If I asked you what the single reason most people buy, what would that reason be?
Now if you’ve ever studied sales, you’d probably answer self-interest.
And I would have to tell you – you’re probably wrong.
Now while self-interest is EXTREMELY important, if not one of the most important things, there’s something that trumps it.
Curiosity.
If an ad can get you to scratch your head wondering what the heck the secret is, then you’ve done an amazing job.
Not only is curiosity important for the ad in general, it’s absolutely critical for headlines and bullets.
There always has to be an element of curiosity in them to make them work and produce winners.
Did you know that during a conversation with one of his students (Scott Haines), Gary Halbert told him that curiosity was the #1 copy appeal that made people buy.
But, Gary Halbert wasn’t the only one who used curiosity in his sales letters.
Mel Martin, the best copywriter nobody’s heard of, also used curiosity in his sales letters.
In fact, the ads he wrote for Boardroom that propelled them to an 9 figure company, were ALL curiosity. The ads he wrote were all bullets laced with curiosity.
But does this mean your whole ad should be just curiosity stacked on top of curiosity?
No, not at all.
You can definitely go overboard to the point of annoying your reader.
There’s two things you can do to prevent this from happening:
1) Combine curiosity with self-interest. This is the ultimate combo when it comes to bullets and headlines. If you could wrap a benefit with curiosity, you’ve already won. Example: “How A One-Legged Golfer Can Help You Drive The Ball Farther”. That headline makes you curious because it involves a one-legged golfer, and it has a benefit. You can use this technique not only in your headline but throughout your entire ad.
2) Give away good info throughout your ad. If you let everything in your ad be a tease, then eventually you’re going to annoy a few people. You can give some information out in your body copy or even in your bullets. Make 2-3 bullets be a complete tease and then throw in a complete give-away bullet. Not only does this establish reciprocity, proof, authority but it also keeps them on their toes and makes them really read through your ad.
So, there you have it. Keep this in mind the next time you’re writing an ad.
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