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· The Psychology of Copywriting
· The Psychology of Copywriting
One maxim in the world of advertising is that people rationalize their purchasing decisions based on facts, but people choose what to purchase based on feelings. When writing effective content for your website, ask yourself: Is your product likely to be an emotional or an intellectual purchase?
Either polarity can be the right choice; what matters is that you recognize which polarity you are choosing and why, and then how you approach it.
If you are attempting to change what people feel about a product or topic, that is an intellectual perspective. If you are attempting to change how people feel about that same topic or product, that is an emotional perspective.
An Emotional Perspective
Here's a product description I made up: "At $500, our shoes might seem expensive, until you try on a pair. The supple, finely textured leather and superb stitching envelopes the foot, protecting it."
This sounds like it might be an intellectual appeal; the copy is speaking to the quality of the shoe. But read on:
"This quality hand-worked leather costs $200 per foot by itself. The shiny buckles give this shoe design a modern edge and an unmistakable aura of good taste. The two-toned, finely textured kid leather, contrasting stitching and high heel make this perfect for stepping out on the town-you won't want to hide this shoe under a table! No matter what else you're wearing, these shoes will get noticed. This kind of style just can't be duplicated with cheaper workmanship. You could certainly buy cheaper shoes, but then you'd have to wear them."
Is that an attempt to affect your emotions? Absolutely, I want you to feel like you need these $500 shoes. I'm not attempting to sell the shoe by playing up the better material and superior construction, although I mention those things. I'm playing almost entirely to the emotional idea that you will be more noticeable, people will feel differently about you, you'll feel better about yourself, if you buy this luxury item. Notice there is no mention of the shoe's comfort. That would be too practical!
An Intellectual Perspective
Let's look at the same shoe ad, tweaked a little bit: "At $500, our shoes might seem expensive, until you try on a pair. The supple, finely textured leather and superb stitching envelopes the foot, protecting it. This quality hand-worked leather costs $200 per foot by itself. The shiny buckles are high-quality surgical steel-they are guaranteed not to rust or lose their luster, no matter how often the shoes are worn. The two-toned, finely textured kid leather, contrasting stitching and high heel make this perfect for stepping out on the town-the heel is reinforced and the leather is protected with a worked-in water proof coating. This kind of style and comfort just can't be duplicated with cheaper workmanship. You could certainly buy cheaper shoes, but then you get what you pay for."
That description appeals directly to the value of the shoe. It gives concrete examples of the quality, and explains why these $500 shoes are a better buy. An intellectual appeal focuses on facts.
How to Choose: Intellect or Emotion?
Ask yourself if the coin of your product or service is style or substance. If your product is already well-known to have quality ingredients, workmanship or materials, then by all means choose an emotional perspective. And vice versa. If you are selling luxury items that people always want, play up the quality. For instance, if you sell Egyptian cotton sheets and towels, which are typically considered luxury items, engaging emotions rather than intellect would probably fare better. Some products just don't have enough weight to make an intellectual kind of argument, so take an emotional tack. But tennis racquets, for instance, would best be described in terms of quality and design, rather than style.
Oh, the time!
Yes, if your site is one of those sites that lacks in real descriptive or informational content, it will take some effort to add content to all of your product pages. Keep in mind, though, that you don't have to add content to every page all at once. In fact, it's better if you don't! Tackle one category a week, or whatever schedule makes sense for you. Search engines love changing content, and it is especially good if you can make small changes over time.
Adding enhanced content to a few pages of your site every few days is a great way to keep the search engines from becoming "bored" with your site-which they almost certainly are if you have few words on your pages and those words never change. But I realize that it is not easy for everyone to write creatively, so luckily you have options! There are many skilled writers (check online at www.elance.com) who can be hired by the hour or project, or talk to us at MightyMerchant. We have writers on our staff who can help you with copywriting or edit and polish something you've already developed.
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