Copywriting's 8 Psychological Triggers

Copywriting’s 8 Psychological Triggers

February 11^th 2010 Sally Ormond copywriter, copywriter London, copywriting tips, freelance copywriter, Suffolk copywriter

All freelance copywriters understand what is required to get their readers to do what they want. It isn’t some dark mystical secret but rather the skill of getting inside their heads to understand what makes them tick.

Psychology is a big part of the copywriting process.

The real key to effective copywriting is understanding how your reader feels, what they are looking for in life and what problems they are looking for solutions to.

It might sound daunting, but it is easily achieved. The first step is to put yourself in the shoes of your reader – why would they want the product you are selling? What will they get out of it? What problem could they have that would be solved by it?

Don’t guess because you’ll get it horribly wrong - you need to do some research. You’ll know people from all walks of life, many of whom could be prospective buyers. Have a chat with them; ask them their opinion on the product.

- What would make them buy?
- Why they would buy?
- What they would hope to achieve from buying it?

This new insight will help you understand why they would buy so you now need to incorporate into your copy some psychological triggers that will encourage them to get out their credit cards:

1. People love surprises – tell them they’ll get a surprise free bonus when ordering.
2. People want an easier life – make ordering easy and give easy product instructions.
3. People like security – tell them you provide a secure ordering process and privacy policy.
4. People like compliments – praise them for considering your product.
5. People are curious about how it will affect their lifestyle – use ‘Secret’ and ‘Confidential’ to pick their curiosity.
6. People like to invest in their future – use the words ‘invest in your product’ rather than ‘buy’.
7. People like to have the newest or latest things –use words like ‘new’, ‘just released’.
8. People want their problems solved – tell them what problems they have and how your product will solve them.

For most people, buying is an emotional action rather than a rational one. Using these triggers will make them want to buy your product. And if you can make them want it, they’ll soon persuade themselves they need it.

The result?

Happy customers.