How to pump up your copywriting with “micro-hooks

Okay, now I’m going to tell you something about hooks that you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

The “hook” or the “Big Idea” is one of the ways we get people to read our ads.

And since the more our prospects read… the more often they buy… you need to KEEP them reading. One way is using “micro-hooks”.

Human beings are a curious species as a group. And there is a phenomenon that surrounds incompletion in us all.

In fact, when things are left incomplete, people feel downright uncomfortable at least until the loop is completed and closure is brought about.

This is basic human psychology and in marketing, you use this psychology to your advantage.

Mark Joyner really brought this concept to Internet Marketing called the Zeigarnik Effect. Mark is a real master of this powerful concept.

When I wrote his copy for the 7 Day Business Turnaround… I used this technique a lot.

Here’s a sample:

In a section of the copy, I was explaining the exact steps involved in a business turnaround. I explained the 4 step process that made any turnaround work.

then…

“That’s it. Pretty simple… at least on the outside. With that strategy alone, you could engineer a turnaround. If you know the tactics to accomplish each step, my work is done here. Go forth and execute. If you don’t… keep reading to uncover your answer. Okay, seems pretty simple doesn’t it?”

But the beauty of that micro-hook was the fact people didn’t know the details to execute the strategy.

But they were told that if they didn’t, they should just keep reading and the answer would be revealed.

How many people were hot to find out the answer?

You bet it did, because if they were in need of a business turnaround, they HAD TO KNOW THE ANSWER.

Let me give you one more example from that salesletter.

A little ways down in the copy, I explained the mechanism behind turnarounds.

So I wrote:

“That’s the process for your 7 Day Turnaround. It’s the same thing a Fortune 500 would do, just made so bloody simple a 2nd grade teacher could do it (more about that in a minute)”

Heh heh heh…

How in the world could anyone resist something that simple?

Using “more on that in a minute” hooked readers into reading more copy so they could find the answer.

That leter is a clinic on “micro-hooks”.

It’s a fantastic lesson on keeping people engaged in your advertising.

Now, one more thing you need to know.

You gotta close the loop on the curiosity!

If you don’t give them what you said you would… they won’t trust you. And that kills your sales.

If you don’t, they’ll still be mentally processing the open loop, and that kind of mind isn’t ready to buy, because those little things will drive them crazy.

One more thing. Don’t give readers ALL the answers in your salescopy. That’s an itch only the product should scratch.

The magic sales letter, the secret weapon of business profits

A business owner who lives by conventional wisdom in the area of advertising and marketing, stands a high likelihood of getting lousy results. Conventional wisdom says to advertise and market by using big ticket media like radio and tv and to keep your written advertisements short and clever. In other words, entertain and they’ll remember you. So why is this all wrong? Because it doesn’t have work in most cases. Dan Kennedy, an internationally sought after business consultant calls good sales copy writing; “writing your own check”. Yet most entrepreneurs are clueless about sales letters and definitely have no clue about what makes a good one.

By definition a sales letter is something in print that is meant to influence someone to buy your product. Without getting caught up in formality, a sales letter just has to work to earn the title of good sales letter. Most businesses never get around to even writing a bad one.

This omission is devastating to the bottom line, or at least what the bottom line could be. To clear it up, there is no one way or format to create a blow them out of the water, panting for more sales letter. So have no fear.

First: Hit the library and go to the magazine area. You want magazines from the categories of sports, fitness, health, fashion and entertainment. From each category, pick a specific title and a more general title. For example, in beauty pick up Cosmopolitan and one of the magazines on hairstyles or something. Browse through them lightly and make note of the ads.

You’ll know the sales letters because they are usually full or half page, but not always. They frequently offer a free report if you contact them. Very often the focus is on the product or service and there is almost no mention of a company name. Trutfhfully, the big corporation advertisers you see during the final episode of Seinfeld or whatever, don’t have a clue about sales letters or how to use them.

Trust me, you’ll know really good sales copy right away. It is interesting to read and makes you interested in the product or service being sold. Put a book placeholder and go get two or three past issues. If you see the same or very similar ad in those back issues, the ad is very likely a successful ad.

What the big companies do is promote a brand with entertaining ads with dancing lizards or whatever. Before you begin to think that sort of thing is real world advertising, remember that advertising must be readily measurable. Did it work or didn’t it. Often, these companies can’t measure the return on the millions spent. This is not for you. You have to get the benefit of your product to the average potential customer right now.

Strategy #2 is to provide your unique benefit to your customer. You want to answer the question: “Why should I be doing business with you and not others offering the same product or service. What is it can you do for them? Always keep that question in mind in creating winning advertising copy.

It has been written many times over about the power that a simple USP (unique selling proposition) can have for a business. Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino’s pizza took a fledgling pizza joint in a college town (he lived in the back room at the beginning) by carving out special turf in the brutal market of pizza with: “Fresh Hot Pizza delivered in 30 Minutes or Less, Guaranteed”.

A billion dollar empire ensued. With that USP, and the guts to try to back it up on a mass scale, Domino’s eventually had the big boys racing to catch up.

So you might be wondering where Rule #1 is?

Well, the order is backwards in the article because rule #1 is to have a good headline. But learning how to do a sales letter means understanding what one is and that means a commitment to learn. Headlines are a topic for a future article.

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