I’ve been watching the local and national elections from a different perspective this year.

I don’t believe a word any of them are saying.

See, I’m one of those old guys who reads the daily paper every morning. You know — the real thing that’s made from (recycled) wood products. Every morning I read both the editorial pages and a special section they call “Politi-Fact.” It’s a truth-o-meter system they’ve installed whereby they evaluate things our elected officials and wannabes are judged for the veracity of their statements.

Rarely do I see anything above “Half Truth,” and the pages are mostly filled with lies, more lies and damn lies.

So, because I have a hard time believing that what politicians say is based in fact, I like to follow their campaigns from the perspective of a copywriter.

Take this statement that I received today from the Democratic Party in an Email:

“Look, you don’t need a Ouija board to predict that GOP control would mean: privatizing Social Security, privatizing Medicare, privatizing veterans benefits and ending unemployment benefits. No billionaire will be left behind. Insurance companies will be back in control your health care. And Wall Street will be allowed to go back to playing Russian roulette with our economy — aided by trillions in our Social Security funds.”

If you read this statement purely for its copywriting value, it’s well done. The statement is targeted specifically to Democrats, and in particular, those who “fear” Republican control and/or are firmly against the wealthy, Insurance companies and Wall Street.

It is designed to incite action in the form of a donation to the party cause. “They” (Democrats and Republicans alike) aren’t concerned about disseminating the truth. What’s important to them is that they raise the hackles of their faithful enough to get money and win the race.

Maybe it’s not all lies…

That’s not to say that there isn’t some truth to what the various candidates and their parties are saying. That’s the beauty of reading these things from a copywriter’s perspective.

There is just enough “truth” to their statements to lend some credibility. If you’re a believer, you won’t outright reject the statement because it “rings true” enough to justify your feelings – the same feelings that they are intentionally provoking!

Well-written copy does exactly that. It feels true enough to be believable. You don’t have to check the facts because the statement is in agreement with your general philosophy.

Even when the opposition says, “That’s a lie!” the damage has already been done.

So, when the letter from the Democratic Party goes on to say, “We’ll lose control of our fiscal destiny when they give another $700 billion in tax cuts to millionaires,” they say something that is both inflammatory and believable (to a Democrat).

Likewise, the Republicans will turn that same statement around to claim that if the Democrats stay in power, they’ll “give yet another $700 billion to Wall Street.”

Honestly, and this is indeed the truth, politics has become the dregs of the copywriting world… at least in my humble opinion. It’s great writing. I love reading it.

But, it also makes me sick to know that so much raw talent is being wasted on intentionally stretching the truth and telling outright lies for the sake of money and power.

And, with that, I’ll crawl back into my 1960′s love and peace bubble and try to write truthful copy on which I can hang my moral high-ground hat.

There’s nothing wrong with testimonials, mind you, but they’re simply not as effective as case studies in web marketing.

Here’s why I like case studies…

Take this testimonial:

“The people at Best Mart went over the top to help me avoid wasting my money on an inferior product. They are some of the most knowledgeable people I’ve ever talked to about dog kennels.”

That’s a perfectly fine testimonial that gives you an idea about how friendly, warm, helpful, and knowledgeable the people at Best Mart are.

However, as a visitor to the website, there’s nothing in that testimonial to catch my attention, draw me into a conversation, or help me withmy problem.

In other words, there is no inherent value for me in the testimonial.

It helps if my decision to buy from Best Mart or their competitor comes down these factors. But, even then, there’s probably not much chance that I’m going to even read the testimonial on the web page.

Testimonials are often like white noise on web pages. They make for great fillers to break up long copy on a page, but they’re mostly skipped over.

Think about it…

Do you read the testimonials on a page?

There are two really good solutions to this love/hate relationship I have with testimonials:

1.  Convert your static website into a blog; and…

2.  Use case studies instead of testimonials.

Since this post is mostly about case studies, I’ll just touch on the first point. 

