Information Sells

Because We Need To Be Heard

Your marketing must tell your buyers in the most straight forward way why they should buy. Your copy must answer the question, “What’s In It For Me?’

You know that. You’ve read it a thousand times. So why is it so hard to do? Because you haven’t had the chance to practice often enough to hone your talent.

Great copywriting is an art, of course, but it is also a skill. You can learn through study and practice. If you write every day, you become a better writer. If you practice recasting your writing to find the hidden benefits, you’ll become a better salesperson.

And if you study, you’ll discover some trade secrets that might make the job easier.

Back in 2006, Brian Clarke, of CopyBlogger, wrote a post about the two most important words in blogging: “you” and “because.” When I was re-reading it today, I was struck by his examples of the effectiveness of the word “because.” Look at this:

The power of because has actually been documented by social psychologist Ellen Langer, as told by our old friend Robert Cialdini from the Blog Triggers series. Langer performed an experiment where she asked to cut in line to use a copy machine.

She tested three different ways of asking, and recorded the results:

Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?

60% said OK.

Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?

94% said OK.

It appears that giving the “reason why” of because I’m in a rush boosted the effectiveness of the request immensely.

But here’s the kicker:

Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?

93% said OK.

The trigger word “because” is so powerful that it didn’t really seem to matter that the “reason why” provided was something you might expect to hear from a four year old child.

That is so astonishing I have to repeat it: 93% of people already using a copier said OK to the request to cut in line when Langer asked because she needed to make some copies!

If you want to sell, when you write your copy, don’t just tell your buyers to buy, tell them to buy because.

Photo by aoifecitywomanchile Released under Creative Commons License