10:05am
Saint Paul
The problem with making claims in your ads?
No one believes them.
But the brilliant Eugene Schwartz knew this, and offered us a few solutions…
But first let’s catch up a bit.
‘Cause Whew!
I needed some sleep after last week’s B2B Forum whirlwind in Boston.
Where I not only spoke with hundreds of driven marketers…
And enjoyed amazing food and marketing insights from great presenters… but also…
My friend and fellow marketer Denisse and I visited Boston’s Museum of Bad Art.
Which was entertaining and not 100% terrible.
“The early work of budding artists” may be a more gentle way to phrase it.
Like Rebecca Harris who painted this Self Portrait as a Bird:
If you’ve ever tried drawing or painting ——especially faces—— you know how tough it can be.
Who am I to disparage these efforts?
Ok that one’s not great. Especially Hillary.
(Which is fine. Everyone has to start somewhere. It’s your ongoing effort that makes the difference.)
But at least those who suck at Pictionary tend to admit it.
In copywriting and advertising, not so much!
And that gets us back to making Claims in our ads.
Last week we discussed Magical Marketing and how magicians —and marketers too— can do better by raising their work from a “trick” to an “illusion.”
Deeper into Magic and Showmanship, Henning Nelms gives us what he calls “a working rule” for conjurors:
Plan a routine as if every element of the theme——personalities, phenomena, purpose, and proof——were literally true. Select a treatment appropriate to the theme. Make every detail of the presentation, however trivial, consistent with your theme and treatment.
Good advice for an illusionist.
Great advice for copywriters.
Problem is, most ads today are too short to build a convincing presentation. Which is a shame.
In fact, most ads don’t even make a claim of what a product will do for you —— the phenomena, to borrow again from Nelms.
And when they do make a claim, they often don’t present proof —— another of Nelm’s requirements, and one which most copywriters fail to provide beyond “social proof.”
Because “proof” requires research.
Eugene Schwartz warns us not to skip proof in his book Breakthrough Advertising:
“If you violate your prospect’s established beliefs in the slightest degree… then nothing you promise him, no matter how appealing, can save your ad.”
So how do we make a believable claim?
Schwartz offers two solutions:
1. Connect your claim with beliefs that already exist in your prospect’s mind, or
2. Deliberately lay the groundwork earlier in your ad to build belief that supports that later claim
Both of these can elevate a trick to an illusion.
And an ad into a control that moves people to action.
(Remember Jesus’ parable “The Good Samaritan” from Luke chapter 10?
Today we hear a story of one man helping another in need.
But when Jesus told that story, his audience already believed that the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was dangerous.
They believed that the Jewish priest wouldn’t help because the injured man was unclean.
So when the Samaritan helped the injured Jew, that claim came as a surprise, and required the groundwork that no one else would help.)
Ok, final point:
What Schwartz does NOT mention is that making a claim early can lead people to read more of the ad, if just to find cracks in your argument.
He did this himself with his headline:
Floats Fat Right Out of Your Body!
That’s enough for now. Client work is calling and with Thanksgiving later this week, I have a lot to do (and so do you).
Meanwhile, here’s one more pic from the Museum of Bad Art in Boston for you:
Love you,
Jeffrey
P.S. Have you seen the 90% off Black Friday Bundle that’s floating around?
11 direct response marketers (not me tho) each contributed one great training. $3k in info products for under $300.
I’m on at least 4 of their lists.
And of those 4, only 2 seem to care if I buy.
Maybe the others are too busy to put effort into making sales?
Lots of businesses operate this way, with marketing that deserves its own Museum:
A Museum of Bad Ads.
If YOUR business is too busy to create compelling and persuasive ads… landing pages… email marketing… VSLs…
Reply now and we’ll see if we’re a fit to work together later in the year.
Can’t wait that long?
This week I have space for 1 BFCM email funnel (5 emails + 1 sales page). That’s a daily sales email you can send from Thanksgiving Thursday through Cyber Monday. $6700.
Time is ticking and my capacity is limited. Write back, let’s chat.