See, with a blog, you can disseminate helpful information about your products or services – information that adds value to the experience of your customers.

You can do the same thing with a Facebook page, but blogs give you far more control over what gets posted by your visitors.

Then, you encourage your customers to comment on your blog posts. If they make a positive comment about your product or service in a blog post, it holds far more value and credibility than the same statement inserted as a “testimonial” on a web page.

Now, on to case studies.

What is a Case Study?

The primary difference between a case study and a testimonial is that a case study provides some helpful information to the reader.

If, for example, I’m looking for a new dog kennel, and I run across a case study on Best Mart website that sounds just like my situation, I’m going to come away having learned something of value … and I’ll be much more likely to buy the kennel from Best Mart.

Let’s see if we can create a case study from our original testimonial…

Jane Doe called us with a dilemma we hear all too often: she was confused by the dozens of different dog kennels that were available and couldn’t decide which would be best for her and her pet.

We asked about her dog – breed, temperament, age, etc. After 25 years of selling dog kennels, we’ve found that certain brands, such as “Extreme Kennels” work much better for hyperactive dogs, while other brands like “Cozy Home” are best for the mellow breeds of dogs.

Jane explained that her dog was 13 years old, and while still active, she’s sleeping far more than she has in the past.  For Jane and her dog, we recommended the “Safe Slumber” kennel because it’s designed specifically for older dogs who still like to move and play occasionally.

Jane, as you might expect was quite excited about her purchase, and relayed to us later how pleased she was with our assistance. We believe that if you and your dog aren’t happy, then we’re not happy.  

I admit that I don’t have one iota of knowledge about dogs or dog kennels, so please excuse my inaccuracies (and references to brands, just in case the above brands actually exist!)

Still … the point is that upon reading the case study, the website visitor will have learned at least one thing of value, and in so doing, feels “obligated” on some level to “repay” the kindess.

This is what is called the “Law of Reciprocity,” or “Reciprocation” in social science.

The visitor feels emotionally obligated to repay the gesture, and will reciprocate by either adding a comment on the blog post, buying a product from the company, or even thanking them via an email.

Every time you provide something of value, as perceived by your website visitor, you’re putting a quarter in the “reciprocity” meter.

At some point, they’ll feel an obligation or commitment to give back.

And, you can bank on that.

The first had a subject line of “Bulltwinkie“, the second “Sarah’s Secret Plan” and the third was “Palin Antidote.”

Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum … I smell marketing copy.

It was next to impossible to read these emails with a straight face. They had nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with marketing. These guys are selling a product.

I’ve voted as a Democrat for as far back as I can remember, and that’s a long time. But when I read these emails, I didn’t read them as a voter. I read them with the senses of a copywriter.

Take this for example:

“DCCC are launching an advertising campaign while Republicans are home in their districts for President’s Day to help expose the Republicans” not-so-secret plan to gut social security.”

Man, I could have written that myself.

And this:

“There is no way you and I are going to let them drag us back into the ditch they drove us into – no way, no how.”

I could name a dozen copywriters who may have written that line, and more importantly, they could have written it about either party!

We’re not being asked to engage in a political debate about the merits or potential overhaul of our health care system. The sole purpose of these emails is to raise funds by creating a feeding frenzy against Sarah Palin and the Tea Party.

This Stuff Isn’t New …

The DCCC’s copywriting approach is straight out of Breakthrough Advertising, the classic book on writing marketing copy by Eugene Schwartz.

Schwartz demonstrates that the best way to make a sale is to amplify the already existing feelings or thoughts of your reader. If you know that your readers think Sarah Palin is an idiot who is Hell-bent on destroying all this is right and good, then all you need to do is hand them a little fuel to flame their passions.

