Tell me quick and tell me true. What your product’s going to do. Or else, my love, to hell with you -Drayton Bird
He kicked hard.
And he has every right to do so, because I sought to learn from him—an exceptional direct response copywriter, earning millions for his client. The same person, who sold an agency to David Ogilvy. That poem was only a tiny portion of the lessons he taught me. I reached out to Drayton Bird, for advice, after feeling a bit lost in my career.
What is copywriting, does anyone know?
“We’re hiring Copywriters” is often followed by a shallow job description, and generic phrases to sound ‘cool’. Simply, they just need someone to write something pretty. You should know that this isn’t the reason copywriters exist.
Copywriters do a lot to relate to consumers. All in the spirit of closing a sale. Oftentimes, it is at the expense of boasting about the company. Any serious business should be glad to pay such an expense. Here’s why.
Nobody cares about you
It’s true. Your consumers don’t care what you believe, what you like, or what you think. They only care about themselves. And many successful businesses know how to exploit this truth.
But how do they do it successfully? One possibility, hiring a professional copywriter.
Here’s what a pro copywriter would do. It starts with questions. Asking about the company, product, audience, and even their rivals. A good amount of time is spent understanding the root problem, possible solutions, and the minds of the consumers.
Then, after a solution is agreed upon, the writing begins. A pro copywriter writes copy based on the facts. And they know how to present the facts, in such an interesting way, that it captures attention and influences action.
Whatever the medium, the pro copywriter writes directly and clearly.
But how do they do it successfully? By understanding human behaviour. Specifically, around decision making. This is the subject any copywriter worth their pay, spends the time to study. I myself, read books on this subject. And here’s a truth I learned recently.
The medium may change but humans do not
It was David Ogilvy. He championed the serious study of consumers and how they behave. Perhaps he realised the importance when working for George Gallup at his Audience Research Institute. I read more about him in his book, Ogilvy on Advertising. In this book, he introduced me to the world of advertising. And his description of it was classy, structured, admirable, and thrilling. Almost immediately, I aimed to become a copywriter, just like him.
Then I read the Adweek Copywriting Handbook by Joe Sugarman. Then I found out about other successful copywriters like John E. Powers, Claude Hopkins, Eugene Schwartz, Howard Gossage, and many other legends. They are legends only because they made a lot of money for themselves and their clients.
How?
The ads they wrote had empathy, were relatable, inspiring, interesting, and helpful. You won’t find any of these men to be without a serious mind. The creativity of their ads is a consequence of strict discipline, focused on being helpful and relevant to the consumer. Unfortunately, you will rarely find this kind of creative thinking today.
Irrelevant or lazy?
Ironically, small agencies deploy the techniques of old and found success. Big agencies rarely do it, and most agency people argue “They’re not relevant anymore.”
But let’s look at the facts.
If they’re not relevant anymore, then why do our cousins in design and branding, use the exact same technique these ‘irrelevant’ legends used? Marty Neumeier, the person who developed the language of branding, inspired millions of designers to become brand strategists. Paying attention to him, I’ve learned brand strategists employ the same technique, the ‘irrelevant’ legends use.
Designers and brand strategists do the homework of learning about the consumer, the problem, competitors, the product, and then they design their piece. From the choice of colours to the style of typography, every single piece of design has a purpose in the consumer’s mind. Is it truly irrelevant, or are they just lazy?
Doing the homework
It is homework, dear reader, that makes a copywriter worthwhile. To make sure I know what I know. And that I know it best. To dive deep into my craft and make a very complex idea, told simply. It is to understand that to be an effective copywriter is to be good at selling. And to be good at selling is to be good with people. And to be good with people, I have to be good myself.
If this sounds a bit wishy-washy to you, let me explain.
The average consumer is selfish. A truth you won’t be able to change. Better for you to accept it. So, what happens now? Now, I’ll do everything in my power to understand what matters most to the average consumer. Understanding another person gives me the ability to care what they care about. You could even say, I’m practising empathy. Do you agree?
And any person with empathy is considered good with people. Makes sense right?
So here’s how it relates to copywriting. Now that I know what they care about, every piece of my copy is about them. Not me. It is about what they face, what they hope for, and how my product can help them.
