What will you do if your copywriting formula won't work, like AIDA—which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action—you can’t for your life come up with the right stuff. It’s driving you crazy and so what you need at this point is something of a kick-in-the-butt method of finding your copy. John Forde, another well-known prolific copywriter, has worked out a system of questions to ask yourself that will get at least a decent piece of copy onto the page. Then you can build from there. So, if you find yourself stuck without anything to say, try the following questions and use the answers to build your copy.
Is Your Timing On Target?
This is about researching your market and knowing who the audience is, and if the product or service is going to be just what they need at that particular moment.
What’s Your Unique ‘Twist’?
The hook starts here. It’s where you give that bit of information that makes the reader sit up, take notice, and decide to read further. Get creative and say it in your own voice. Try it several ways and see which one grabs YOU.
Have You Balanced the Copy on its ‘Axis’?
Support your hook with information that, piece by piece, builds a solid foundation on which to reel in the customers so that they feel they are hearing the truth. Then they will feel more secure when you finally get to asking for the sale. There might be other information that doesn't necessarily support the hook, but you can put those tidbits into sidebars, or call-puts, in a design.
Is Your Copy Written at ‘High Velocity’?
Keep your copy lively, mean and lean. Every word should count so leave out the fluff and make the copy roll. The idea is the customers are reading faster because they see what the product or service will do for them and they want to get that as soon as possible.
Have You Cut the ‘Warm Up’?
Make sure that you aren't still hanging on to the lead. As Forde says, “Allude to your key point within 7 lines or less from the start of the piece.”
Have You Resisted the Urge to be Cute?
Don’t get too cutesy or silly. Humor is good and the delivery is crucial, otherwise you might just lose the crowd because they’re too busy laughing at a small tangent. The flow is interrupted and the line broken. The hook is gone.
Do You Take Yourself Too Seriously?
All good copy speaks to the customer directly as if you were having a conversation with that person. The reader wants to know that this letter is just for him and his problem. So keep it light and easy.
Have You Written Mostly in the Present and In the Future?
The past is the past and so your copy should be looking forward. What will this product or service do for the customers who buy? How much better is their lives a week after the purchase? Two weeks? A year? Everyone always wants to have something good to look forward to. Give it to them.
Is It So Easy to Order That Even Your Mother Can Do It?
Perhaps a customer got a sales piece in the mail and the invitation to purchase includes a free gift if done online within 12 hours. Customer decides to go to the library or to a friend’s house to get on the Internet to get that free gift. Make it EASY to fill in any boxes, make selections, use credit cards, and be sure that when the purchase is done, you have an auto-generated thank you letter pop up.
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