Andy Maslen - Persuasive Copywriting: Using Psychology to Influence, Engage and Sell

Praise for Persuasive Copywriting

Ive been a fan of Andy Maslens copywriting articles for many years. So when I read Persuasive Copywriting , I had high expectations. I wasnt disappointed. The book is packed with practical ideas for writing authentic, response-getting copy. I particularly liked the science-based approach that underlines Andys persuasive writing strategies strategies which Im already incorporating into my own writing.

Steve Slaunwhite, author of The Wealthy Freelancer

Andy knows more than most about selling with words. Now hes written a clear, comprehensive guide to the science and techniques behind powerfully persuasive copywriting. If becoming a much more effective writer in exchange for a few pounds and a days reading sounds like a good deal to you, buy this book.

Tom Albrighton, professional copywriter, founder of ABC Copywriting and co-founder of the Professional Copywriters Network

For the beginner or the established copywriter, this is a refreshing and up-to-date perspective on the emotion and craft of copywriting with handy tools and tips youll reference in the next steps of your career.

Vikki Ross. As well as being an in-demand copywriter for big, well-known brands, Vikki lectures in advertising and created the Twitter hashtag #copywritersunite

If you want to be a better writer, read this book. Andy Maslen shows you how to write in a way that taps into human nature the type of copy that powers business success.

Sonja Jefferson, co-author of Valuable Content Marketing

Persuasive Copywriting collects the secrets known only to professional writers and distils them into smart, clear advice. But keep all this to yourself; we dont want everyone knowing how to do it.

Tim Rich, @66000mph

Andy Maslens latest book is his best so far he takes his subject to a new level that, in my opinion, makes it a must-read for anyone who is interested in influencing, whether they are a writer or not. As a business owner and author who has read many books about writing and influencing I found this one particularly useful because it delves into understanding people first, writing for them second. Its an enjoyable read and one that I will keep going back to in my attempts to persuade and influence in writing.

Sally Bibb, author and founder of Engaging Minds

The Zen master of copywriting, Andy Maslen, gives you countless ideas, crystal-clear strategies and practical real-life scenarios you can put to work in your business today. Plus the exercises are a terrific way to sharpen your copywriting skills and really get your creative juices flowing. Put simply, Persuasive Copywriting should be compulsory reading for anyone who writes anything.

Jed Wylie, author of Make Your Website Sell

This ebook published in 2015 by

Kogan Page Limited

2nd Floor, 45 Gee Street

London EC1V 3RS

UK

www.koganpage.com

Andy Maslen, 2015

E-ISBN 978 0 7494 7400 3

Contents

a question for you from a neuroscientist

L et me begin by asking you a question: are you able to make a truly dispassionate decision? That is, one utterly devoid of emotional influence and based solely on a cold, hard assessment of the cold, hard facts? Of course you are! You might say, slightly affronted, When it really matters, I am able to be purely rational and would not allow myself to be swayed by something as superficial as fluffy as feelings. You are not alone.

But is our dismissal of emotions a little hasty? After all, they are aspects of the psyche that have become stronger and more complex through evolution, suggesting they must confer some sort of advantage. The inherent logic of this notion is one that Antonio Damasio, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, has been arguing for many years.

Professor Damasios main premise is that animals including humans have evolved feelings in order to enhance the salience of a particular, say, dangerous, event, and thus increase our chances of survival. If you were being chased by a bear, for example, you would probably run faster if you felt terrified as well as knowing rationally, That bear wants to eat me. This is also true for positive emotions. Humans are constantly weighing up the salience of different events and options, and our emotions and feelings play a crucial role in ensuring that the decisions we make are right for us and work for us.

The loophole in this crucial survival system is, of course, that it leaves us open to influence. It is here that persuasive copy has an opportunity to shape the perspective of the reader and thus to influence buying choices that feel right. In this book, Andy Maslen provides some strategies and approaches for how this can be done.

Is this some sort of mind-control? Absolutely not. As a neuroscientist I have too much respect for the complexities of the human mind to think it can be pushed around like a shopping trolley. But with the right words, the right stories, you can unlock those drives and motivations the minds owner may be unaware they possess.

It is worth bearing in mind that we humans assign greater importance to more palatable or positive information while conveniently ignoring things we dont really want to hear. This means text that paints a rosy picture of life for the reader once they have made a decision will be read with greater avidity than that which draws attention to the potential downside. Obviously no copywriter would do the latter, but reviewers on social media or shopping sites might.

Sometimes, working out what our true feelings are is difficult, and in these situations Sigmund Freud advised tossing a coin not to blindly follow the outcome but to, look into your own reactions to help you recognize how you really feel about the matter, deep down inside. Ones job as a copywriter is to ensure that, before the tip of the thumb nail clips the edge of the coin to send it spinning into the air, the right decision, deep down, has already been made.

Sian Lewis, PhD Neuropharmacology

Antonio Damasio is a Portuguese-American neuroscientist. He is the David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Southern California and has written several books about consciousness, emotion and neuroscience.

Copywriting and its place in business today

C opywriting used to be an easy word to define. It was the text you saw in press advertisements, direct mail, brochures, posters and catalogues, and saw or heard on TV and radio ads. Words that sold. There are other definitions: some circular copywriting is the writing done by copywriters; some utilitarian copywriting is any writing designed to get a result; some conceptual copywriting is behaviour modification. But none, I think, comes close to encompassing the sheer variety of channels, approaches and purposes involved in contemporary copywriting.

How should we define an activity that includes the algorithmically driven process of attracting software robots (bots) to ensure a high-scoring web page on search engines? The relationship-building inherent in blogging and social media updates? The writing of scripts for webinars and in-app videos? And, of course, the always-with-us, hardnosed selling using the written word in mailshots, e-mail marketing and long-form landing pages?