Copywriting Weapon: Everybody’s Doing It
August 14th, 2007 Dina at Wordfeeder.comIf you’re here to learn about the psychology of persuasive copywriting, then I think you’re going to enjoy this post. Today we’re discussing yet another secret weapon in the copywriter’s arsenal. I like to call it, “Everybody’s Doing It.”
As far as sneaky psychology goes, in my estimation this one is also the “friendliest” of all the copywriting strategies, I think. Everybody’s doing it, hey, sounds good to me! I want to do it, too.
So… what are we doing, again?
I have witnessed countless advertisers create a huge buildup for all sorts of paid products by applying the old “Everybody’s doing it” principle. I’m sure you have as well. Go read any one of the millions of sales letters circulating the web right now and you’ll see what I mean. Notice the carefully crafted copy. Observe the way it paints a vivid picture of everyone in the known universe shelling out dollars and smiles and kudos for the product in question.
An example. Let’s flash back to a highly effective and long-running advertising campaign from the past. Remember the Sunkist TV commercials of the ’80s? Scantily-clad, tanned beauties with perfect bodies cavorting on the beach… heaving a giant cooler onto the sand… drenching each other with ice-cold, thirst-quenching orange goodness. Dude, EVERYBODY was drinking Sunkist and partying down. You could do it too… easy.
So next time you found yourself in the soda-and-chips aisle at Shoprite, you couldn’t resist lugging a few liters of Sunkist off the shelf and into your cart. ‘Cause, you know, that’s what the cool people drink… and you might even imagine being one of them as you guzzle your bottle of bright orange sweet stuff and fantasize about what it must feel like to look smoking hot in a string bikini. (Keep drinking the orange soda… you’ll be slithering into that swimsuit in no time!) ;)
Now I realize that the Sunkist commercials used mostly images to send the “everybody’s doing it message. Here, we’re discussing copy. As a copywriter, you can paint pictures with words and achieve the same effect. I just did it in the previous few paragraphs. Go back and read again to see what I mean.
Most of today’s it-marketers manage to slip in at least a couple of choice lines indicating that folks are falling all over themselves to get what they’ve got going on.
“All of our friends at Amazingmarketing.com have been clamoring to know more about our new breakthrough product, Never Work Another Day in Your Life Again.”
“I can’t believe how many positive responses we’ve received already!”
“Hurry! Spots are filling up fast but there’s still time to order before the price doubles…”
Have you ever read a promotional sales letter on the web and thought, “Oh wow, that sounds fun and entertaining… I want to do what those people are doing!” I know I have.
The list of testimonials at the bottom of a sales page, or even in video format, exemplify the “Everybody’s Doing It” technique quite nicely. Testimonials toot your horn for you, AND the more you have, the more you create that bandwagon effect. How many times have you clicked BUY NOW on a product page after scanning 10 to 25 endorsements from real customers who swore up and down that this thing changed their lives?
It’s worth mentioning here that everybody’s doing it is pretty much a mandatory psychological copywriting tactic. You can’t afford to NOT use this one. “Everybody’s doing it” is a state of mind you definitely want to cultivate if you plan to start attracting business in abundance.
So now the question remains: how are you going to get testimonials if nobody knows about the book you wrote/CD you burned/cake you baked/whatever?
The solution: give away several copies of your product for free in exchange for testimonials. Call this your beta test-run. Tell your colleagues up front that you’d love a product review/critique from them, and that you can offer them a free copy of your product AND free exposure on your sales page, in exchange for their feedback.
Use this opportunity to take your beta test market’s feedback into serious consideration, and make changes to the product as necessary. Then, send out your new and improved copies of the product and take stock of who liked which parts best and why. And if the testimonials aren’t up to snuff? Make a few edits, then just send a courtesy copy for approval and you’re all set up for that “Everybody’s doing it” vibe on your site.
Here’s the interesting thing about “everybody’s doing it.” By cultivating this impression with your audience, it actually will begin to manifest itself. Before long, everybody and his mom really will be doing it, and the word about your offerings will spread like wildfire. This happens very easily and naturally on the internet, reason being of course that wireless communication is the perfect viral marketing medium. So DO put the Everybody’s Doing It copywriting psychology in place, as it’s a winner through and through, AND it’s the Least Sleazy of any of the Scary Six.
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