5 Reasons Why Barack Obama is Better at Persuasive Selling than John McCain
October 8th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com
First off, let me just obliterate the notion that I might be an Obama supporter. I’m not. Frankly, I don’t have great faith in either of the candidates, and am seriously considering “throwing away” my vote on Bob Barr. But that’s beside the point, really.
Last night, like many Americans, I tuned in to the debate. And, all personal opinions and bias aside, one thing I could NOT help noticing was that Obama clearly has a really, really good speech writer and/or communication coach.
Not to mention his totally smooth and unruffled communication style… from his open body language to his “sympathetic” facial expressions to his even vocal tone to his effective use of pauses and emphasis in all the right places.
Before I begin my list of reasons why Obama is a master of persuasion, let me just clarify the meaning of persuasion as defined by Wikipedia.org:
Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means. It is strategy of problem-solving relying on “appeals” rather than strength.
Manipulation is taking persuasion to an extreme, where the one person or group benefits at the cost of the other.
That said, persuasive argument is of course the driving force behind sales copywriting, which is why it’s something I’m tuned in to. As a copywriter, I help business owners persuade individuals to buy/believe in their products, services, ideas and ideals. Because of the work I do, you might even say I’m especially JADED and immune to persuasion because I know where it comes from.
It should go without saying that each party is trying to sell something here - the idea of himself as our best candidate for U.S. President.
Okay: that out of the way, here’s why Obama is better at PERSUADING than McCain is:
(Again, persuasion being “the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means.“).
1. Obama begins his answer to every debate question by addressing a very personal problem that “hits home” for the audience.
As he’s presenting the “issue,” whether it’s concerns over healthcare affordability, tax cuts for the middle class, lack of jobs, the war in Iraq, or social security, he ALWAYS opens his case by touching the emotions of “the average American.” I do believe that in the very first question he answered, he opened with something rousing like, “You’re scared. You’re concerned about the future.” (Don’t quote me on the man’s exact words but it was essentially an acknowledgement of the emotional state of the audience.)
This is HIGHLY persuasive - he used what is essentially the “ATTENTION” portion of the sales pitch formula - which is abbreviated as A.I.D.A. and stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. By immediately touching upon the audience’s biggest fears, he grabbed their ATTENTION and got them listening to what he had to say.
2. Obama’s answers always focus on “the other person” - you, not him.
Obama consistently takes the second person perspective when he answers questions. The second person perspective uses the words “you,” “your family,” “your concerns,” and “your future” (as opposed to “me,” “my,” “I.”
Every good copywriter knows that if you want to endear your audience to your side of the fence, you spin the copy toward the “you” or the “what’s in it for you” perspective.
(While McCain may have made some equally good points, they were weakened by his repeated use of the words “I” and “me” - “What I will do.“)
Furthermore, when Obama gets to the “meat” of his question, or essentially his “answer,” he shifts his perspective to “we” and “us.” This creates the image of him being on the “us team” or “on the level” with the average American. Any good sales copywriter worth his salt knows that you open your arguments by being audience-focused. (I wish that a few more of my clients would recognize how powerful of a tactic this is — but alas, it’s hard for people to think clearly when their egos are making such a godawful racket!)
3. Obama covers his points in outline form, and then repeats them so that everybody understands.
(Side note: when people ask politicians to explain their plans, very rarely if ever do these plans actually go into deep detail. The truth is, we can’t possibly ever know whether such plans will work until all the funding, people, processes and systems are put into place to get the plans going. At that point, the plans will likely change. The plans will then likely change again and again, ending up nothing like what said politician originally promised. However, admitting this truth won’t likely provide that emotional security blanket that people are so desperately craving in trying times as these. So, instead, the presidential candidates get up there and try to sound like they know what they’re talking about.)
When Obama lays down his outlines as Point 1, Point 2, Point 3, etc., it comes across as very organized and this appeals to most people. Why is this persuasive? Because it’s easy to mentally grasp and recall an argument that’s presented in a logical format.
As I said, this doesn’t change the fact that said plan might be just a bunch of idealistic smoke blowing up your you-know-what. But it SOUNDS good, and it PERSUADES, and that is what, sadly, wins favor and gets the vote in the end.
