In my last post I sucker
punch Internet Marketing.
My gripe targeted the “incredibly expanding promise”. Take a look at your in-box and you’ll see what I mean. Every guru is killing themselves to best each other with an income claim.
I also diagnosed the market as being in what Eugene Schwartz calls the “The 2nd Age of Sophistication” where claims matter less and less.
Copywriters will see the results when their clients complain that their bombastic headlines are failing to work like in days past.
This is where the Atkins Diet comes to the rescue. The weight loss industry is a brutally competitive bloodsport where products appear and vanish quicker than you can say “carb”. Copywriters in this industry are razor-sharp students of human nature. They also learned decades ago that simply promising to “Lose 50 pounds in 7 days” wasn’t going to cut it.
Their solution was ingenious. Focus on the Method first (and the claim second).
They reasoned that people still wanted to lose weight – without exercising or changing their eating habits. They just didn’t believe the claims. But…
When a new product comes out with a curious name like “The Atkins Diet” the prospect’s curiosity is heightened. Then they read the subheadlines and see a mysterious reference to the Glycemic index. Now they are hooked. Deep down they wonder, “Is this new method the one I’ve been waiting for?”
And Voila! a sale is made.
This is what Schwarz describes as the 3rd Age of Sophistication. I prefer to title it the Geek Stage. If you are competing in a niche that has reached the Geek Stage – you need to focus on the method first and the claim second.
In Internet Marketing this means giving your “step-by-step” process a provocative name. Giving the reader a peek inside the process so they can see that your method is new. Telling a compelling story about how your new method was invented. Then, when their curiosity is at a fever pitch – hit them with the claim.
If you salesletter is no longer selling with its bold claim headline, then consider trumpeting the Process. It’s a proven winner.