Copywriting
Originally, “copywriting” was destined more for newspapers than for our computer screens. Today, however, it plays an integral and fundamental part in web marketing.
What exactly is copywriting? It primarily concerns writing a text with the aim of convincing the reader. We might try to convince the reader to take an action or try to convert a potential customer into a buyer. We can find examples of copywriting in newsletters, on product pages and more.
The aim, therefore, is to convince, but not in any old way. Copywriting sometimes has negative connotations because many marketers seek to force the hand of anyone who shows the slightest interest in their products. Today, we’re going to show you a method which will allow you to avoid this kind of mistake by taking a more honest and subtle approach.
To do this, what could be better than a method that can be applied directly and that’s easy to memorise through an acronym? This proven technique, which is very popular in the US, is called the PASTOR technique. Each letter corresponds to a paragraph, or at least a sentence, of your sales text.
P for “people” and “problem"
The first key element of this method is the notion of customer choice. Regardless of the product or service being offered, it is vital to target the right customers. A good customer is a customer who is pleased with their purchase, because it truly meets their needs. A good customer helps you to save time on after-sales services, and a satisfied customer will recommend you to any of their friends with the same need. But beyond that, the right customer is the one who is experiencing the problem to which you offer the best solution on the market. After all, as an entrepreneur, it’s honourable to want to sell to those who want to buy rather than trying to sell anything to anyone who comes to you, at any price.
We can therefore appreciate the importance of conducting this exercise in empathy. For example, if I sell a book about how to use a smartphone for senior citizens, I need to realise that, for someone of this age, understanding the default option of a long click on the screen to display the options comes far from automatically.
Beyond conducting a purely marketing-focused analysis to determine our market segments, we therefore try to understand what might push a customer to choose our product, focusing on the problem they are encountering. In other words, we seek to avoid what De Moerloose and Lambin refer to as “manufacturing myopia”. In this first paragraph, then, you need to address the reader and present the problem from their point of view.
A for “amplify”
In the second paragraph of our text, it’s a good idea to highlight “the price of inaction”, in the words of Ray Edwards himself. This involves exposing the inconveniences that arise when the customer continues not to react after experiencing their problem.
Again, we seek to show the customer’s perspective without mentioning our product; this will come later. The consequence of this is that the reader becomes more acutely aware of the price of their inaction – its results are amplified – and unconsciously begins to search for a solution.
"The story needs to show that your solution has worked for someone in the same situation. Why, then, would the customer not give it a try too?"
S for “story”
The next element is the “story”, but not just any story. We’re looking for a story which follows on from the problem mentioned above, which illustrates the challenges encountered and, ultimately, the solution found.
The idea is to allow the reader to relate to the case presented to them.
So, what story are we talking about? Your story? The story of a customer of your company? The choice of narrator depends on your company’s general marketing orientation. Is the founder a public figure? Are certain existing users more likely to reflect the customer type you’re targeting, the type of customer who is encountering the problem to which you offer a solution?
The story needs to show that your solution has worked for someone in the same situation. Why, then, would the customer not give it a try too?
T for “testimonial”
The testimony should serve to generalise the proof of your product or service’s efficiency. An isolated case might be exceptional, but if you have other conclusive cases to support your claims, it can no longer simply be a question of chance.
Then, after showing that you have helped people in a similar situation to the customer type you’re targeting, you need to prove to this customer that they can benefit from your services. At this stage, the author says, it’s a good idea to invite the customer to test your solution for themselves.
This often comes in the form of free content. For example, an author might offer the first few chapters of their book to show the customer that it is indeed the content they’re looking for (in the same way that Amazon’s Kindle has institutionalised by offering extracts of all the books in its catalogue). A way of doing this could be through an ebook offering advice and free solutions, etc.
Again, this is a step based around helping the customer. Of course, we want them to stick with us, but trying to be pushy and increase the pressure at this stage would not help our cause.
O for “offer”
You might think that all that remains now is to offer the customer your product on a silver platter and that they will jump at the chance to buy it. The offer is what you’re offering, right?
Well, not really. Again, let’s try to adopt a different perspective. What we’ve just described is the offer on your side; that is, the money you’re going to earn from the sale of product X.
From a customer’s perspective, however, the offer is the benefit they are going to take from your product, so it’s a good idea to remind them of this again in this fifth paragraph.
R for “response" and "results”
This is where you finally present the product. This Is where the customer, having understood their problem and the price they will pay due to inaction, having seen that they’re not alone and that others have faced the same problem and having understood the benefits of your solution, will come face-to-face with the call-to-action for the first time.
Two examples of copy that converts
Does she… or doesn’t she? Miss Clairol hair dye
Source: Honeycopy
When doing our research, we stumbled on this vintage advertisement. Note the standpoint from the first glance: the image of the product is tiny compared to the main image, that of the target customer. The first paragraph talks about “her”, not about the product. We know who it’s about, we can guess the problem. What about the price of inaction? Stopping your hair from going grey. Women testify and so too do hairdressers. The hair will be kept in excellent condition and then finally, the product is presented right at the end. “Try it yourself, today. It only takes 10 minutes”.
This poster, although it doesn’t resemble a newsletter or a sales page, represents very clearly the state of mind with which to approach copywriting.
Time etc.
Source: Neil Patel
The problem is highlighted from the very first sentence, as is the result of inaction. Here, the company has decided to miss out the story, simply due to the short format of the newsletter. Through a simple calculation, they show the customer how they could benefit from the product, before finishing with a perfect example of a CTA!
Conclusion : a few tips to help you apply this method
Whether in a newsletter, blog article or landing page, copywriting can be found in several areas of web marketing. Whether you decide to use the full or pared-down version of the PASTOR acronym, it’s always very helpful to keep a reference framework in mind when writing commercial copy.
This allows you to maintain a clear reasoning which will help the person who needs it – the customer, who needs help to see more clearly the advantages of the solution offered, by underlining the price of inaction. We’re aiming to convince, of course, but without being pushy.
Finally, there is a huge amount of successful copy. To assess the success of yours, you need to measure the click rate, defined at the number of users who have clicked on the call-to-action in relation to the number of users who have read the copy. This is super simple with the help of a tool such as Analytics.
References
Framework for writing copy that converts
Lambin, J., & Moerloose, C. (2016). Marketing stratégique et opérationnel. Dunod.
For better copywriting, P.A.S.T.O.R.
A 6-Step Copywriting Formula That Could Boost Your Sales Big-Time
The Best Copywriting Formula: Using the PASTOR Method to Make More Sales [LNIM129]
Writing Copy that Sells
How to write high converting newsletter
Photo credit
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash
An article by Guillaume D.
