The ‘6’ blatant facts to persuasion

So…

Heydy howdy

You downloaded this or just dragged it out of your folders to pick on a few ‘little things with heavy impacts’ that a good number of marketers (surprisingly, big names inclusive) do not understand about persuasion.

Perhaps, you might know these but don’t pay enough attention to it and so, they slip out sometimes and invariably deprive you of some good numbers.

I’ll tag them the Thor hammer, looks average until you try to pick it up. These are the Thor hammer of persuasion

Every single fact listed in this tiny book is WAY more important than you think they are, even if you knew about them before

They are proven and carefully selected based on multiple tests and repetitive marketing dialogues

WARNING: You may have a totally renewed view about persuasion after reading this..

...but don’t flinch, What’s the worst that could happen?

You’ll become dangerously sleek at the art of persuasion

Diving suits on?

Oxygen tanks fixed?

Googles?

Let’s dive in

• THERE IS NO ONE WAY TO PERSUASION

Oh yeah…

I made this first on the list ‘cos its the reason we are here in the first place, This! inspired me to pen down (or type down) this little thing

I should tell you what tickled this up my brain but it’s a bit of a story

Should I?

Ok, let me share

My roommate ‘J’ had some issues with his girl -yunno.. these things happen- and they were on a phone call for hours trying to sort it

Obviously, he was the one at fault (almost all the time) and I don’t know if it’s ‘cos he’s truly always wrong or just ‘cos “a woman is never wrong”

It was quite a “state of emogency” ...Emotions were flying out here and there

In fact, I just got caught up in a cry out I never wanted to be a part of...a heavy price for sharing the room with a loverboy

But like they say, there is always some sweetness in the walnuts (nobody says that...I made it up)

My guy was on call trying to give his girl reasons not to end the relationship

Points after points and she kept throwing thorough punches to counter the points

He didn’t stop until….

Until he hit the right spot..

He said something she wanted to hear and that was it

...and within a few minutes, they started exchanging romantic words

OH wow

This brings us back to the point…

A copy or marketing interaction have different ANGLES and HOOKS, an angle in this case is a point of view you chose to make your prospects see your product from

It is totally Ok to reevaluate and rewrite your sales script over and over again till you HIT THE RIGHT SPOT

In fact, the most successful sales copy in history were not written once

So...

TEST ANGLES

RE-EVALUATE YOUR COPY

TWEAK TILL YOU WIN

Never be afraid to...

There is No One Way To Persuasion

• PERSUASION IS ‘CARE’

The Genuine Urge to help...This is the basis of marketing and persuasion…

The day was early, the air was a bit stuffed up and the weather was foggy

I couldn’t let this morning energy go to waste..

Solo walks, specifically on mornings like this gets me refreshed and clears my brain fog

Sometimes, I pick a thing to think about through my 30 minutes walk and other times, I just let my thoughts wander

This day, I was thinking about Sales copy

As I paced through the quite path, A bulb ignited...in my brain and with it came this question

“Which is more important in persuasion, Fear or Care?

Which works more in getting people to make a decision?

Which romance people’s emotions more?

Is it when the copy/script is circled around FEAR of where they might/will end up if they don’t take action?

Or When the copy is coming from a place of sincere CARE that makes them feel genuinely understood and walk the Law of companionship?”

After some research and survey filled by some of the finest copywriters I know (the likes of Donnie Bryant). We unanimously arrived at this;

FEAR is very powerful..

It’s the reason why war is so profitable anywhere in world and 95% of the time, humans preferably make decisions that takes them farther from pain and brings him closer to pleasure

Fear is your sharpest weapon in selling anything especially if you’re at the financial niche at the moment, nothing hurts investors more than losing out of the market gainer of the century

Investors don’t want to fold their arms and watch the Next Wall Street mover slip off their portfolio

Fear is the most ideal way to snatch your market’s attention, to hammer on the consequences of ignoring the topic and…

‘CARE’ to let them understand the benefits of your offer and how the product will change their lives

Care, is making them see how much you want them to succeed, If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be sharing an information that could change their lives

After all…

An African adage says “After chastising a child with your right hand, make sure to draw him closer with your left hand”

Before I close this up, let me share a story...

Some years back, I had an ignorable medical condition (according to the doctor) and While surfing the web, I bumped into a sales page selling a ‘remedy’

This sales page was built entirely on exaggerated fear, I would commend the writer, he did it so well, so well that I ended up furious and exited the page.

I was annoyed because I understood the dirty game he was play to sell his wack medically-uncertified drugs

Your audience needs to feel a sense of care in your words, this is always about them anyways, so make it!

They don’t care about what you did last night in the dark room or how your cat peed on your potato

Your word should be focused on them.

What has been keeping them up at night?

How painful and straining it has made their existence

How your service or product is their knight in shiny armor

What their life will look like after the transformation

Care! It’s not that hard

Persuasion is care

• NO PERSUASION WITHOUT DESIRE

I was never a fan of school, right from elementary level. I’ve always seen it to be unnecessary, why do I have to be woken up when my sleep is most enjoyably surfing on a sweet pace just to go to school

Then in school, teachers offload some shit ton of unnecessary words that adds zero value to my life and alI I got to do is show up at the examination hall to offload it

Ok...Enough of the ranting

During my freshman year at the university..