Just look at the words they use:

• Not-so-secret plans…
• Gut social security…
• Drag us back into the ditch …
• No way, no how…
• Dangerous plans…
• Special interests…

The emails are filled to the brim with inflammatory words and phrases. That’s certainly not an accident, and it’s not political. It’s just good copywriting.

It really doesn’t matter that I think Ms. Palin has all the presidential qualities of a cockroach. We’re not being asked to engage in a useful political or social conversation about health care. We’re being poked and prodded – lit under the butt even – to play a dangerous game of “Beat the Opposing Copywriter.”

It’s scary to think that as copywriters, we actually have that much power!

Who was it that said, “Behind every great man is a great copywriter“?

The Problem With This Approach

Let’s step out of the political realm for a second and talk about the dangers of the kind of approach the DCCC is taking by using a sports analogy (I can’t help it… I’m a jock).

If your half-court oriented basketball team is getting ready to play a team with a fast-paced, face-break, high-scoring style, you’ve got two options: you can try to match their tempo; or, you can focus on defense and try to slow them down to your level of play.

Anyone with a lick of basketball sense knows that you want to get the other team to play your style because that gives you the best chance of winning. That is, you play to your strengths, not the other team’s strengths.

As a marketer, I have to understand the strengths of my client and play to those strengths. The strength of the Democratic party has never (in my opinion) been muckraking. In fact, they pretty much suck at it. You can infer from this what I believe to be the strengths of the Republican party.

This negative, attack the opponent where it hurts approach by the DCCC will backfire. It will turn away moderate Democrats (like me) who would rather talk about solving the country’s problems than raising pitchforks against the “evil” Sarah Palin.

Apply This To Your Marketing Plan

Think about what’s happening today in Congress in terms of your own marketing.

Are you playing to your competitor’s strengths, or to yours? Are you so busy bashing the heads of your competitors to find out what your customers really want?

The DCCC letters are good copy. They’ll get the “fund raising” job done because they are so in-your-face inflammatory. But will they serve the greater purpose of keeping Democrats in office?

Think in terms of the big picture — creating life-time, loyal customers. Apple has done this by giving their loyal fan base exactly what they want. Their light-hearted jibes at Microsoft reinforce the perceived strengths of Apple while poking fun at Microsoft’s weaknesses.

These ads work because they continue to promote the bottom line strength of Apple, what I call the “Cool Factor.”

Get it? It’s about always working from your core strengths in your copy – the things that make your loyal customers so loyal. Then, if you throw in a few right crosses at your opponent, your loyal fans are still connected to you through your primary strengths.

It could make all the difference between a winning campaign, a so-so campaign, and a losing campaign.

Getting a little lost in the battle for supremacy of your products and services? Let me know … Let’s use a little of that copywriting magic to put you on the podium instead of the dog house.

Here’s the problem:

• The home page tries to do too much …
• The copy is all about the company and disregards the visitor …
• The copy is also boring or filled with flowery, meaningless jargon …
• The site has zero interactivity, other than a “Contact Us” page …
• There’s no way to capture leads (other than “Contact Us”) …
• The site lacks the kind of detail that leads to customer engagement …
• There’s no reason for the visitor to return to the site …
• The site is not optimized for 21st Century Search Engines …
• And the list goes on and on …

I can’t blame business owners for these ills. Either the company is too small and has too few marketing dollars to revamp the site, or the company is too big and has turned the site over to an IT department who knows little to nothing about marketing.

It’s sad, really, because with just a little extra effort they can inch their way toward a more dynamic, interactive site with minimal effort.

Here’s how to Sprice Up Your Website

Step One: Add Sociability

It wouldn’t be hard to create a Facebook Fan Page and several Twitter accounts, then post the links to these accounts on every web page. Make them prominent, and then turn the social networking tasks over to real people who can interact with your customers.

Your Facebook page should be managed by marketing and/or customer service, not IT. I’d set up several Twitter accounts, letting your IT department if you have one get involved in monitoring the accounts (looking for any references to your company or products).