4. Obama draws positive associations between himself and the American people.
Obama talks about his family’s struggle with money growing up, the fact that scholarships brought him to where he is today, etc.. He does this because he knows it creates an emotional connection between himself and his audience - the “we’re in this together” feeling.
McCain, on the other hand, uses the tactic of painting a NEGATIVE picture of his opponent, discussing pork barrel spending and lack of military experience. While such points may be valid, the problem is that negative communication produces NEGATIVE feelings. McCain is effectively alienating his audience with such tactics.
Most advertising experts will tell you that if you’re trying to build a trustworthy reputation for your brand (cause, etc.), IT PAYS to stay focused on the positive and avoid speaking negatively about anyone or anything.
Our country is at the critical point where the LAST thing people want to hear is more gloom and doom. With Obama playing the savior card, desperate Americans are lapping up everything he has to say. And that, unfortunately, is just the persuasive tactic that’s required to “sell” yourself as he is doing.
5. Obama paints a mental picture of himself in the president’s seat.
At the close of each answer, Obama used words such as “When I am president,” which gives a positive visualization of himself as our country’s future leader. This is highly persuasive and hypnotic, even!
Notice he doesn’t say “If I’m elected…” he says WHEN. Or, perhaps he might have said something like, “As president of the United States, I will…” (Note: I’m not using his exact words here because I don’t have a transcript of the debate in front of me, but if you do view it again, come by and tell me what his exact phrasing is. I’m pretty sure this is his tactic.)
The truth is that the world’s greatest and most influential leaders were/are also strong communicators. Clearly, when you can back your words with actions that support the greater good, then that makes all the difference. But it starts with being an effective, and persuasive, orator. Why? Because if you can’t persuade the masses from the start that your ideas are good and sound, then you’ll likely never live the day to see those ideas become reality.
The challenge, once that’s accomplished, is to give substance and credibility to your remarks by staying true to your word. And that, of course, is what remains to be seen from the presidential candidates on EITHER side.
I leave you with the definition of persuasion once more:
From Wikipedia.org:
Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means. It is strategy of problem-solving relying on “appeals” rather than strength.
For more information about the fine art of writing persuasively to position yourself as an authority in your field, download the FREE report: The Dangerous Truth About Copywriting That Sells - from Dina Giolitto at Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing.
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Posted in Commercial Writing, Copywriting Weapon, Dangerous Truth, Marketing Communications, Persuasive Copywriting, Target Audience, Writing Voice | No Comments »Article Writing: How to Improve the Quality of Your Content as a Means of Attracting a Higher Caliber of Clientele
October 6th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comAside from improving the grammar, the number one way to enhance the quality of your articles is to include details and examples.
It’s tempting, when you’ve got boatloads of content to produce, to skip past the finer points and barrel on to the next paragraph. But I assure you that each time you glaze over a thought without including examples, anecdotes and for-instances to add depth and meaning to your writing, you’re cheating yourself out of well-deserved clientele who would have been more than happy to pay you well for your expertise had they known that you WERE an expert in your field.
What do I mean by examples in your writing?
Continue reading: “Article Writing: How to Improve the Quality of Your Content as a Means of Attracting a Higher Caliber of Clientele“
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Posted in Advertorial, Article Marketing, Brochure Copywriting, Business Writing, Commercial Writing, Copywriting Techniques, Copywriting for the Web, Marketing Communications, Newsletter Copywriting | No Comments »Ask and You Shall Receive
October 1st, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comA few months back, I had blogged about Peter Shankman’s awesome “Help a Reporter” or “Help a Reporter Out” service.
At the time, I’d made the suggestion that Peter add instructions or an FAQ section to his website. This way, people who wish to respond to his queries will know exactly what to do without completely screwing up and peeving everyone in the process.
As I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who asked questions… looks like Peter’s answered the call and has now posted the Five Rules of HARO (Help a Reporter Out).
Now, if you get on Peter’s list and one day a reporter query comes in that think you can fill a need for, simply go right to this link, read the instructions and then do what they say.
Again, the link, in case anyone missed it: http://shankman.com/the-five-rules-of-haro/
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Posted in Publicity | No Comments »Email Newsletter Subject Lines: Little Tricks that Work to Increase Your Open Rate
October 1st, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comYou just finished writing an email newsletter issue that you’re proud to blast out to all of your subscribers. You’ve included a compelling interview with an industry expert, a how-to article to help readers increase their business, and a calendar of events this month that will blow their minds. Problem is, you can’t seem to get subscribers to click and open!
