Creating a Sense of Urgency: Copywriting Tip
Posted: September 3, 2010
By: Joe Schaefer
Getting into the mindset of your website visitors is an important tactic in that you’ll be more apt to write compelling content that touches on that which means most to your audience.
Being sympathetic and understanding, in an honest manner, helps to quickly break down the barrier between you and your site visitor. If you can make your visitor feel better about himself/herself and that which they consider a personal failure, you build confidence in that person. When he/she feels more confident, the emotional connection to spending money, or whatever the website conversion asks for, is caressed and easier to accomplish.
Additionally, a strong tactic to consider is conveying a sense of urgency in conjunction with a sympathetic and understanding voice.
Copywriting with Urgency
When you instill in your reader that he/she needs to act quickly, you’ve touched upon the hot-button of urgency that many people react to very easily.
If before your reader is finished reading your copy he/she is strongly considering acting on the conversion, you’ve done a good job writing your copy. We mentioned ‘emotions’ above and this is exactly what is injected throughout the sales copy. When you are able to pull those emotional strings in the reader, you’re more apt to captivate the reader and encourage the behavior directly related to your conversion.
Sometimes, this can be accomplished by “showing the reader the pain.” By directly getting to what matters most in the reader, and that which they hope to change or improve, and then delivering a ’solution’, you’re well on your way to making a sale.
For example, anytime you can illustrate an ‘uncomfortable’ situation and provide a working ’solution’ and/or ‘before’ and ‘after’ results, you’re directly hitting those emotional pressure points, of which your audience most likely wants to make feel better.
Hi, I really enjoyed your posting on copywriting! You hit the nail squarely on the head by stressing the “emotional pull” you have on your readers, plus providing the urgency and drive as well. I am a copywriter myself, formerly in a corporate environment and now freelance. Playing the chords you mentioned are absolutely key. Far too often nowadays copywriters put a lot of noise and snow on websites. Some have far too many words but don’t go directly at the key/core messages and information that need to be conveyed. But doing it as you suggest and that is playing to the emotional chords of your audience and taking the time to see and hear things as they do is absolutely central. Great point and I hope many web people and copywriters read your posting! Thanks.
Comment By: Daniel Goldman | September 6th, 2010