Hi everyone. This is Steve Slaunwhite.
Welcome to the 50-second copywriting lesson!
This one is about….
A simple technique for making your marketing copy more believable. (And, therefore, more persuasive.)
Take a look this example of marketing copy promoting a workshop:
Most people experience occasional shyness in business networking situations. Are you one of them? If so, the Networking For Results program includes a technique that will help.
Now how could you make that copy more believable?
Here’s a very simple belief-building technique that a lot of copywriters and marketers overlook.
Change a generality into a specific.
Notice [in the above copy example] where it says “a technique that will help”. That’s pretty vague.
If you change that to “a 3-step technique that will help” then the copy becomes a bit more convincing.
Why?
Because prospects are more likely to be motivated by a specific than a generality.
That’s why saying “97.3% uptime” is more persuasive than saying, “up to 99% uptime.” The first is believable. The first creates skepticism. (After all, “up to 99% uptime” could mean anything from 1% to 99%!)
So when writing or reviewing copy, look for opportunities to change generalities into specifics. Your copy will be that much more effective as a result.
