Page 19 - 100 Great Copywriting Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

3 HEADLINE IDEA—YOUR
READER IS SELFISH

You can’t be a copywriter without also being a student of human
nature. Oh, OK, you can . . . If you’re content to churn out lines
like “As a valued customer, I’m delighted to tell you we’ve totally
redesigned our website.” But on the assumption this doesn’t
apply to you, it means you are curious about what makes people
tick. And by now you should have discovered that people are
basically selfish.

That just means they want to know why they should do whatever
you’re asking them to. The old “What’s in it for me?” question. And
so, in your headlines, you could do a lot worse than to address their
self-interest directly.

The idea

From John Caples, legendary copywriter
When you’re selling, it pays to reach out to your reader’s
motivations. But a lot of copywriters start off by trying to make
people feel motivated, maybe by explaining a problem or creating
anxiety about a bad situation. Here’s a newsflash: you can’t make
people feel motivation. All you can do is identify what they’re already
motivated by and address that issue.

When you’re writing a headline, why not assume that there’s a
readymade audience for your pitch out there and all you have to
do is call to them by using their motivation? Their self-interest, in
other words.

10 • 100 GREAT COPYWRITING IDEAS