How can you increase your open rate? This is a problem that perplexes many newsletter publishers. If you really want to increase your open rate, then work on your subject lines.
Wake ‘Em Up, Shake ‘Em Up.
Have you ever come across an email subject line so intriguing that you simply can’t tear your eyes away from it? What do you do - you open it immediately, of course!
With the huge amount of emails we get slammed with on a daily basis, people are just itching to hit that delete key - so don’t let your tired old, “seen this before” subject line drive them to the edge.
Writing a subject line is just like writing a headline for an article or an advertisement. You want to grab the attention of the reader right away. Think juicy headline, like those head candy articles you find on MSN.com that you just can’t resist no matter how hard you try.
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Posted in Email Marketing, Email Newsletters and Ezines, Headline How-To, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Copywriting: Why It’s Better to Write the Homepage Last
September 29th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comWhen you first sit down to write website copy, which page would you think you’d be writing first? The homepage, right?
Usually when I begin writing web copy for new clients, they assume I’ll be writing the homepage first and then moving on to the supporting pages like “About Us,” “Services,” et cetera. It would seem to make sense to work this way, wouldn’t it? Well… not so much if you really consider the function of the homepage as compared to the rest of the website, and the approach you need to take if you want to “hit it dead on” without having to crank out multiple redrafts and wasting tons of time and energy.
The clients who expect this often display what I call Home/About Us confusion. That is, they expect that a summary of the company will appear on the front page of their website. Actually, this is not the case. Recall that a company synopsis is what the About page is for! Head spinning yet? I thought so.
Okay, here’s the thing. The homepage of your website is the “megaphone” that turns heads and gets people excited and curious about what’s inside. Ideally, you’d want people to feel inspired immediately, and then call you up and ask you to do business with them. But, because people rarely act on the first impulse, we have supporting pages to help build their confidence in your ability even further.
Continue reading “Copywriting: Why It’s Better to Write the Homepage Last“
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Posted in Copywriting Services, Copywriting for the Web, Search Engine Copywriting, The Copywriting Client | No Comments »Business Week Article Bombs with Bad Tone
September 28th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comRegular readers of mine will recall that I talk a lot about tone in copywriting. It’s important — even critical, I would say– to adopt the appropriate voice as you write, as a means of conveying your brand in the appropriate light.
This morning I came across an article in Business Week that displayed inappropriate tone. Admittedly, this is journalistic writing, which is not persuasive so much as informative. But, nevertheless, the tone should be serious and respectful. Instead, we get flippant and cavalier.
Here’s the first paragraph:
Towns That Could Be Hit Hardest by the Financial Crisis
How many former Lehman Brothers bankers or AIG executives are likely to be buying a Park Avenue apartment or a home in Darien, Conn., this year? Most likely answer: not many at all.
(Why is this inappropriate? Because you’re talking about something serious - people losing their jobs and homes, and the author of this article opens with snarky commentary. And if you wanted to still give him the benefit of the doubt, and say that the above wasn’t meant to be offensive, then you can read on for confirmation):
As anyone who works on Wall Street, invests in the stock market, or just reads the newspapers knows, the past few weeks for the financials sector have been as ugly as Frankenstein’s sister. People have seen their net worth eviscerated, if not obliterated completely.
Comparing the nation’s finances to Frankenstein’s sister? That is HORRIBLE writing! Not because the grammar is wrong, and not because Frankenstein’s sister isn’t the epitome of ugly - she is. The problem is that subject is serious, but the comparison is comical. When such an incongruence occurs in writing, one might conclude that:
a. the person who wrote the article is not very intelligent, or,
b. the person who wrote the article is perfectly intelligent, but they just don’t care.
If Business Week had paid more attention to the wording of this article, they might have done a little editing on it. Sometimes it’s hard to find a better analogy than “Frankenstein’s sister,” but if you can’t make it work, then take it out and just do straight-up reporting instead.
Have you thought about the “tone” that is portrayed in your business communication? What kind of picture does it paint about your company?
