It was March 2020, and our kids’ school had closed a few days earlier.
The girls were inside doing (sort of) virtual school work while my wife was upstairs attempting to do speech therapy over Zoom for the first time.
I was piddling around the yard, trying to walk off my anxiety. My mind was playing a game of “worst-case scenario.”
“I need to replace the light bulbs above the front door. That will distract me.”
I dragged the ladder out of the garage, set it up on the porch, and climbed to the top.
The light fixture was old, probably original, and came with the house in 1966. It had a huge glass bowl that you had to remove by unscrewing a pin at the bottom. Then, guide the bowl down, revealing the three candelabra bulbs.
I reached up and turned the pin one-quarter of a turn. POP! I’m startled as I hear the shattering of glass bouncing off the brick wall down to the patio.
Looking down, I see glass everywhere. On the ladder. All over the patio. In the bushes.
Then I see it…
My hand.
Just above my right pointer finger knuckle. Blood everywhere.
I lift my hand toward my face to get a better look. The tendon is visible.
Fast forward two hours, and I’m in the hospital preparing to have it stitched up.
The doctor cleans the wound, then says, “This will sting a little.”
She inserts the needle into the wound and pushes the plunger. It felt like fire.
Then, nothing. Relief.
For the first time in two hours, I could think about something other than the pain.
Sometimes, I think about that feeling when writing copy for a client.
The laser-like focus I had on my problem and the pain I couldn’t ignore.
The needle going in, making the pain worse very briefly.
Then, the relief and freedom I felt when the medicine inside that needle took the pain away completely.
Tension and Release Copy
Copywriting is a practice in tension and release.
We build up the tension by highlighting the customer’s problem and the pain they feel because of it. Then, we make it a little worse by highlighting the consequences of not taking action to solve the problem.
Finally, we position the product or service as the sweet medicine that removes the pain by overcoming the problem.
Every business has a different problem, pain, consequences, and solution, but the process of presenting them to the customer remains the same.
Understand the Story Before You Write the Copy
To create powerful copy for your website, social media, and other marketing efforts, you need to understand the story your customers are living deeply.
This is where you discern what their problem really is, the pain it causes, and the consequences of not overcoming it, and you are able to offer your product or service as a solution.
We use the StoryBrand framework with our clients to map out their customer’s story. StoryBrand is a simple seven-part storytelling framework that simplifies creating marketing copy for your business.
Most businesses make the mistake of not taking the time to truly understand the story their customer is living before paying for marketing and advertising.
Understanding your customer’s story gives you the secret sauce you need to ensure that the money you invest in marketing creates a quality return on that investment.
If you don’t have the right words, nothing else you do will matter.
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