You could have the best sales promotion in the world…
But if the copy you’re using to direct readers to that promotion is rubbish…
Then your promotion is ultimately pointless – regardless of how good it is.
Some people call if ‘lift’ copy…
Some call it ‘endorsement’ copy…
Some call it ‘ad’ copy…
And I’m sure there are a million other names for it too. But to be sure we’re on the same page here, what I’m talking about is any copy that you write in an email that is intended to send a reader towards a full sales promotion.
Personally, I call it ‘endo’ copy, as in an ideal world, that piece of copy – whoever it might be coming from – should be endorsing the product or service that the main promotion is selling.
And here’s the thing about endo copy:
Good endo copy can make a bad promotion better; but bad endo copy can only make a good promotion bad.
You see, good endo copy can increase the opportunity to make sales because it gets more eyes on a promotion and gives you the best chance of connecting with a buyer.
But if the endo is bad, fewer people get to see the main promotion, so there is less opportunity to make a sale.
Now, as you can imagine, there are hundreds of tricks and tips for supercharging your endo copy (in fact, I’m in the process of writing a book on the subject!) but one thing I’d like to share with you here is perhaps one of the most important lessons you can learn…
You see, rule number one of good endo copy has two factors…
It essentially states that:
Good endo copy should direct the reader to the promotion in the right mood to match that promotion.
Do you see what I mean about two factors?
First and foremost of course, it should ‘direct the reader to the promotion’. But just as important is that the reader arrives at the promotion in a mood that matches the mood and emotion that the promotion itself is aiming to generate.
For example, if your main sales promotion copy is based around the emotion of fear… it would be silly to have your endo copy explain that everything is happy and good and nice and that you should click here to find out even more happy and good and nice stuff…
You might think the juxtaposition would ‘shock’ the reader into attention. It won’t. It will only annoy them. They will become disengaged. They will close the promotion.
But if you warn that there is something a foot that could be of great concern to them, that could actually jeopardize their well-being and could well cause them to lose everything… and that the only way they can solve the problem is to follow the action you’ve set aside in the sales promotion…
In this case they will arrive at the promotion in a mood that matches the fear emotion you’re going for. It will be a natural step for them to continue reading. They may be filled with fear or anxiety, but they will be engaged – and that is key.
So, when it comes to writing any kind of endorsement (or lift, or ad, or creative) copy that will link its reader to a sales promotion, make sure you direct the reader to the promotion in the right mood to match that promotion.
Best,
Glenn