Using “Micro-Hooks” In Copywriting
Want to know a secret I’ve rarely revealed?
Sure you know about hooks… but how about “mico-hooks”? That’s how we get people reading our ads.
And since you know the more people read, the more they buy, you’ll want to sprinkle “micro-hooks” in your advertising to jack up your readership, your conversion rates and your bottom line.
People are by and large curious. And I like to use that fact to my advantage when writing salescopy.
In fact, when things are left incomplete, people feel downright uncomfortable at least until the loop is completed and closure is brought about.
This is basic human psychology and in marketing, you use this psychology to your advantage.
Mark Joyner talkes about this phenomena in his book Mind Control Marketing. It’s called the Zeigarnik Effect.
I wrote the copy for Mark’s 7 Day Business Turnaround and used many of these powerful devices.
Here’s a sample:
In one section of copy, I needed to write about the precise 4 steps for a turnaround.
and after that I wrote:
“That’s it. Pretty simple… at least on the outside. With that strategy alone, you could engineer a turnaround. If you know the tactics to accomplish each step, my work is done here. Go forth and execute. If you don’t… keep reading to uncover your answer. Okay, seems pretty simple doesn’t it?”
But here’s the brilliance of this tiny little hook. Most people don’t have a clue of the tactics they need to implement to excecute the strategy.
But they were told that if they didn’t, they should just keep reading and the answer would be revealed.
Do you think that made people uncomfortable?
You bet it did, because if they were in need of a business turnaround, they HAD TO KNOW THE ANSWER.
How about another sample…
Later, I showed the mechanism that made turnarounds work.
Then I wrote:
“That’s the process for your 7 Day Turnaround. It’s the same thing a Fortune 500 would do, just made so bloody simple a 2nd grade teacher could do it (more about that in a minute)”
How about that?
How in the world could anyone resist something that simple?
And the words “more on that in a minute” literally hooked them into reading until they found out!
If you can Google the letter and read it… it’s a great tutorial on these “micro-hooks”.
There’s at least a half dozen of them. It’s a virtual clinic on writing and implementing these sneaky little hook tricks.
Now, one more thing you need to know.
If you’re utilizing this tactic, you need to make certain you CLOSE THE LOOP.
If you make people too uncomfortable, they will leave. So make sure you fulfill the promise for more… or you are just another “lying marketer”.
If the loop remains open, not only will they view you as a liar… you’ve ruined the buying climate.
One more thing. Don’t give readers ALL the answers in your salescopy. That’s an itch only the product should scratch.
Filed under: Copywriting