Psychological Approach in Copywriting: General Rules You Can Amplify

When it comes to copywriting, one of the most important aspect is persuasion. The more persuasive a copy could be, the better. One of the important principle to consider in persuasive copywriting is psychological approach.

Andy Maslen explained in his book(1) that as a copywriter, instead of selling a product, you sell the experience of the ownership. If that's the case, let's see some sets of questions below:

So, how would you FEEL if ...

a. You have this,

b. You do this with our service,

c. You listen to this, or

d. You taste our juice?

Those are the examples of experience that you are sounding though the copy.

"All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, desire," Aristotle said.

Choose one or two factors and amplify through your message, the market is yours!

Now, what are the specific aspects of psychology used frequently in common copywriting?

1. Empathy

Understanding the basic nature of your target market is necessary to set up campaign strategy. That's why surveying your target market is very important.

Also, stay updated with the current issues in the society. The big phenomenon of the COVID-19 global pandemic is a great example on how a good brand (and their copywriter) needs to be emphathetic towards people's situation, so that our brand remains to stay in people's heart and eventually: in the market.

However, it's great to get back to Maslow's hierarchy needs when you aim for an empathy. Not all people needs empathy in their economic situation. Look at the characteristic of your target market and refer to Maslow's theory, and voila! You got what is your audience's hot button.

2. Humor

The implementation of humor in copywriting is obviously has a long history. Jokes, despite the genre depends of the age, are impactful in attracting people's attention.

Humor is a form of entertainment and when it used right, the audience will be more open to your message. In the twentieth century, humor has been used consistently and increasingly accepted as the way to attract people's attention, even though it evolves. Yet, the role of humor in today's advertising is still prevalent(2).

At times, even though as a copywriter you're somewhat a businessperson as well, don't let the ambience drag you to be too professional and ... stiff. If deliberate jokes is not your thing, explore your humor style.

If you think you're lack of humor ideas, you can probably just take time to listen to some stand up comedians. Use it in the right momentum, and the right client /audience will love you more.

3. Suspense, Drama, or Puzzling Question

Squeezing these three points into one is actually too much, but there is one term to conclude them all: curiosity. This is the central red dot in your dart board.

To use suspense and drama in your copy, a good storytelling is needed. Now, if you have the skill to tell a story, it's just like an ounce of GOLD for you! Regardless the age, people actually love storytelling. Of course, the genre depends on their taste, but in general a good story will make them sit for hours listening to you, as if you're a witch.

Suspense and drama works better in the multimedia platform, even though plain text will not be as plain if you can be a bit like J.K. Rowling of your own copy.

Speaking of dramatic ads, in my humble opinion, Thai advertisements are often the best to use dramatization. Here is the example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaWA2GbcnJU

Incidentally, puzzle or question can be a brain teaser to improve audience's curiosity if it used in the right way. The examples had been shown earlier in this post. You can combine this puzzle/question trick after a paragraph of a background story.

As the audience gets curious and intrigued, they will keep on reading and tend to be more open to your message. In the end, tease them with a question to gain interactivity.

Some brands launched a campaign to engage audience's interactivity. Margo Berman in her book (3) mentioned that Toyota campaigned "Tell Us Your Story and Win Free Toyota." This reward-involvement strategy will surely cost more, but with a proper measurement, the result should be outstanding as well.

4. Sexual theme

Now, before we jump to talk about how adult copywriting is actually a thing, we should retreat to the understanding that sex is one of human being's basic need (Again: See Maslow's theory). Hinting the audience back to their basic need is only natural, and no matter how decent people are, they actually like it!

One thing to remember is that sexual copywriting ranges from the sexual health, pleasure products, or even the extreme services. They are not the topics for now, though. As the creativity only has the sky as the limit, you may one day consider to talk about snacks ... sexually.

So, hopefully those psychology aspects covers most of the knowledge you need to present a good copywriting. However, if you just want to jump into how to use one of the points above for your brand, contact us here.

References:

1. Maslen, A. 2015. Persuasive Copywriting: Using Psychology to Engage, Influence, and Sell. Kogan Page Publishers

2. Beard, F.K., 2008. Humor in the Advertising Business: Theory, Practice, and Wit. Rowman & Littlefield

3. Berman, M., 2012. The Copywriter's Toolkit: The Complete Guide to Strategic Advertising Copy. John Wiley & Sons