Master These 5 Techniques to Write Persuasive, High-Selling Copy
Follow Dan Kennedy’s tips for motivating action
Dan Kennedy is a copywriting legend. And in his book The Ultimate Sales Letter he outlines how he creates sales pressure. There are 5 techniques he uses to motivate action.
How you create sales pressure is especially important. Because as a copywriter you have to apply sales pressure from a distance. It’s easy for the reader not to buy, so you need to apply as much pressure as possible.
There’s no interaction. There’s no thinking on your feet to force the sale through. But you have time when writing. Time a salesman won’t have when selling.
Use this time to craft pressure.
Here are Dan Kennedy’s 5 techniques.
Technique #1: Intimidation
If you’re desperate to make a sale, it’s going to be tough. And people can tell when you’re desperate. Being desperate is going to scare a prospect off.
But if you don’t care about making the sale, it’s easier to close. So you need to make them think you don’t care if they buy from you. Or even you don’t want them to buy from you.
This is called ‘taking a position.’
Here are 5 ways to do it:
1. One way to take a position and intimidate your prospect is using limited-number-available offers. Or limited-time offers.
Because there are a limited number of products, you don’t need everyone to buy. And the people who don’t act quickly will miss out.
This creates FOMO. FOMO intimidates people.
And FOMO motivates action.
2. You can also use FOMO to sell by building a “bandwagon effect.” You do this by using social proof.
Tell prospects:
- How many users you have.
- How many units you’ve sold.
- How many people joined last week.
These (hopefully) large numbers make the reader think this is a new trend. And everyone is doing it. And they’d be stupid not to too.
Your goal is to make them think ‘Everyone has one and I want one too.’
Thinking they’re missing out is intimidating. And it’s a powerful way to motivate a sale.
3. But not everyone jumps on bandwagons. Some people even make a point of not following the common trends.
So you intimidate them by challenging their ego. And their pride.
Tell them only sophisticated people appreciate your product. Or only a select few get invites to use your service. And only special people will buy.
They want to be different. That’s why FOMO doesn’t work. So make your product sound different too.
Show them that buying your product is the opposite of jumping on the bandwagon.
By making them think not everyone will buy, you create sales pressure.
4. You can take this further by being picky about who you sell to.
For example, if you’re selling a high-priced service, you can be selective about who can use it. Tell them they need to qualify but they might not be successful. Tell them you’ll decide how suitable they are after they have submitted an application. Or completed a task.
By making them think not everyone can buy, you create sales pressure.
But if you want to create even more pressure you ramp it up by playing really hard to get.
5. Tell prospects that only the best of the best can qualify. Appeal to people’s desires to belong to elite groups.
For example, black credit cards. Not only do they fulfil a need but they also give approval and recognition.
By making them think only elite groups will buy, you create sales pressure.
Technique #2: Demonstrate ROI
When you demonstrate ROI (return of investment), you’re selling your product or service of course. But you’re also selling money at a discount.
Let’s imagine you’re selling SaaS for $100 a year. And your software’s main feature is it reduces expenses by $100 each month. You’re selling $1,200 in savings. For $100.
So the product actually costs nothing. Because the product makes or saves money for the customer. This is selling money at a discount.
There are 2 ways to do this:
- Show ROI in profits. How much will they make if they use your service?
- Show ROI in $ of savings (like the example above.) How much will they save if they use your service?
If you want to reassure the reader, exaggerate the ROI promise and say ‘What if I’m only half right? You still make over $500.’
For extra effect combine these with technique #1 & technique #4 (more on that later).
Technique #3: Ego Appeals
People buy things because of their egos.
They want to ‘keep up with the Joneses.’ They want the latest status symbols. And the newest tech.
So appeal to their egos. Tell them they’re behind the times and your product is the future.
Technique #4: Strong Guarantee
Reduce people’s risk and they’ll be more open to your offer.
Guarantees do this. Here are 5 proven guarantees:
1. Offer a money-back guarantee.
This is your simple satisfaction guarantee. Nothing fancy here. But it works.
If they’re not happy with the product, they get their money back. Zero risk for the customer.
2. Link the fee to a gift to give a stronger guarantee.
If they’re not happy they get their money back. But they also don’t need to return the gift.
Not only do they think you’re confident in your product but their risk becomes a possible profit.
3. Mention the guarantee 2, 3, or 4 times to make your guarantee more effective.
Here it’s good to be redundant. Rephrase the guarantee and tell them about it again and again. And again.
Let them know multiple times they’ll get their money back.
4. You can reduce risk by offering a free trial.
This works especially well for subscription services. Again there is zero risk for customers. Tell them there’s no credit card necessary for the trial to make this even stronger.
5. If you want to make a really strong guarantee you should make the guarantee the focus of your offer.
Why not put it in the headline? Or the first 2 sentences?
Let the reader know about the guarantee early on. And keep it front-and-centre throughout the offer.
Technique #5: Be a Storyteller
There’s a reason fiction sells better than non-fiction. It’s because people love stories.
So include them in your copy. Include a dramatic story. Or some personal drama.
Show readers what life would be like with your product. But not by listing the benefits and features. Do it through a story. Paint a picture for your readers.
To get good at this make sure you consume fiction.
And then use people’s love of stories to your advantage.