Then, set up Twitter accounts that are managed by someone in customer service, someone in sales, and even an IT person for technical stuff.

All of these give your customers ways to interact directly with real people in your company, freeing your customers from the hassles of automated answering systems.

Step Two: Add a Blog

Create a Blog that’s separate from, but attached to your main site. Don’t merely add a link on the navigation bar because people won’t see it.

Take the time to add some code to your home page that displays the 3-5 latest blog posts and 3-5 latest comments on those posts. You can find many variations of the code that does this online, or go to Guru.com and rent a coder for not a lot of money.

Then, keep the blog updated. Assign one person or hire a freelance writer to be in charge of the blog. Have your sales team participate, as well as your engineers, and even customers. Definitely have ask your production and customer service staff to put in their two cents on a regular basis.

Step Three: Revise Your Copy (Please)

It’s a lot easier than you think. Hire me to re-write your copy, or find one of the MANY web copywriters who can do it for less than you think.

You can probably figure on $3,000-$5,000 to re-write the copy, depending on the size and complexity of your site. But, if you get even a few new customer from the revised copy, you’ll get a very good return on your investment.

When the copy is re-written, one of the first things I’ll do is to apply a “Focusing Agent.” You’ll tell me the number one response or action you want from a visitor, and I’ll re-write the copy so that it elicits that exact response from the visitor.

We have to be careful, though. Of course, you want the customer to buy from you. But in many cases, that may not be the optimum goal at first. For high-end products or services, you it is often better to first give them a “taste” by offering a solution to a problem they’re currently facing or answering a question they have.

Most visitors will want to kick the tires and need you to sell them before they’ll buy.

You want every page to be highly focused to produce a single result – get a lead, download a report, respond to a video, buy a product.

Remove the clutter and make your site more focused, even if you’ve got to create more pages. Set up the copy (and navigation) so that you LEAD the visitor to a desired action. Don’t make them think about it or figure out what to do. Lead them down the path, clearly and with enough force that they take action.

All the copy should emphasize the benefits to the visitor, even when you’re talking about yourself…

• What will they get from buying your product?
• How will they benefit from reading a web page?
• What’s in it for them?

Other things you can do fairly easily and quickly that will spruce up you site include:

• Convert testimonials into case studies from which the reader will learn something new or valuable …
• Show, don’t tell about your products or services. Use stories, videos, webinars, or articles to show what happens when people use your products or services …
• Give them something they can take away today: a tips sheet, how-to report, or one of your best kept secrets …
• Make it easy for them to converse with a specific person in a specific department who can help them solve a critical problem or answer an important question on the spot! [Dozens of programs exist that will enable you to interact LIVE with website visitors]

Your primary goal should be to engage with your visitor such that he or she gets emotionally involved with your company – either through an interactive conversation, downloading a report, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

That is, you want to begin an interactive relationship that allows you to continue the conversation until the sale is made, or either of you determines the product isn’t right for them.

Start with Step One if you’re just starting the process of upgrading your website. It’s the easiest to implement, won’t cost a dime, and could give you that extra bit of social oomph that creates more sales.

Would you like help bringing your website to the 21st Century? Let me know. I’ll give you a comprehensive analysis with specific recommendations. Then, I’ll either do the work myself or send you to the best people I know who can do the job.

So begins the story of Michael Oher and Leigh Anne Touhy, popularized by the recent hit movie.

We are born of story and even in this day of 140 character communication, we are driven by the power of story.

Take another recent movie, for example. Avatar is a story of an alien indigenous people who are fighting for their survival against the money-hungry mining company. When you take away the special effects, what you have is a compelling story.

How compelling? A group from Quito, Ecuador recently took an indigenous tribe from the Amazon rain forest to see the movie. Some had never seen a movie before. None had seen a 3D movie.

And yet … their reaction was to the story, and not the special effects. “That’s us!” they said. Their home is rapidly being destroyed by multinational mining interests, and it’s the story that won them over.

