seeing through traditional marketing jargon. They respond to copy that targets their individual sensibilities, but that’s a tough thing to create. How do you appeal to a 22 year-old college grad and a 65 year-old grandmother at the same time?
The answer often can be found in emotions. Think about how you want the reader to feel after reading your content. It’s a simple thing, but can go a long way toward helping you craft your pitch.
I guess this conveys emotion, right? Terror comes to mind.
photo credit: mikecogh
I won’t spend a lot of time making a case for why you should think about emotions before writing. (You can read more about that here.) I want to focus on four different types of emotions you should consider when creating content for your business, your blog, or your next sales and marketing campaign. By thinking about how you want the reader to feel, you’ll be able to write content that speaks directly to their wants, needs and even their fears.
Inspiration
A lot of advertising is about selling an idea or an image. Think of the diet and weight loss industry. They use testimonials and success stories from real people because story telling connects people on an intimate and human level. Sharing personal experiences allows us to grab onto ideas while giving us hope. Readers think, “That doesn’t seem too hard. If they could lose 50 pounds, then so can I.”
In fact, it was reading the Copyblogger post I linked to above that inspired me to write this post.
Excitement
This one is a no brainer. Getting people excited is one of the best ways to get them to take action, whether you want them to buy your new product, sign up for your newsletter or tell their friends what a great experience they had.
That means writing in a conversational tone and including big ideas. It doesn’t mean cramming your copy full of words like “super” and “awesome” and throwing an exclamation point on the end of every sentence.
This is where a good copywriter can really make a difference. Most business owners are passionate about what they do. That’s why they started a business in the first place. A good writer will build on that enthusiasm, spreading it around like gooey frosting on a pan of warm cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven.
Nostalgia
Ahh, the good old days. We all remember a simpler time when the economy was good, neighbors didn’t lock their doors and Justin Beiber songs weren’t boring holes straight into the brains of our nation’s youth.
Well guess what folks. Things always seem better in retrospect. That’s because we humans have selective memories. Your brain is pretty neat like that. It helps you remember good times you had making pudding at grandma’s house while blocking out the memories of visiting grandma in the nursing home when the only pudding she could make was in her pants.
Nostalgia isn’t just used to sell Werther’s Originals and PolyGrip to senior citizens. (Remember how you used to eat corn on the cob for breakfast, lunch and dinner?) It’s usually targeted toward an older demographic, but can be useful when trying to reach younger customers too. Even if their idea of nostalgia is having an email account free from spam sent from phony Nigerian princes.
Confidence / Knowledge / Enlightenment
This one is about keeping your audience informed and up-to-speed. People love to feel like they have insider information. That’s why letting them peek behind the curtain can be such a useful technique.
There are several ways to keep you customers in the loop. One is to leak exciting information about new products or services before they’re launched. It’s a great way to generate word-of-mouth buzz. Who doesn’t like being the first to tell a friend about a juicy secret, or some sweet insider gossip?
You can also offer up informative and consumable content. It’s okay to give stuff away, as long as the reader has something to take away with them. Show them something simple that will make their lives easier. You want your readers to walk away saying, “Wow, I had no idea blocking spam from phony Nigerian Princes was so easy. I’ll download that email filter right now.”
These are just four of the common emotions you can consider when trying to reach your customers, clients and prospects. There are dozens more I could add to the list, but my goal is not to make you feel boredom, it’s to inspire you to think about new ways to connect with your target audience. And if you also feel inspired to contact me about your next writing project, well then that’s just gravy too.
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