It is about them. And when it is about them, the copy or advertisement I write, will perform spectacularly. Here’s why.
Advertisement is good for only 1 thing
To sell.
A fact about consumers is they tend to buy from who they know. The familiar. It’s why a recommendation by friends or family, almost always, ends in a sale. It is the reason why businesses want to build a brand. Brand is the thing that makes a business familiar.
So how do copywriters make this happen?
They tell a story, revealing the benefits of the product, and how it solves the potential buyer’s problem. Then sharing positive reviews from other buyers. Finally directing the potential buyer, on how to get it easily.
Depending on the medium, copywriters ensure that the brand voice is always present. This simply means, how this business would say something. Do they say it casually, have a phrase or are they serious sounding?
All of this is considered, while carefully crafting copy that is familiar, easy to understand, and interesting.
But what about creative advertising?
Advertising is Salesmanship. Anyone who has told you otherwise may be lying to you or themselves. But what do I know, I’m just a 5-year copywriter. I’m a baby in this industry. So let’s look at the facts.
Steve Harrison, a kind soul, gave me a copy of his book Can’t Sell Won’t Sell. In this book, he details why the advertising industry stopped selling and instead, decided to save the world. In doing so, winning awards suddenly became the only focus. Agencies race to break creative ground around a political message. Either save the earth, human rights, protect the ocean, and so on and so forth. You get my point.
Suddenly, it’s okay to be political. In fact, it’s encouraged. But who are you saying it for? And how does this relate to advertising? Short answer, it doesn’t.
Agencies saving the world
So why do agencies want to save the world? Somehow, someone, somewhere, fooled big corporations into thinking that this is good for business. To stand for a cause, creatively, to win awards.
But is it really good for business?
Here’s what David Ogilvy shared about award-winning ad agencies. Specifically, the Clio Awards for creativity: ”Of 81 television classics picked by the Clio festival in previous years, 36 of the agencies had either lost the account or gone out of business.”
To be clear, this was a time when creativity began to be the main focus of advertising.
Today, Steve Harrison, shares a surprising fact about award-winning agencies. It’s also the reason Can’t Sell Won’t Sell was written. Steve states that his friend, Patrick Collister, while researching for his Cannes Conflicted piece, found that out of the 28 entries that won a Grand Prix, only 6 had “increase sales” as an objective.
Is it really that bad if agencies stop selling?
In 2017, Procter and Gamble, considered a giant spender when it comes to ads, slashed about $100 – $140 million out of their digital marketing budget. When they studied the impact, here’s what they found.
Nothing. Zero. No impact.
“We didn’t see a reduction in growth rate (in value or volume of sales). What that tells me is the spending we cut was largely ineffective.” – Jon Moeller, CFO of P&G
Procter and Gamble have a good case for digital marketing agencies (to some extent, ad agencies) becoming irrelevant. How long before other corporations notice? And who’s to say they haven’t already?
The way forward
Is going back. Funny how that works, right? Well, let me explain.
Copywriters used to obsess over sales objectives.
Every minute, sweat, and blood was given to understand the consumer, deeply. The copy is crafted carefully to appeal to the consumer. The layout of an ad, is built purposefully for consumers to engage easily. Every piece had a purpose.
And we made it our business to know how effective an ad was.
“You have a problem, we have a solution, here’s how you can solve your problem easily, and this is what you do to get the solution now.”
This is the general structure, ads used to have. Direct and helpful. Advertising is salesmanship. It is what businesses expect from us. To help them turn their sales curve, up. The knowledge passed down from these copywriting legends is priceless, and until today, it is still making money for those who practice it. Naturally, every copywriter aiming to be effective, should know it.
The learning never ends
I used to be jealous. Envious of my schoolmates who have their whole future planned out. Growing up in a broken home, I did not have a plan. For most of my teens and 20’s, I felt like a ship with no direction. Aimless. It made me very anxious about the future.
Then I found copywriting. This craft made sense to me. Then, I discovered my aim. The world opened up and my future, brighter. I love this craft. And it’s frustrating to see people claim to have the same love, but give no respect to learn it.
How can you love when you don’t spend the time to know?
So, dear reader, I’ve told you enough about copywriting, so you can impress your friends. And I suspect I will have more to share in the future. Because, for a copywriter, the learning never ends.
