Copywriting Wisdom from Clayton Makepeace

Clayton Makepeace was a legendary direct response copywriter who passed away this year in March. I had the privilege of working with Clayton on many promotions while I was working at Boardroom, and I will miss him very much.

Fortunately, he left us a treasure trove of copywriting wisdom. Particularly useful was a mastermind session that he did with Brian Kurtz a few years ago for his Titans Marketing group.

I’m sharing some of the more salient point he made at that session, with the hope that direct marketers will learn much from the valuable lessons that he taught us about good direct response copy.

·        Dominant resident emotion. It’s easy to get caught up in the practical applications of your product. However, the truth is that nobody really needs your product. What they need is to save money for their kid’s college education … or to pay off their mortgage … or to have a medical savings account. So why do people buy fancy watches and cars, or spend money on training courses? It’s for emotional reasons. If you try to convince your prospect to purchase your product purely for practical reasons, you are doomed to fail. You must combine strong benefit-laden copy with words that activate dominant resident emotions that your prospect has in relation to your product.

·        Qualification. Make your prospect qualify for an offer. If your target audience is people who are age 50+, tell them they have to be 50 or older to obtain the product. Maybe even make them sign something that they qualify. It could be how much money they have to invest, or how many pounds overweight they are. Sure, some folks will lie in order to qualify, but who cares? The point is that if you utilize some exclusionary device that makes people qualify for an offer, it will make them feel special -- and it will boost your response.

·        Topicality. This is great for email offers. Read the news. Try to incorporate whatever is making the news that day into your subject line and your email offer. Your email will definitely resonate with your readers more – and you will get higher open rates, click rates, and conversions.

·        Deadlines.  Having some deadline is probably the most important response booster you can include in any offer, and it’s one that many marketers ignore. Examples: This offer is good for 10 days only … after 48 hours, the price will go up to the regular price of $99. Deadlines are powerful, and prospects will find it very difficult to walk away from an offer if they know it’s not going to be there soon.

·        Crossroads close. In the crossroads close, you are basically saying that there is no such thing as not making a decision. You either are going to proceed … or not. If you proceed, then these wonderful things are going to happen. If not, these terrible things are going to happen. So not making a decision is actually making a decision. It forces the issue. Here’s a classic example of Clayton’s crossroads close for a financial offer he wrote: “This is your moment of truth. What you do in the next few minutes, hours, and days could determine your financial destiny for the rest of your life.” 

·        Make a friend, make a sale. If you can prove to your prospects that they are like you, they will trust you instinctively because they feel they are a member of your pack. There was a famous headline written by Gary Bencivenga, “Lies! Lies! Lies! Why we investors are sick and tired of everyone lying to us and stealing your money.” The magical words in that headline were “we investors” … immediately he identified himself as being just like his prospects.

·        Empathize. Effective copy will say or imply, “I know exactly where you are at.” Or … “I’ve been there, too.” Or … “I have a lot of friends who are in the same situation.” By doing so, you let your prospects know that you understand their plight. You identify with their fears and frustrations. And so you are deepening their trust in you. They know that they are not alone. And it makes it easier for them to say yes to whatever you are offering.

·        Missing ingredient. There’s a good chance that your prospects have tried other products that are similar to yours. So why would they think your product is any better? The answer is the missing ingredient. It’s not necessarily a physical ingredient … it could be part of a strategy that was missing, or something that could improve your willpower in an exercise program. But you must give them a reason why they still need such a product, and why yours solves their problem. By identifying the missing ingredient, you will be equipped to overcome this obstacle.

·        Value. Some publishers like to say they are in the business of selling books and newsletters. Or if they are selling health ingestibles, they will say they are in the supplements business. The truth is that whatever you might be selling, you are in the business of bringing value to people’s lives in a way in which they are willing to pay for it. By thinking along these lines, you will suddenly put your customer first, rather than your product … and you will be in a much better position to bring them value.

·        False closer.  The TV infomercial folks mastered this approach with the classic line, “But wait…there’s more!” Just when you think the promotion is over, you provide another benefit. It could be an extra free gift. Perhaps an additional discount. Or another incentive. And by that time, your prospect will find it more difficult to say no, because you have just provided him or her with something extra to sweeten the deal.

·        Romance the offer. Let’s say you have an offer that’s 50% off. You can say half price. You can mention the dollar savings. That’s all well and good. What’s better is if you can trivialize the price. Examples: That’s less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks once a day for a week. That’s less than what you would pay to fill up your car with a tank of gas. I bet you could find that much money in your ashtray in the car. Find a way to romance the offer by comparing it to something else that seems trivial.

Thank you, Clayton, for providing us with such timeless wisdom!

Michael Feldstein is the founder and owner of MGF Marketing (mgfmarketing.com), a direct marketing consulting firm. He can be reached at michaelfeldsteinmarketing@gmail.com