What techniques do copywriters use to make products more appealing?

  

When you leave your home, it does bring more freedom and certainly teaches you how to be independent. But it also teaches you how to cope with the loneliness of being a new girl in a new city.

 

Ever since I was a kid, books and writing have been my escape from all my problems. So, I figured, why not turn to them this time as well?

 However, for a twist, I wanted to change things up. I've always been drawn to fiction, but this time, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. 

So, I decided to try my hand at "Breakthrough Advertising" by Eugene M. Schwartz.

I honestly loved this book. No wonder, why it is one of the most recommended books.

Here are a few things that I learned from this book amazing book

 

Role of Copywriting

- Copy's Role: Not to create desire but to channel existing hopes, dreams, fears, and desires towards a product.

- Copy as a Focus Mechanism: It’s a catalyst requiring deep audience understanding and thorough research.

 

Forces Creating Mass Desire

1. Mass Instincts:

   - Desires related to primal needs (e.g., attractiveness, virility, health).

   - The challenge: Distinguishing your product from competitors by creating a fresh appeal.

 

2. Mass Problems:

   - The continuous search for optimal solutions (e.g., better TV reception, faster pain relief).

   - The challenge: Offering a new perspective on the same promise of relief.

 

3. Forces of Change:

   - Trends in the product category and timing.

   - The copywriter’s task: Identifying and exploiting rising trends before others.

 

4. Mass Education:

   - Understanding what people know about trends and incorporating that into copy.

 

 Channeling Mass Desire

1. Choosing the Right Mass Desire:

   - Evaluate urgency, intensity, and market size.

  

2. Acknowledge the Desire and Offer a Solution:

   - Use the Problem–Agitation–Solution (PAS) framework:

     - Acknowledge the desire.

     - Reinforce it.

     - Offer a solution.

 

3. Tie in Product Attributes:

   - Performances: Show how product features satisfy the desire.

   - Physical Elements: Justify price, quality, and believability.

 

 States of Awareness

1. Most Aware:

   - Minimal persuasion needed. Highlight product and provide a reason to buy now.

 

2. Product Aware:

   - Reinforce desire, sharpen image, introduce new proof, or announce improvements.

 

3. Solution Aware:

   - Name the desire/solution in the headline.

   - Prove satisfaction and showcase how your product achieves it.

 

4. Problem Aware:

   - Use the Problem-Agitation-Solution framework.

   - Highlight the need vividly and present your product as the solution.

 

5. Unaware:

   - Hardest to sell to. Use identification to attract attention and move them to a higher awareness state.

 

Stages of Sophistication

1. First to Market:

   - Be simple, direct, and straightforward.

  

2. Second to Market:

   - Make bolder claims, outdo competition.

 

3. Third Stage:

   - Introduce a new mechanism to refresh old claims.

 

4. Fourth Stage:

   - Elaborate on successful mechanisms, showing improvements.

 

5. Fifth Stage:

   - Shift emphasis to identification with the prospect.

 

Strengthening Headlines

- Verbalization: Reinforce claims through different angles.

  - Make claims vivid, new, and engaging.

  - Pull the reader into the ad by promising information, challenging them, or partially revealing mechanisms.

 

Techniques for Breakthrough Advertising

1. Intensification:

   - Make the desire more vivid and real.

   - Use techniques like showing the product in action, bringing in experts, or comparing with competitors.

 

2. Identification:

   - Showcase the product as a means to achieve desired social roles or success.

 

3. Gradualization:

   - Build a logical belief bridge from current to desired product perceptions.

 

4. Redefinition:

   - Simplify complex products or escalate importance to make them seem essential.

 

5. Mechanization:

   - Explain how the product works to build trust.

 

6. Concentration:

   - Highlight competitors' weaknesses and emphasize your product's advantages.

 

7. Camouflage:

   - Make ads look like editorial content for believability.

   - Use news tone, match the publication’s jargon, or adopt a sincere tone.

 

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