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Copy is all about the words. Or is that it?
Copy is about using words to describe the benefits of your offer. On the use of words to paint vivid mental images. About using words to arouse the senses, pressing all the “hot buttons” and nudging the reader to take some kind of action.
But is it really ALL about words? I mean, just words? No.
Some copywriters say that graphics, formatting, and photos should NOT be added to a sales newsletter because they are distracting. They can divert the reader’s attention from the message. I agree. But not quite.
You see, it is definitely true that words are extremely important. And the words you choose can make or break the sale. You should describe your offer in a way that gives it sex appeal, a sense of urgency, and a dose of excitement.
But cosmetics are also just as important.
They help direct the reader’s gaze. They also help emphasize important points. But most of all, they help replace the cues, nuances, and nonverbal niceties that occur in traditional face-to-face sales encounters.
They are Proxemics, Haptics and, most importantly for us writers, Kinesics.
Proxemics is the science of personal space. The distance between individuals during, for example, a conversation, meeting, or shared activity.
This is not some metaphysical “Feng Shui-ish” thing. I am referring to our psychological (and often subconscious) reaction to the distance we maintain from other people, such as during a sales meeting.
For example, sitting across from someone at a desk can subconsciously convey that the other person is confrontational. That’s why some sales training programs tell you to sit next to your prospect.
Haptics, on the other hand, is the science of touch. Some psychologists have studied the effects of touch during conversations. For example, they tested how people would react when told a certain statement.
This is what they did.
In some cases, the speaker simply tells a story to the listener.
In other cases, they were told the same story. But sometimes the speaker would lightly touch the listener on the forearm for no more than a few seconds, particularly when he was saying something important.
According to the study, the subjects of the second test felt that the speaker was more believable. They had higher recall scores. Physiologically, they felt more relaxed and comfortable with the speaker. They felt a certain “connection”.
Of course, proxemics and haptics are much more than that. And you can’t really use them in writing. But the only type of nonverbal communication you can use (and the one I want you to focus on) is Kinesics.
Kinesics is the science of body language. Nonverbal gestures, postures, and facial expressions by which a person manifests various physical, mental, or emotional states, and communicates nonverbally with others.
These messages delivered through nonverbal cues, which can be verbal or physical, can support, emphasize, or contradict what is being conveyed.
In face-to-face sales, Kinesics is often used to emphasize key benefits. But they are particularly important because they can highlight important points, like adding emotion to a sales pitch, that goes beyond words.
Uncross arms or legs. Eyebrow lift. Chin rub. Leaning forward. All this can indicate that you are interested in your client, or if the client does, it can tell you that he is interested in your offer.
But verbal cues are usually those that are conveyed through qualities of the voice, such as pitch, volume, rhythm, pitch, pauses, and inflection.
All of these can be interpreted as many things and used in different ways.
For example, inflection is the musical quality of the voice: the verbal ups and downs of a part of a word, a whole word, or a series of words. In selling, vocal inflection is probably the most widely used form of kinesthetic communication.
Why? Because it can change virtually the entire meaning of a message, even when a single word is declined. Take, for example, the following sentence:
“I didn’t say I love you.”
It’s pretty simple, right? But instead, if I said:
“I didn’t say I LOVE YOU” (where the verbal emphasis is placed on the word “love”, as in “loooovvvve”), then I could be implying that I simply “like” you.
On the other hand, if the word “you” was emphasized (such as “I didn’t say I love you”), it could imply that I love another person completely.
If I slanted the word “no”, as in “I DID NOT SAY I love you”, then it could imply that I wrote it, or said or meant something else instead.
In essence, it is not what you say but how you say it.
In copy, we are limited, not by what we want to say, but by how we want to say it. That’s where cosmetics, formatting, and certain “visual triggers” come into play.
Sure, you shouldn’t add graphics lightly. But you should add graphics and photos that support (and maybe even emphasize) the sales process, not graphics that might distract the reader from the sales message.
Auction giant eBay reports that listings with images outsell those without images. While anecdotal, I’ve heard of bid increases of up to 400%.
So if you can add a photo of your product (or if you’re selling a service, a photo of yourself in action with a customer), you’ll likely get better results.
But graphics and images aside, the look of the copy is just as important as the words themselves. That’s why when I write texts, I usually pay a lot of attention to cosmetics. I even call it “copy design”.
How do you do that?
Incorporate visual triggers, aesthetic “commands,” and response devices into your copy, often with formatting, to increase readership and response.
Now, I’m not talking about going crazy with different fonts and colors.
I am referring to bold, italics, font styles, font sizes, boxes, bullets, colors, white space, borders, etc. strategically placed. (Take, for example, the way I emphasized certain words in the inflection example above.)
As copywriter Martin Hayman noted: “Michael Fortin is right. How the copy is presented on the page makes a big difference in how the reader responds. Typographic practitioners have known this for centuries.”
This is just an example.
More than 60 years ago, Frank H. Johnson, a direct mail copywriter, decided to pioneer a new technique to increase the readership and impact of his sales newsletters.
I would highlight the offer in a centered rectangular box placed at the top of the letter above the salutation. Why? Because she wanted to summarize her offer in advance in a way that would save her readers time and hassle.
Instead of forcing readers to read a large number of copies before making the offer, he gave them the essentials, right from the start. The results were amazing.
Direct mail copywriter Ivan Levinson reports that he has seen claims that adding a “Johnson box” to a simple letter can skyrocket response rates by as much as 40%.
This technique can also be applied to boxes placed in the heart of the copy in strategic locations, such as just before any calls to action or when highlighting some of the most important points in your copy.
So in your copy, put your bonuses, premiums, warranties, testimonials, factoids, key points, stories, and side notes on Johnson Boxes.
Take a look at my membership website at TheCopyDoctor.com. You will notice Johnson boxes interspersed throughout the copy, often in different colored or shaded tables.
My theory as to why they’re so effective is this: These boxes tend to draw readers’ eyes and force them to read your content. They help instill in your readers’ minds those key points you want to drive home.
There is little your prospects will retain from your copy. But if you use Johnson Boxes, the probability that they will remember more of its content, and about any other points indicated in the rest of the copy, will be stronger.
However, the moral is this…
Copy isn’t just about what you say. It’s also about what you want to say.