Nobody really talks about them.
The "hook" or the "Big Idea" is one of the ways we get people to read our ads.
To keep my prospect reading, I use lots of "micro-hooks" to keep them engaged with my salesletter.
People are by and large curious. And I like to use that fact to my advantage when writing salescopy.
It makes people slightly uncomfortable... at least until they get the answer. But most importantly, it keeps them reading until they do.
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:
I was explaining the exact 4 steps involved in a business turnaround.
Then I said
"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 here's the brilliance of this tiny little hook. Most people don't have a clue of the tactics they need to implement to excecute the strategy.
I told them if they didn't know the strategies... they would be revealed in the letter.
Do you think that got a few people curious?
No doubt many were intensely curious... and searched for 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)"
Whoa nelly!
How in the world could anyone resist something that simple?
And writing "more on that in a minute" ratcheted up the curiosity to the point where readers HAD to find out.
If you can Google the letter and read it... it's a great tutorial on these "micro-hooks".
It's a great lesson in sucking in your readers continued attention.
Oh yeah. One more thing worth noting.
Make sure you close the loop on the "micro-hook".
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 "hook" or the "Big Idea" is one of the ways we get people to read our ads.
To keep my prospect reading, I use lots of "micro-hooks" to keep them engaged with my salesletter.
People are by and large curious. And I like to use that fact to my advantage when writing salescopy.
It makes people slightly uncomfortable... at least until they get the answer. But most importantly, it keeps them reading until they do.
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:
I was explaining the exact 4 steps involved in a business turnaround.
Then I said
"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 here's the brilliance of this tiny little hook. Most people don't have a clue of the tactics they need to implement to excecute the strategy.
I told them if they didn't know the strategies... they would be revealed in the letter.
Do you think that got a few people curious?
No doubt many were intensely curious... and searched for 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)"
Whoa nelly!
How in the world could anyone resist something that simple?
And writing "more on that in a minute" ratcheted up the curiosity to the point where readers HAD to find out.
If you can Google the letter and read it... it's a great tutorial on these "micro-hooks".
It's a great lesson in sucking in your readers continued attention.
Oh yeah. One more thing worth noting.
Make sure you close the loop on the "micro-hook".
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.
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