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Hughman believes that in order to become a qualified copywriter, there needs to be a sufficient knowledge reserve, which is accomplished through ordinary accumulation.

Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “ 木木 老贼 ” (ID : Mumuseo).

The Copywriting Training Manual, written by legendary copywriter Joseph Hugman, was a book I read when I first got into copywriting.

Joseph Hugman is one of the most influential and prolific advertising copywriters in the United States.

The most amazing thing is that he stayed in Germany for more than 3 years at the time, served the Military Intelligence Department, and later joined the CIA. I am afraid that this experience is not in the copywriting world.

Hughman believes that in order to be a qualified copywriter, you need to have sufficient knowledge reserves, and knowledge reserves are completed through ordinary accumulation.

Writing a copy should try to understand life as much as possible. For life itself, there is no difference in success or failure. The focus is on whether you have participated in this game. If you fail more, you will always succeed.

Read it again now, although some things are not so applicable, the classics are still the same, and those copywriting skills are still glorious. Also share it with everyone.

01 The secret of the first sentence

This is the point that I have been most impressed with, and Hughman has been emphasizing:

All the elements in an advertisement first exist for one purpose, which is to make the reader read the first sentence of this copy-nothing more.

What do you mean? That is to say, every element in an advertisement is to guide the reader to start reading this copy.

What is the purpose of the copy heading? It is for the reader to start reading this article, that is, for the reader to start reading the first sentence.

So what is the purpose of the first sentence? Just let you read the second sentence. What is the purpose of the second sentence? Yes, let the reader read the third sentence … What is the purpose of the eighth sentence? I believe you already know.

This sentence looks very idiot, but it looks very interesting in detail, you scrutinize.

It’s true, our copywriting isYou should continue to attract the attention of your readers, let them continue to read every sentence, and sink into it until you have finished reading your entire copy.

So how do you keep users watching?

02 Use concise phrases

Hughman also gave a method to this, which is to use short sentences, concise and clear, and plant seeds of curiosity to entice readers to read.

At the beginning of most of his advertising copy, each sentence is short and easy to read, so that readers will naturally read the second sentence.

Using Hughman means:

Your first sentence should be noticeable because it is short and easy to read. If you want to remove the complexity and make it simple, make it catchy, and the reader has to read the second sentence.

This way, your readers can get caught up in the first reading. It’s like a locomotive, it will be strenuous at the beginning of the start, and once it starts, it will be very easy. The same goes for copywriting.

If you don’t have a strong ability to control text and shape the scene, try not to be too long at the beginning of the copywriting.

Sentences are short, the meaning is clear, and the pace is fast.

Because a series of long paragraphs can make the text stiff, and it can cause “barriers to communication” in the beginning. Direct readers are disinterested.

Using more short sentences can make readers’ thinking clearer and more interactive. It makes the narrative compact and creates a good tension.

For example, Jobs ’s Genesis classic “think different”:

Salute to those crazy guys,

They are independent and unruly,

It’s wrong, it’s out of place,

They look at things differently,

They don’t like to be stereotyped, and they don’t want to settle for the status quo.

You can praise them, quote them,

Oppose them, question them, praise or discredit them,

But they cannot be ignored alone.

Because they changed things.

……

They push humans forward,

They are crazy in the eyes of others,

But they are geniuses in our eyes.

Because,

Only those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,

To really change the world.

The use of short sentences is mentioned above, and the following is “plant the seeds of curiosity”.

03 Crow the seeds of curiosity

What is “planting a seed of curiosity”? Simply put, at the end of a paragraph, use a very short sentence to stimulate the reader to continue reading.

Hughman often uses this technique in advertising copy, such as the following sentences:

But I have a lot to say next.

Why not end here?

Listen to me.

Here’s the really exciting part.

……

Some suspense will motivate readers to continue reading, even if your article is relatively long, this technique can also have a good effect.

If your content is both interesting and engaging, maybe you do n’t need to set up suspense intentionally, but in general it is difficult, so you need to use these “curious seeds” to improve the overall copywriting effect.

Of course, in my opinion, there is a very good way to “seed a seed of curiosity”, which is to have more articles and more questions.

The easiest way is to ask questions, ask more questions, mobilize users to think, and interact with you.

Remember where I saw a sentence before, this is what it says: The best speech is not talk, talk, talk, but ask, ask, ask.

For example: Is there any way to “get” users into reading?

Of course! Look down.

04 Let the reader say “yes”

Everyone who sells knows that the first thing about selling is to make customers like and trust you. Salespeople must also find ways to connect this product with customer needs.

Before that, you must allow customers to interact with yourself, otherwise these persuasive product sales cannot be successfully communicated.

Sophisticated sales will make customers nod affirmatively when communicating with customers, agreeing with his words.

Based on this, one of Hughman’s copywriting methods is: let your readers keep saying “yes” and let them resonate with you when they read your copy.

Simply speaking, you need to make your readers say “Yes, I agree with you” with great certainty.

So, first of all, your copywriting should be very sincere and trustworthy, and then let the user constantly affirm everything you say, such as some basic facts.

The most desired state is that when the reader starts to read your copy, you can make him nod frequently, say “yes” constantly, and agree with everything you say.

05 length of copywriting

In the era when most copywriters were men, there was an old motto about the length of copywriters:

“Copywriting is like a woman’s skirt. It needs to be long enough to cover key parts, but short enough to make men full of interest.”

The same is true of copywriting.

There is no such thing as a long copy or a short copy. Which one is better?More suitable.

What makes it suitable?

