Hey there friend, foe or follower!
(catering-to-everybody-day here at Empathy Copywriting HQ.. 😉 )
It’s time to take down yet another rookie mistake that keeps newcomer marketers underperforming.. and surprisingly enough some more experienced marketers too.
Have you ever caught yourself saying to yourself, looking at someone’s marketing:
Oh, that’s such a cliché, I’d never do that…
Well, you just might be overlooking the fact that if something’s so common it’s almost a cliché… it just might be working?!
Let’s see, curious little things like…
- Holding your fingers together while on video, giving the impression you ‘have it together’ and therefor you’re reliable?
- Shooting your video with your bookshelf as the background, showing you’re ‘smart, well read and therefore an authority to be trusted?
- Writing three PS’s in your email promo because lots of people skip to the end and you want to maximize the chance to convert there?
- Using fire engine red in your headline to make it pop out and demand attention?
- Having your sales video start on autoplay to prevent immediate bounce rate on the page?
- Hiding video controls on your video sales letter to make sure they watch it right through and get the FULL intended effect of the letter?
- Showing off images depicting your personal success, implying there’s authority in the offer and just perhaps anyone else can do it too?
Awful, terrible, tacky cliche’s, right?
Unfortunately for that philosophy, it just so happens that these things work. EVEN when they’re recognized as clichés. So much of marketing works on an unconscious level, or right at the threshold of conscious awareness.
Therefore, it’s better to not question it and just follow the formula. I know this is especially hard for ‘creative types’ (yes I guess I’m one too) who want to put their own twist or stamp on everything.
And that’s fine too, as long as you don’t mess with the formulas, the wordings and the psychological triggers that have been known and proven to work.
Don’t be so conscious of what’s the ‘going trend’ in marketing, it is enough to recognize what works and adapt that to what you’re doing. You’ll love the success much more than ‘looking good’ and ‘being unique’. I guarantee it.
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