For a deeper understanding of what I mean in my headline question above and in the discussion below, watch the quick YouTube video, "The Story of a Sign," embedded below.
You won't be disappointed ... it's an entry in the Cannes 2008 Online Competition for short films and has received over 300,000 views.
I think you'll agree that the copywriting principles at play in the video apply especially well to Web site copy because of the mere seconds the sign's copy has to do its work. Enjoy:
(Click video start button or watch at YouTube.com by clicking here.)
At first glance in the video you just watched, you may think the beggar's words in his appeal are adequate to get a response. But to a skilled copywriter, the sign's copy is all wrong, because ...
In the original sign, the first line ("Have compassion" or "Have mercy") is the headline ... and a headline's only job is to attract attention and engage the prospect's emotions enough that he reads the next line. But this headline does not do its job. At most, it speaks to the passerby's mind and elicits the logical question, "Why?" or "Why should I?"
And the sign's answer, "I'm blind," still does nothing to engage prospects emotionally. It, too, speaks to the mind, eliciting predictable logical comebacks such as "Yeah, I've got problems too," or "So are lots of other people, and they don't sit on the street begging."
Rare is the sighted person who can grasp the reality of living without the sense of sight. So, merely stating "I'm blind" does nothing more than fall on a "blind" mind, so to speak. Why is this? Are people really this uncaring?
Did you notice in the video how very engaged the passersby are in their own lives, companions, activities and reaching their destinations?
To distract them from their own concerns, human beings MUST be engaged through the heart, or emotions. Efforts to engage them through the mind with logical facts about YOUR service or product are simply dismissed by the mind as irrelevant. This is why so many otherwise caring people were able to walk past the beggar without even noticing him.
A prospect's decision to buy or to give (or in the case of your Web site, to call) is made emotionally. Only later is such a decision justified by logic. (This is why later in your marketing copy you DO need to follow up with testimonials and other fact-based information.) But facts are never enough to engage prospects and lead them to a purchase or giving decision, or a decision to respond in the way you've asked them to.
"Win the heart and the mind will follow" is never truer than when writing marketing copy. Although sighted people cannot grasp all the implications of life without sight, they can easily imagine the loss of something as simple as not being able to experience such a beautiful day fully with the aid of their sight.
The changed copy gave them something simple they CAN relate to.
The new words engaged their emotions ... and they responded generously by giving, just as the tin cup's presence asked them to do.
Is your Web site copy winning hearts?
If not, your Web site's visitors are like all those unengaged passersby on the video's beautiful street. But don't be discouraged ... like the sign in the video, your Web site copy can be changed.
As always, I appreciate and love reading your comments!
Writing for your success,
Kay Steele Faulk
The Real Estate Copywriter
For a limited time I have added a new two-part Letters to Expireds Series as a Special Marketing Bonus for everyone who orders "A Copywriter's Guide for Real Estate Professionals - How to Write and Lay Out Your Own Personal Brochure." $27 Get the details or order here.
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Kay Steele Faulk, The Real Estate Copywriter
Specializing in Real Estate Sales Letters and Real Estate Personal Brochures
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In the Heart of the Mississippi River Delta ~ Lake Village, Arkansas
Direct 870-265-9897 | Cell 870-265-6266 | Email kfaulk@InHouseWriter.com
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