There was this professor I was somewhat fond of, he was different and seem to understand the concept of teaching...Soft learning I'll call it

His classes were never the regular shit offload others practice, he sets out time to relate with us and connect his course and subject with practical life happenings

He taught The Basics of Digital Marketing...

On this day, he was teaching about the prerequisites of product sales.

Before a product or service is added to a company’s catalogue, what’s needed to be done?

And the first on the list was this. He made this exact statement;

“You don’t own your company, your customers do, Don’t sell what you like, SELL WHAT THEY WANT”

This has stuck with me till then…

He went on to speak about the stages involved

And...This is as simple as it sounds

WANT > DESIRE > ANTICIPATION

It’s straightforward

Your audience have to want an experience or transformation that your service or product offers

Not Need, Want!

It’s not a news, People don’t buy what they need, they buy what they want

I needed a new rug in my apartment but I bought the new iPods anyways…’cos thats what I wanted

Want becomes desire

Desire leads right into their heart then

Indulges their emotions and make them..

Anticipate owning the product to experience the quality that it provides

No better waste of your time, energy and resources than trying to persuade a person that has no iota of Desire for what you’re trying to Sell

•NEITHER SAY LESS NOR MORE

Some years back..

I had a enviable appetite, the type I wish for at the moment, every time I got back from school, there was always some food trapped in a warmer at the dining table

...and sometimes, my mum wouldn’t be chanced enough to cook before rushing off to work

So, One day, I decided to learn how to boil rice (for starters)

It was the weekends so my mum was around to help kickstart my journey as my own personal chef

I placed a pot on the cooker, poured in a cup of water, waited some moments for it to warm up, washed the rice and in they go.

Now, the most important part of the cater, time to add salt and I was sort of scared of messing it all up.

That day, mum taught me a trick I’ve held on to...

My mind was only focused on fear of overloading the tiny pot of rice with salt

Mom said “It’s better to add so little than adding too much”

This stuck!...

When you’re trying to persuade someone to do something or to buy your offer…

It’s better to say less that would make them want to hear more...

...than saying so much that they take you for a loudmouth

‘cos nobody takes a loudmouth seriously. Pocket your chatter

Never Talk Too Much

• ARE YOU IN NEED? CUSTOMERS DONT GIVE ALMS

Yeah…

Some years back, I applied for a copywriter post with an agency and during the recruitment processes, they sent a quite long series of questions that needed answers before I could proceed to the next stage

This story actually has two main stops…

I’m going to draw out two quite different lessons that will be useful

So, some morning like that, I checked my mail and saw a mail from the agency

Initially, I thought it was a mail to schedule a call or to a test project…. whatever….anything but a 2 pages pdf filled with dotty-datt questions

Well, I was desperate enough to answer them because I really needed the job at that moment

As I read those ‘queries’

A question caught my attention…

“What is copywriting to you?”

To me….

Copywriting and marketing in general is goodwill

You know a product that can ease someone’s pain and grant them rest to that which keeps them awake at night, and you do them a favor of introducing their messiah to them

You are partly doing your customers a favor by selling to them

Never sound needy...because if your product is worth it.. Why should you be?

Trust me, Your customers can see through you..

Well...I spent hours...a plethora of it...answering questions on why the recruiter’s girl naggs more than she cares (just kidding)

Yeah, I didn’t get a reply at the end of the day

...and I definitely don’t waste my time pampering recruiters anymore

Never sound needy...Don’t be afraid of walking away ‘cos you are a slave to whatever you’re scared of losing

•TELL A STORY

A good one....

Great marketers and every one that is being listened to understands the power of storytelling

In 2019, A man named Robb Walker carried out an experiment, not the one done at labs, a social experiment

He heard enough “Storytelling is the greatest marketing tool” and wanted to test it out by himself

So he surfed into eBay and bought 200 random objects for a total cost of $129

Random objects he could find, like a sculptured horse head that never appeared to hold any value (in truth, all the objects didn’t)

He then went on to gather names of 200 excellent storyteller/authors and reached out to them to come be a part of history

A study to prove the ’saying’ right or BS it and cut bluffs

They all agreed, and each pen wielder wrote an excellent story to each objects individual

Each story was written to check the boxes of a great story and induced the right emotions in the mind of readers

Having done this, Robb loaded both the stories and objects up and went back on eBay, this time, to put them all for sale

And now, this is the most interesting part...

A particular sculptured ‘valueless’ horse head he had bought for just $0.99 a few months ago was sold for over $6,295

Six thousand, two hundred and ninety five U.S Dollars

What?!

A 99 cents horse head was worth enough to make a profit of $6.294.01 when armed with a great story

At the end, he sold all the objects he bought at $129 for $8,000 (calculate the ROI)

This! Was only possible because of an addition of worthy nail biting, suspensive and emotional stories

Yes! In case you didn’t take note, I infused a little story in every points I’ve dropped so far

Storytelling doesn’t just appeal to marketing, it works everywhere you need to influence anyone to do anything

I know a guy that help startups clich funding

..he has never failed at wowing investors because he has never failed to tell a story that connects the startups to stories that romance investors emotions

So, my friend, Don’t stop learning about Storytelling…’cos when done right, It will never fail you

Over and out...

I hope you’ve gained a thing or two from this little book and I wish you more success. Try it out and sharpen your persuasion skills more

Adious

LinkedIn: Ishola Habeeb

Twitter: @Copybyhabeeb

Email: [email protected]

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