Don’t say I didn’t warn you…
For a long time now, I’ve been pounding the pulpit about how if you focus on TACTICS, you’re going to have trouble with your marketing.
That is, you hear someone tests a bright gold button and it works, so you test a bright gold button. Someone writes headlines to a certain formula, and you copy that formula. Someone uses this gimmick or that, and you copy that.
Can it work? Absolutely!
And yet…
It can absolutely backfire, too.
Because when you only understand something at a tactical level (such as when you write a headline that says, “We tested this strange Facebook moneymaking method, and you’ll never believe what happened next…”) you’re going to become irrelevant faster than Gangnam Style.
I’m about to drop a HUGE bomb on you, with regards to direct response copywriting.
In fact, I’m even going to tell you that the old tactics for direct response copywriting are DEAD.
Then, because PRINCIPLES and STRATEGIES are eternal, I’m going to share the principles and strategies I use today as a control-beating copywriter to get around the fact that old-school direct response copywriting tactics are dying.
I’ll share the mindset it takes to beat controls and generate response TODAY…
First: The death of direct response copywriting…
A huge hat tip to my friend from down under and occasional correspondent Liam Donnelly for bringing this to my attention, via a video on Facebook.
Turns out HubSpot and Outbrain partnered up for some research on what actually works in headline writing today.
For reference, HubSpot is software for sales teams and marketers. But the data came from Outbrain, who bills themselves as “the world’s largest content discovery platform.” Outbrain manages all those ads you see at the bottom of news articles. And every month, Outbrain delivers in excess of 190 billion content recommendations to 561 million unique visitors — and tracks every single click.
Because Outbrain gets paid when their advertisers get clicks, they like to do research into helping their advertisers get more response to their ads.
And for reference, an Outbrain ad is an image and a headline. That’s it.
As a user, you click or don’t click based on seeing the image, reading the headline/caption, and making a split-second decision.
So Outbrain and HubSpot started digging into that data. They started looking at which headlines get clicks…
And, importantly, which don’t.
They discovered something SHOCKING!
I’ll get to that in a moment.
First, I want you to take a look at this list…
— Easy
— How to
— Credit
— Cure
— Magic
— Free
— You/your/you’re
— Best
— Always
— Simple
— Tip
— Trick
— Amazing
— Secret
— Need
— Now
Reads like a list of smart words to include in your headline, right?
WRONG!
They dug into Outbrain’s data. They looked at over 3.3 million headlines, that were tested across 100,000+ sites, over nearly 12 months.
… And, drum roll…
These “classics” of direct response copy actually DECREASED click-through rates on the ads!
Eat that, Caples!
Alright. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on Caples. He was one of many who taught those words as headline “magic words.” And the list doesn’t line up 1:1 with his headline recommendations.
But…
The trend is clear.
What used to work best in direct response is NOT guaranteed to work best today.
You have to be flexible.
You can’t lean on formulas.
In fact, it’s worth considering whether the words above work poorly today because formulaic marketers relied on them for so long.
Lazy marketers used formulas, and probably were lazy in paying off their promises, and so the consumers’ BS filters got turned up for anyone using these “proven” words.
So today if you use those words, you’ll get less clicks and less attention. Which will have negative impacts all the way through your funnel.
Now: The mindset shift to creating click-worthy headlines and interesting copy…
Buried in the bottom of a drawer in my office is a stack of 3X5 cards on which I wrote all the classic headline formulas.
It was a good way to learn basic direct response tactics.
But, I haven’t pulled out that ol’ stack of note cards in years.
Today, when I sit down and write a headline, I don’t even think about formulas.
Instead, I try to mix up three different personalities into one:
— The Reporter
— The Mentor
— The Friend
The reporter investigates really interesting news stories and reports on them. The mentor is a teacher of sorts, someone who can introduce you to a better version of yourself, but who does so in a non-formal way. And the friend shows you cool things that they know you’ll like.
Notice that NONE of these roles is “Copywriter.” Even though I’m writing direct response copy.
Instead, I’m there to report the interesting news, to serve as a guide to a better future, and to encourage them like a friend would.
There’s nothing about any of those roles that would have me promising a “Free Magic Secret Trick For Your Best Amazing Future Now.”
It’s more candid. More reserved. And ultimately, much more believable.
The focus isn’t on the gimmicks.
The focus is on the underlying message I’m looking to get across.
(Which should probably be a powerful big idea, in line with what I teach in High-Velocity Copywriting. That’s definitely NOT a headline writing course, for all the reasons you’ve just read.)
Okay — enough of the shock treatment — so is direct response really dead?
Yes, and no.
Great direct response companies are still flourishing. And great direct response copywriters are still bringing in serious sales through the PRINCIPLES and STRATEGIES of effective direct response.
But the tides have turned.
You can’t just promise the moon, using tired old formulas.
Today’s approach is more subtle. More value-driven.
Whether you’re talking a one-shot sales message designed to convert cold prospects, or an in-depth, multi-part funnel, you need to be more about the message than about the gimmicks.
Find the right message and the people it will resonate with, and tell it to them in the most compelling way possible. (And without the weary words above.)
That’s the new life of direct response.
Direct response is dead. Long live direct response.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
