100 Great Copywriting Ideas
Andy Maslen
ISBN: 978-0-462-09943-9

IDEA 1: It’s not about you (or is it?)
Remember that classic scene in the 1976 film Taxi Driver? As Travis Bickle, the somewhat unhinged taxi driver of the title, Robert De Niro stares at himself in the mirror of his apartment, brandishing a large-calibre handgun and uttering his famous speech that begins, ‘You talkin’ to me … ?’ The problem with a lot of copy is that it isn’t ‘talkin’ to me’. If anything it’s talkin’ at me. That’s a big difference because the centre of the universe in that kind of copy is the writer. But who cares about the writer? Certainly not the reader.

The idea
From Magnet, a kitchen company …The way to ensure your reader feels you are talking to them is to use one simple little word, over and over. That word is ‘you’. So in answer to the question that heads this idea, it is about you, if by you we mean the reader not the writer. Here’s a great press ad for Magnet that begins by talking to the reader and never lets up… It’s only by getting to know you, your wants, needs and desires that Magnet can create kitchens that are as individual as you are. In 87 words of body copy, ‘you’ or ‘your’ appear eight times. There are just three references to Magnet. In fact that’s just about the perfect ratio of reader:writer at 2.7:1.

Why this works is because from the reader’s perspective, the copy is all about them: their concerns, their motivations, their problems. It’s like talking to someone at a party who asks you lots of questions about yourself. We always warm to people like that because they give us a chance to talk about ourselves.

Conversely, if you keep using ‘I’ and ‘we’, your copy starts to sound remote and boring. After all, they didn’t ask you to write a mailshot or email to them, so you’d better make it relevant to them. They may have stopped turning the page or clicking away because your headline was compelling enough to make them want to know more. But the moment you start banging on about yourself, you lose them.
In practice

When you’re writing copy, try to imagine a single reader sitting in front of you. That’s who you’re writing to. Not your ‘audience’, your ‘target market’ or your ‘visitors’. Just this one individual with whom you hope to establish a relationship that will lead to a sale. Aim for two to three ‘you’s to every ‘I’. This magic ratio guarantees that your copy will be more about your reader than it is about you. And that will keep them interested.

The 99 other great sales ideas featured in this book:
2. Remember, you’re selling
3. Headline idea – your reader is selfish
4. The call to action
5. Another headline idea – objection handling
6. Businesspeople love offers too
7. Write as you speak
8.Wish you were here
9. On the web, it’s (even more) personal
10. Grammar doesn’t matter … or does it?
11. What not to put on your order form
12. Subject lines
13. Avoid clichés (like the plague)
14. Keep it short
15. Shiny, bright, exciting adjectives
16. Imagine…
17. Parting is such sweet sorrow (actually, it’s just sorrow)
18. Long copy and why it works
19. Does your service live up to the copy promise?
20. Do you dissolve your worries in a solution?
21. Customers or cannon fodder?
22. Don’t just do something, sit there
23. Online copy that grows your business
24. (Type) size matters
25. I object
26. It came from outer space
27. How web 2.0 changes your copy
28. The case of the missing case study
29. Write more and double your profits
30. There’s gold on them thar websites!
31 Why I hate teams
32. ‘I want’ does get
33. What do you mean ‘If’?
34. Send your copy by courier
35. Tips for powerful emails
36. Long words don’t always make you sound more intelligent
37. Reassuring your online customers
38. Have fun
39. That formula
40. Is your copy FAB?
41. Southern fried planning
42. Give your reader a KISS
43. Short or tall?
44. Forget impact, go for understanding
45. When you don’t have time to plan, plan!
46. ‘I just need to make one more change’
47. Another headline idea: true or false
48. Be different
49. Utilise lexical economy, er, I mean use short words
50. Almost unique
51. Find your customer’s pain points
52. Another headline idea: use ‘How…’
53. We’re not selling to you
54. Give your reader space to think
55. Let’s play 20 questions
56. Optimise for your customer first
57. Use storytelling techniques
58. Look at me! I’m smiling and pointing at a laptop
59. The right way to use numbers
60. Ask your reader a question
61. You flatter me!
62. Your questions answered
63. How to go upmarket
64. Use pictures your reader identifies with
65. Powered by facts
66. Selling to international managers
67. Skip skip intro
68. Satisfy their cravings
69. Tailor the message to the audience
70. Get a cross head
71. Create curiosity
72. Make your ads look like – and read like – editorial
73. Watch that hackneyed image
74. Correct your prospect’s assumptions
75. A great golf tournament with a pretty nice conference attached
76. Act like a magpie
77. Watch your readability
78. Say ‘Hi’
79. Grammar does matter
80. Will wordplay work?
81. Use language your customers can understand
82. Get them nodding
83. Dig down to the underlying proposition
84. Yet another headline idea – use ‘Now’
85. It doesn’t have to be A4, or A5, or…
86. Cheese for Christmas?
87. Get your customers to speak on your behalf
88. How to deal with high prices
89. What are they afraid of?
90. ‘Uneven numbers are the gods’ delight.’ Virgil, The Eclogues
91. Horses beat camels
92. Befriend a designer
93. Use personal data intelligently
94. Start your sentences with And. Or don’t.
95. Boring for whom?
96. Create a questionnaire
97. Give people a glimpse behind the scenes
98. HYPERLINK \l "_Toc223173840" Tap into people’s aspirations
99. Follow the law of gravity
100. Get to know people