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Posted in Copy Wrong, Writing Voice | No Comments »Copywriting to the Rescue: How to Connect Deeply With Your Readers to Get More Sales
September 25th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comIf you want to write copy that persuades people to buy, then you MUST connect with your reader on a deep emotional level. To do this, master the fine art of painting pictures with words.
I’ve worked with countless clients, who, for whatever reason, prefer to keep their copy generic and vague. They know great copy when they read it, and they want it for their own websites and marketing collateral. And yet, when it comes down to it, these same people are too busy trying to sound like everybody else than to embrace a bold attitude in their writing and grab their audience by the teeth.
Perhaps my gun-shy clients think that vagueness appeals to a wider audience and will therefore bring the most sales? Maybe they worry that if their copy is too specific, it will exclude certain groups of people. In their minds, being everything to everyone is their perceived M.O. for attracting new business.
This is wrong. Why? The only thing that generic copy does is bore people to tears, and chase people away with tired messages that everybody on the block has already used a thousand times before.
Continue reading “Copywriting to the Rescue: How to Connect Deeply With Your Readers to Get More Sales“
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Posted in Brochure Copywriting, Commercial Writing, Copy Right, Copywriting Services, Copywriting Techniques, Copywriting for the Web, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Newsletter Copywriting, Persuasive Copywriting, Small Business Marketing, Wordfeeder Copywriting | No Comments »Copywriting Tip: How to Tell if Your Sales Letter is Too Long
September 23rd, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comSeems like nobody can agree on the proper length of an online sales letter. Some copywriters preach that longer is stronger… but perhaps they get paid by the word or the hour? (I get paid by the hour, but I’d rather take the high road on this one).
Others use the argument, “Your sales letter should be as long as it needs to get the message across.” While this is certainly true, it still doesn’t actually provide the confused marketer with an answer, does it?
I’m going to tell you approximately “how long” your sales letter should be - but really, it will depend on how much relevant information you have available to share. Let’s tackle this one section at a time.
(Continue reading “How to Tell if Your Sales Letter is Too Long“)
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Posted in Business Writing, Commercial Writing, Copywriting Services, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Marketing Communications, Persuasive Copywriting, Sales Letters, Small Business Marketing, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 2 Comments »Copywriting Tip: How to Keep All Eyes Riveted on Your Sales Letter
September 21st, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.com1. Make use of large (but not too large), bolded headlines. Your sales page will be split up into sections. This may not be obvious to the dazed and confused reader, but you will realize it as you go about crafting the copy. Add an enticing headline to the top of each section. This gives the reader a focal point to pause on as they’re skimming down the page.
2. Bold the important parts. (But try to avoid the OVERUSE of bold. If you bold everything, then nothing will stand out and your sales letter will be painful to view.) Bold the words that stir strong emotion in your reader. Bold the phrases that convey all benefits and advantages to using the product. Bold the calls to action that you want the reader to take. Bold any words that paint a picture of the reader taking the action you desire - even if they are not actual “commands.” Finally, bold the best lines and phrases in your testimonials! And as a PS - bold the product name so it pops off the page and burns into the brain more easily.
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Posted in Commercial Writing, Copywriting for the Web, Persuasive Copywriting, Sales Letters | No Comments »The Formula for Writing a Sales Letter
September 19th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comDo you feel confused, pressured or overwhelmed at the thought of writing a sales letter for your product? You’re not alone. The sight of that treacherously long page with the neverending streams of words, words, words confounds many.
The good news is, writing a sales letter needn’t be approached with the same dread one might take at having to bang out a college term paper on the night before it’s due. All you really need to do is break it down into manageable parts.
Part 1: Create the “Hooker” Headline and Intro. The “hooker” part of your sales letter includes a headline, subhead, and first paragraph or two. They call it the hooker because it’s meant to hook interest and capture attention. This is frequently done with a series of 3, attention-grabbing questions, but it doesn’t have to. One such question might be: “Are you sick of enduring fad diet after fad diet, only to gain all the weight back as soon as you fall off the wagon?”
Continue reading “The Formula for Writing a Sales Letter“
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Posted in Commercial Writing, Copywriting Services, Direct Mail Copywriting, Direct Response Copywriting, Marketing Communications, Persuasive Copywriting, Sales Letters, Target Audience, The Creative, Writing Voice | No Comments » « Previous Entries