"Always A Bridesmaid, Never The Bride"

What a great headline. It's from a 1930's ad campaign for Listerine, of all things.

I'm not so certain that I would use it to advertise mouthwash, as much as I think it's a great headline in and of itself ...  For something else.

It seems to me that it's a little too far to ask readers to jump between mouthwash and marriage. Too far to jump, even if the reader is Michael Jordan's youngish aunt.

Every reader has a cluster of needs. I'm not positive that headline is a direct hit to the listerine-needing heart of a 1930's woman on her quest to marry.

As a sales copywriter - someone who sells - it's my job to understand what that cluster of needs 'sounds like'. So I can write to it ...  sing it a love song ... give it a little romance ...  a tickle.

You know the old, 'what's in it for me', question? I'm about to give you the source of that question. And how to address it with deadly accuracy and effectiveness.

No kidding, this post is a money-maker for you. Please read it with your full attention.

The cluster of needs behind the quesiton, 'what's in it for me', arises from the context of a prospect's life.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the motivation behind a mother's automobile purchase is, of course, far different from those that move a sixteen year old guy to buy.

This just stands to reason, but knowing why this is so, is your key to riches ...

Because knowing this allows you to establish deeper intimacy with your reader, faster than anything else I know of.

Each of us experience our reality, through emotional filters.

The prospect's top-of-mind question may be, 'what's in it for me', but my quesiton to myself, as a sales copywriter in preparation for writing an ad is, 'what is their human drama like?'

Let me use an example to pull these thoughts together.

By the way, all of us writers, the ones making money, go through this thinking process, frequently.

It's an arguement in favor of writing at least 100 headlines for any given piece.

A friend of mine emailed me, yesterday. He is having some trouble getting in the groove of his ad.

He sent me a 'headline block' - pre-head, headline, post headline.

The writing tells me all about the quality of the product his client is selling, and the length of time the client has been in business.

The ad is for wedding invitations.

Indeed, from the photographs I saw, the stationery appears to be of very high quality. But ...

... Does that thinking - concern over the quality of paper - reflect that of the bride-to-be?

Sort of ...

Knowing why she wants, what she wants is important to the success of your message. It will provide you with something the old timers call a golden thread, that ties your entire ad together. It's a sub-plot, or hidden theme that usually runs the course of your ad.

Here's a question that will get you closer to your own golden thread, one of the most powerfull selling techniques a sales copywriter can ever use.

"Where's her human drama? What does it look like? Sound like?" You'll know it when you see it, in your mind's eye. So ...

It's ok to guess. You don't have to have a Ph.D. in psychology to complete this brainstorm, either. Just tune in, however you accomplish that feat.

Research is a good place to begin. Once you do enough research, you can figure out how, whatever you're selling fits into the context of your prospect's life. And once you do ...

... Your message will find its home in the head and heart of your reader as sure as it is cold, here in Minnesota. And they'll buy.

Here's a rough idea of how I tune in, prior to crafting a message.

To my mind, one level down from quality concerns over the product, is the bride-to-be's fear.

Her fear is represented by the thought: "I sure hope I'm making the right decision about marrying this guy".

Oops! This gets negative real quick.

Behind this expression, is a whole realm of high-anxiety, fear, hope, expectations - not only a wealth of fodder for your ad, but power.

Now, our mission is to identify the top 3 'movies' she's running in her head.

Remember, we're just shooting from the hip, so let your mind run unbridled and your imagination fly wild.

Are you starting to get the idea of what level you need to be on with your reader? Good, because this gives you a touchstone for every message you'll ever write?

It isn't a message about the quality of paper that will resonate with her buying decisions, because her motivation lies deeper. And on the other hand ...

It's an ironic twist that you can never bluntly state in your ad, what actually drives a person's buying decision. If you do your ad will suffer from a reader's recoil. Because we usually don't like admitting what drives us. For instance ...

The bride to be doesn't want to think of her husband to be, as anything less than perfect. Yet, unless she's been living under a rock, she must be aware of marriage, these days, as something of a high risk proposition. It's just beneath the surface.

So maybe our message to her should have something to do with the printer being contientious ...

... So contientious that the happy couple will still be customers when it's time to order their cards announcing their 50th anniversary.

Take your time and don't forget to breathe. When you get to deeper motivations, you may not like what you find.

But write them down, anyway. Then ask yourself what subtle message would touch 3 of the most prominent motivations, in such a way that it would hold your attention through an entire ad.

Or, throughout a long post on a blog.

(I'm not laughing at anyone. I'm not being smug. This is my truth, too).

Peter Stone,

Sales copywriter for the Web

Comments

[Paul Short]

Hi Peter,

I've read a lot of your stuff over at http://copywritersboard.com but never really read any of your writing where you weren't "responding" to someone else.

I must say, you got it goin on when it comes to getting a point across. I'm definitely adding you to my blogroll, and I only do that for "quality" bloggers. ;-)

Respectfully,

Paul Short

[Peter Stone]

Paul Short is one of the most knowledgeable and influential individuals in the world of blogging.

These links should provide anyone reading, with a clue to his identity:
http://www.ebizreporter.com/
http://www.getblogs.com/

Paul,

Nice to hear from you, particularly in light of your generous comments. Thank you.

My blog notification is doing as it pleases, these past few days, so forgive my tardy reply, please.

I may contact you for some first aid to fix this glitch in the notification system.

Meanwhile, thank you. Your good words mean a lot to me, as I respect your opinion.

Peter

[Paul Short]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the kind words!

The problem with your email notification could have something to do with my email address and url. When my comment notification was sent to you, it was sent as if "from" my email address, and your filters probably thought the eb.iz part of the url was spam. It's happened to me before where people haven't gotten my email because of that.

I used a different email address for this post so you should get it no problem.

Paul Short

[Peter Stone]

Yup! That came through, just fine, Paul.

P

[Bruce]

Could you ramble on anymore without saying anything? Obviously you needed to hit a word count quota. Bored me to tears and really had no point.

[Bruce]

Could you ramble on anymore without saying anything? Obviously you needed to hit a word count quota. Bored me to tears and really had no point.