The story inside this special effects extravaganza prompted the president of Ecuador to hold firm on his stance to protect wilderness areas, in spite of serious financial pressure from outside interest groups.

We Love The Underdog

Movies like Avatar and The Blind Side allow us to root for the underdog. The success of these movies should tell you why the archetypal underdog is so successful in marketing …

“They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano … But When I Started to Play!”

A good story can be told in a few words, a paragraph, or an entire book. Stories are effective because they make learning easy and enjoyable. Stories are entertaining, emotionally palpable, and intellectually stimulating.

Stories make us think, cry, laugh, and ponder life’s mysteries. They provide us with a clear visual image of what could be or what might have been. Stories like this …

On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men. Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both – as young college graduates are – were filled with ambitious dreams for the future.

Recently, these men returned to their college for their 25th reunion …

That simple story is credited with selling over $1 billion in Wall Street Journal subscriptions.

Telling a Story Online

In the direct marketing world, it’s easy to tell stories about overcoming tremendous odds to achieve a life-long dream, ending world hunger, or saving a life with only $25 per month.

What do you do on a website, Email promotion, landing page or squeeze page?

You tell a story …

Put yourself in the mind and heart of your reader or visitor. Let’s say they came to your website because they’re looking to buy some WiMAX technology. It’s not sexy, I know, but you could have this on your site (from a real site):

WiMAX is the next-generation of wireless technology designed to enable pervasive, high-speed mobile Internet access to the widest array of devices including notebook PCs, handsets, smartphones, and consumer electronics such as gaming devices, cameras, camcorders, music players, and more.

That’s one way to tell a story.

The above website could have engaged the reader with a story instead…

“Watch this,” you say. With a smile and a wave of your hand, you click the icon on the screen. Two minutes later as your prospect valiently hides a deep yawn, you find yourself staring wild-eyed at the Wi-Fi icon and pray that the signal soon returns.

That was then. This is now. WiMAX eliminates wait times, and keeps you online with faster, more reliable internet service, enabling you to never worrying again about those Wi-Fi coffee shop blues.

Yeah, it’s not “professional,” but isn’t that exactly what the best advertisers do on TV? They tell a story and paint a vivid picture in your mind. They EVOKE your emotional responses.

Why should it be any different online?

I say… let’s liven and shake things up a bit in the business world. How about we, starting today, refuse to write boring tech-speak online and truly engage with our readers?

Won’t that be fun?

How would you like to spruce up the copy on your website? Call me. I’ll make your site sing and your visitors sing along.

“They’re coming to the site, but nobody is signing up or buying…”

Of the two challenges you face with your online marketing, converting the visitor to a customer is the most overlooked.

You might spend a bundle on web site lead generation (link), but what happens when they arrive for a visit?

Are you a good host who hands them a refreshing drink and asks how they’re doing?

Or, do you blast them with news updates and toot your horn about why they should love you?

As a man who has learned his relationship lessons, I can guarantee that the latter approach won’t get you a second date with your web site visitor.

Getting to YES With Effective Web Copywriting…

Your web site copy should get your visitor nodding his or head in agreement.

For example:

You want your web site to be more profitable for you, right? (Nod your head)

And you understand that getting a visitor to take action is important… right? (Nod again).

Then, wouldn’t you agree that you should do whatever you can to increase the percentage of visitors who take action when they visit your web site? (Final nod)

That’s where I come into the picture…

The Web Site Conversion Formula

It’s simple. First we identify your goals, who you are, and how you’re going to make a ton of money online.

Then, we go heart-to-heart with your customers to uncover their deepest, already-existing desires. We listen, learn how they talk, and speak to them in words they understand.

Next, comes the alchemical web copywriting process.

And… after that… you get more customers, increase your conversion rate, and make more money online.

Call 503-287-0246 or send me a note to get started today.