I’ve been spending my nights watching Law and Order from the beginning of the series (because I’m cool like that). Even with the antiquated wardrobes and technology, it’s easy to see why this show has lasted for so long. The writing is simply phenomenal. As a viewer, you take two journeys during each episode. The first half is the detective work where you figure out who done it. The second half follows the attorneys who prove it. Each section has its own twists and turns until you finally reach the verdict. If you haven’t seen one of the classics, you’re missing out.
This simple explanation isn’t doing the show justice (pun), so I’ll get to the point.
Effective writing is developed much like an airtight case. Your company needs to prove to the people, without a shadow of a doubt, that your product or service is superior.
You are the detectives.
Gather Evidence
Like the show, advertising takes two groups of people: you, the client, and your marketing team. Your marketing team may be made up of internal resources or it may be made up of marketing professionals. Either way, the best copywriting and ads come from both sides working in tandem to sway your audience.
As a company, you know what makes your products or services better than the competition. But it’s going to take some proof to convince a group of your peers that your brand is superior.
The biggest defense against what you have to sell is the intellect and logic of the consumer. Sure, purely emotional selling can be effective and lead to impulse buys, but that’s not a viable, long-term solution, especially when it comes to big-ticket items.
Find as many benefits as you can. What seems like a small thing to you, might make a major difference to your audience. Most of your product benefits won’t make the final cut and see the light of an ad or a brochure. That’s okay. The more information you have on why your product is superior, the more ammunition you can provide your marketing team and help them see the bigger picture.
Once you’ve collected the evidence, it’s time to relay your findings to the marketing team.
Step 1: “Which Means”
Your marketing team bridges the gap between the public and your business much like prosecutors work on behalf of the law enforcement. At the end of the day, you both exist to serve “the people.”
In the first step, the goal is to explain the benefits of your product to your marketing team who will represent you in front of the populace. This means you’ll want to help your marketing team understand why your product is superior. Take the time to walk them through each benefit.
Let them process the facts. Help them interpret the information and piece it all together.
Here’s how to do it:
I took this tidbit from the Wizard of Ads by Roy H. Williams. In the book, he suggests saying “which means” after you explain a product benefit. For example, instead of saying “our ATV has wider tires,” you would say, “our ATV has wider tires which means it helps prevent you from sinking in the mud.”
So many times, I see a brochure or a website where product benefits have been downgraded to bullet points. Don’t show me the bullet point; give me the ballistics report. Explaining the facts and walking the marketing team through how this particular feature is beneficial makes a better argument.
By looking at all the information and having a clear picture as to why your product is the best, the marketing team will be able to convince the public.
Step 2: “As If”
It’s show time. Instead of opening and closing statements, your marketing team has prepared a TV commercial to educate your audience. The living room is the courtroom where your marketing team presents its case. In 30 seconds, the marketing team’s argument unfolds. In that narrow window, it must speak to the heart and satisfy the intellect of a passive audience. That’s where the next part of effective copywriting comes in – the “as if.”
A few years ago, I wrote a rather angst-filled blog about the “as if” in advertising. The “as if” is a tool used by actors to convey the emotion of a story. It paints a picture that helps the audience feel connected to the point you’re trying to make.
You want to put the audience in a position where they become immersed in the problem. Then you unveil your solution backed with facts.
Using the ATV’s tires, here’s a quick 30-second radio ad script to explain “as if” writing:
The spot opens and you hear the sounds of nature. There’s a light wind. A few birds are chirping in the distant background. An engine revs. You hear tires spinning. The voice over comes in.
To your left, the prairie stretches for miles. To your right sits the desolate patch of highway where you decided to start off-roading. It’s been a while since you’ve seen a car and it’s unlikely any traffic would catch a glimpse of you anyway. At 65 mph, you are a blurred spec deep in the ditch. The sun is going down. You were stuck before. When it gets dark, you’ll really be stuck.
The engine revs again and the tires spin. The engine cuts out.
If you had Brand X’s ATV, you wouldn’t be here. Our ATV has tires four inches wider than other models to give you better weight distribution and prevent sinking. But you don’t have Brand X’s ATV. We hope, for your sake, there’s cell phone service in the middle of nowhere.
Owls hoot and a wolf howls. The voice over comes back in.
Brand X ATVs, now available at Store Y or by visiting brandx.com.
Putting It All Together
In this mock commercial, the argument is presented out of order with the “as if” first, followed by the benefit and the “which means.” The “as if” breaks through the first defense of the consumer – his or her passive viewing. A bold entrance is what’s referred to as cutting through the clutter. Now that you have their attention, make an emotional statement. Most viewers have empathy, so setting the stage with this scenario puts the viewer in the shoes of the troubled ATV operator. It humanizes the “victim.”
Speaking to emotion overcomes the first hurdle. Once a person is engaged in an ad, their logical side acts like a second wave of defense asking, “Is this ad true?”
Here’s where you unleash your facts. This ATV has tires four inches wider; “which means” better weight distribution (to) prevent sinking.
Now you’ve captured the attention of the viewer, put them in a position where they feel immersed in the problem and gave them the resources to solve the problem. As consumers, our intellect is the primary defense we have against advertising. By gaining the support of consumer emotion and offering easy-to-understand, fact-based logic, it will be much harder for our intellect to rebut against the ad.
Convincing the general public of even the most obvious benefits takes a lot of teamwork. You and your business leaders must gather and relay the factual benefits of your products. The marketing team (internal, agency or otherwise) figures out which benefits are strongest and how to paint the right pictures to make the information stick. With both units working in tandem, you can win over your peers.
Now if only each ad could fade to black with Executive Producer Dick Wolf…