Your copywriting needs to be long enough to create desire, tell the whole story, stimulate customer interest in the product, and sell the product.

That’s it. It’s neither too long nor too short. The most important thing is that it is long enough to guide the reader to do what you want.

In this book, Hugman mentions two essential points.

Price point: The higher the price, the more content you have to use to shape the reasonableness of the price. This is a general rule for sub-copywriting, unless the price is considered good value for money.

Or lower prices seem to lack credibility. In this case, there will be more copywriting. More descriptions will make you increase the value of the product.

Unique products: The more unusual a product is, the more you need to match it with customers, the more you need to focus on creating a buying environment, explaining the new features of the product, and the corresponding copywriting may be longer.

In addition, complex products should be simple, simple products should be complex. (Good routine)

06 Give excuses to readers

Giving readers an excuse to rationalize purchases is a problem that must be addressed. If this problem is not resolved, then the customer will be given an excuse to “think again”.

Even if they trust you, they won’t buy it.

Everyone buys something, there will be a psychological account, you want others to buy your things, in fact, you want to give him a reason / excuse to buy this account.

You can first understand which psychological accounts exist for the target user, or what kind of reason for purchase, and then use emotional design to highlight, that is, find a sound reason for the user to spend money, thereby reducing psychological conflicts.

For example, a piece of clothing with a price of 2000 may feel expensive if you buy it for yourself, but you may buy it without hesitation if it is a birthday gift for your loved one. I bought this for the loved one.

Another example is that Haagen-Dazs classifies user psychology as “a way to express love” rather than a “snack expense”, so users will naturally be more willing to spend money.

Similarly, when you buy a Mercedes-Benz, of course you have to tell him about the amazing features of this car, because when he tells his friends why he wants to buy it,God is almost his god. He never asks him to say, “I’m for the sake of face.”

07 Logical flow of copywriting

Logic is a good thing, and I personally like it very much. For the birth of a science student like me, probably the biggest advantage when writing an article is logic.

Especially when you’re writing a fairly long copy, it’s easy to go wrong.

It is important to plan a flowchart in advance at this time, because after you plan a framework for the writing process, the entire copywriting context is clear.

You will know exactly what kind of information you need to look for, when to ask key questions, what content to prepare for your readers … all questions will be solved by your logic.

Master Hughman’s suggestion is:

In the process, a trick I gave is to create a logical roadmap, copywriting should be based on the map, and all questions should be asked in a logical way as shown.

In order to cultivate such a sense, you will divide your copy into many small sections, connect them in a methodical way, predict the user’s questions, and then answer them as if they were asked face to face same.

For example, the following is the marketing copy process for an electronic product column:

Passion of interest → Uniqueness → Why it is different → How to operate → Amazing features → Rationalize the purchase → Permanently valid → Free after sales → Order discounts now.

According to this logic, when reading the copy, whenever your reader has a question, he can always find the answer to this question in the next sentence, eliminating his concerns. Everything is under control.

At the end, the customer will say to himself, “Well, I want this thing, just leave it.”

08 Seven steps to writing great copywriting

In the copywriting training manualIn the latter part, Hughman also gives 7 steps to write great copywriting. Here is a summary:

Step 1: Become an expert on your product or service. When you delve into every detail of the product, you can get more ideas than any other resource.

Step 2: Know your target customers and fully understand consumer psychology.

Step 3: Write the title and subscript. They must be able to catch the reader’s attention and create enough curiosity.

Step 4: Start writing. Don’t worry about sentence structure and grammar. Just start writing, it’s writing.

Step 5: Modify the copy. Only then did the change begin.

Step 6: Brewing. Set aside the text, go out for a walk, or do something pleasing, and you will be surprised at the benefits of leaving your seat. The longer it is brewing, the better the effect will be.

Step 7: Take a look at your copy at the end, you will be surprised to find that there are still many places to refine. Then continue to change until you are satisfied.

In this, I personally like two of them. One is the fourth step. Once you start writing copywriting, you don’t have to think too much about what to write, which is very cool.

The other is Step 6: Brewing. That’s what I often say about venting.

What I am most afraid of when writing something is sudden and forced writing, which is inefficient and uninspiring. When I am empty, I often get inspired. Just note it down immediately and don’t let it slip away.

09 Slide effect created

Well, the above is the part where the book will be revisited. It may be omitted, but it is still wonderful.

All in all, when writing copywriting, I guess Mr. Hugman definitely wants us to remember one thing—making a slide effect.

What do you mean?

It’s like a playground slide game. Sliding down the slide, even if you grab the handrail, it won’t help. Under the effect of gravity, when you slide down, kinetic energy begins to generate.

This is the effect your copywriting needs to achieve. Every sentence, every picture, every element is for the reader to start reading the copywriting and even the last sentence. It’s like sliding down a slide.

Think about it often!

First, title, matchPictures, subscripts, etc. attract users to start reading the first sentence; then, use a very simple beginning to attract users, let the reader read the second sentence, the third sentence, the fourth sentence …

Next, copywriting needs to create a buying environment. Let your users keep saying “yes”, resonate with you, and let them believe and agree with you.

Then, think about the copywriting process in advance and dispel the user’s concerns in advance. The entire copy is neither too long nor too short, which is enough to guide readers to act according to your goals, even if it is OK.

In addition, the user should be planted a “seed of curiosity” so that he can’t extricate himself from copywriting.

Finally, after reading this book, let’s end with a section of this book:

Copywriting is a form of writing that blends facts and emotions. It is a spiritual journey. You have to organize your thoughts in your mind before you form them into words.

There are no best techniques, only the ones that work best for you.