“Do you know your earning potential?” was the copy of the ad by I will teach you to be rich, a company that offers courses to people who want to improve their earning potential. A straightforward but, loaded question. It got my attention.
For a moment I thought. “Do I? Do I know my earning potential? Is my job paying me enough? I always thought I had settled. I knew I can earn more. Wait, let me see what the ad is about, who is it from, what are they promising?”
Did you notice what just happened? 6 words, just pulled me into a vortex of thoughts, one after the other, a spiralling effect, giving my worst apprehension a shade of reality. And, I am connected, actually hooked.
Good copy can bring great results as long as there is a strong connection. And, for those of us that think copy is about dressing up, it is quite the opposite. It is about finding the root of the problem.
Pain points as they call it. If you know what my pain point is I am all ears. As simple as that! This brings us to the first step, identifying the pain point. The ad went on to say, “Take my earning potential quiz and get a custom report based on your strengths…..”
All of us have seen the so-called ‘make more money’ ads before. All of us have also quickly stormed past them too because we know, 9 out of 10 such ads have some catch. In other words, they are not honest, almost scam-like.
But, this particular ad is not giving you promises, it is showing you a direction. It is not making claims, simply inviting you to take a harmless quiz. You see, it is gently guiding you and not nudging you. That makes the difference. The connect is still maintained.
This brings us to the second step in solving the lack of connect, which is addressing the pain point. An approach that is advice-based and not claims-based. Almost like a friend who has my best interests at heart, who knows I deserve better.
“People aren’t interested in you. They are interested in themselves.”
Dale Carnegie
Self-betterment is always a strong motive for anyone to take an action. I am more interested in how this company can help me earn more. When I earn more, I have a better quality of life. It is a superficial approach to life but, an honest one.
Coming back to the ad, the body copy continued saying, “discover how to start earning extra money……” Notice, the keywords here are discover which means I am not aware of it and if I don’t find out, I might be missing out and, extra money, who doesn’t want to earn extra money? That’s a no-brainer! Point in case, I am still hooked to the ad, because it is giving me something that I don’t have now plus, the bonus of making more money. More is better right?
This brings us to the third step, the solution.
So, I just de-constructed the ad for you. The copy and the body copy had my attention all along, till the point I clicked on the ‘start the quiz’ button!
To recap, the ad helped:
- Identify the pain point
- Adopt an honest approach in addressing the pain point
- Invite me to remove the pain point (the solution)
Now that you know how to solve lack of connect, go on unleash the brilliant copy. Before you do, don’t forget you are talking to a person, the person who represents the entire target audience with the same problem looking for the same solution.