Advertising is salesmanship multiplied. Nothing more And advertising copy, or copywriting, is salesmanship in print. The purpose of a copywriter's job is to sell. Period. The selling is accomplished by persuasion with the written word, much like a television commercial sells (if done properly) by persuading with visuals and audio. So the goal then becomes: how can we make our advertising as effective as possible. The answer is to test. Test again. And then test some more. For example, if testing has shown for decades or more that targeted advertising significantly outperforms untargeted advertising (and it does), then we can start with that assumption and go from there. If we know based on test results that crafting an ad that speaks directly to an individual performs better than addressing the masses (again, it does), then it makes little sense to start testing with the assumption that it does not. This is common sense. So it stands to reason that knowing some basic rules or techniques about writing effective copy is in order. Test results will always trump everything, but it's better to have a starting point before you test. So this starting point is the essence of this book. Address the benefits of the product, not its features. And when you do that, you're focusing on your reader and his interests, his desires. The trick is to highlight those specific benefits (and word them correctly) that push your reader's emotional hot buttons. Well, a good salesman knows how to ask the kinds of questions that will tell him which buttons to press on the fly. When you're writing copy, you don't have that luxury. It's therefore very important to know upfront the wants, needs, and desires of your prospects for that very reason. If you haven't done your homework, your prospect is going to decide that he'd rather keep his money than buy your product. Remember, copywriting is salesmanship in print!
