How to Keep Hype From Creeping Into Your Copy
Worried about losing your prospect’s trust with hype? Here’s a simple checklist to help you keep hype out of sales copy. Use it on copy you write yourself, or as a quick check on copy you’ve paid someone else to write.
1. Be a zealot for the truth. Check and double-check your claims. Do you know in your heart of hearts that your product can do what you say? Can you prove everything?
Is every claim believable? A statement can be true but not believable. Both are harmful to the effectiveness of your copy.
True and believable: hype is neither! If your claims withstand these two simple tests, you can stand behind them, proudly, firmly, and without fear for your prospect’s trust.
2. Don’t mistake “bold” for “hype.” We all know it’s a crowded, noisy world out there. When you’re trying to get the word out, you have to speak loudly and firmly or nobody will listen.
Be careful not to water down a strong selling point simply because it sounds over the top or like you’re bragging. If it makes you uncomfortable, you’re probably hitting a nerve. Remember that you are not the audience. Your copy should speak to the deep needs and desires of your market. What ruffles your feathers might well be the very thing that gets them excited about your product. Is it true and believable?
If you have a great product that will change people’s lives, you have every reason to get it into the hands of those who will benefit. But you can’t do that without talking to them, honestly and directly. Now is not the time to hide your light under a bushel! There’s nothing wrong with letting it shine.
3. Connect with your audience. So you’ve taken the time to truly understand your prospect’s needs and meet those needs with a high quality product. Tell her about it in your own voice and in her own language. Write your copy like you’re speaking to one person directly.
Above all, be sincere. Sincerity is the “special sauce” of good copy. It may not be glamorous, but sincerity makes a connection. It’s also really hard to exaggerate or obfuscate and be sincere at the same time.
4. Watch the adjectives. Adjectives are flabby, imprecise, and mean different things to different people. They are, by their very nature, a matter of opinion. As such, stating your case with adjectives sounds like you’re stating your opinion. Too much of that can make your copy smack of, well, selling something (or trying way too hard to sell something). “This widget is incredible! It’s awesome! It’s stupendous!”
Superlatives are just as bad. When someone says their widget is “the best,” how often are you inclined to believe them? You know there are a lot of widgets out there. Your skepticism kicks into overdrive, even when there’s tons of proof.
Power verbs pack the one-two punch of description and fact. They paint pleasing pictures (to borrow a phrase from John Carlton) in your prospect’s mind, but also state the truth.
5. Eliminate all exclamation points. Here’s a simple trick from copywriter Ryan Healy. It’s based on his personal experience and confirmed by my own. If your copy feels hype-y, try replacing every exclamation point with a period. Read it again and see what you think.
It works like magic, especially if all the other checks are already in place.
Elizabeth Genco Purvis (a.k.a. The Marketing Goddess) is a direct response copywriter, marketing consultant and coach based in Brooklyn, NY. She teaches metaphysical and holistic solopreneurs how to grow their practices, make more money and design their ideal life - all while staying in integrity and not sounding like a pushy salesperson! To claim your free 90-minute interview on getting all the clients you need while staying true to your calling, visit http://www.YourHolisticMarketing.com