How to make people WANT your products

As I explained in last week’s post, people don’t buy what they need, they buy what they WANT. And these “wants” can be triggered in the prospect’s mind by summoning common emotional buying states in your copywriting. The most common buying emotions you can use are: greed, fear, flattery, guilt, exclusivity, anger and redemption.
As a matter of fact, this strategy is being used on you a lot more than you’d imagine. All you need to do is flip through a magazine or watch some television. As you do, try to identify the emotion being used on each ad. Go ahead and do it now before reading this information. When you’re done, come back because we’re about to go over the bases for these emotions and how to gear your copy toward at least one of them.
The chart below will come in very handy as you write. As a matter of fact, you might want to print or save this image and keep it handy as a reference tool.

The emotional basis for your copy will greatly depend on your target audience as well as the product or service you are offering. You can either use the emotion in its current context, OR pull out a desired response. For example, if you are selling self-improvement e-books to women seeking to lose weight, you would most likely choose one of the following: fear, flattery, guilt, anger or redemption.

Fear

Because most have tried to lose weight and failed… many times before. They are tired of the yo-yo effect. They don’t mind paying for help, but they are tired of being taken advantage of.

Flattery

Because every woman wants to feel good and look good. By describing the compliments the woman will receive on her figure, you can trigger an emotional response geared toward something she will receive rather than something she currently has.

Guilt

Because most women will put themselves last. Their family, friends and work come before they do. Guilt most likely would not apply to men in this situation as men don’t harbor the same emotional standing as women do in this area. However, women need to know that doing something for them IS all right – and in this case will also benefit their families, friends and employers due to the improved health they’ll receive with weight loss.

Anger

Because “all those other weight loss methods were a bunch of garbage!” I have several overweight friends who have said those exact words. They are mad because books, ads and literature make it look “so easy” and “so permanent” and many weight loss plans aren’t. They are angry because it isn’t working for them.

Redemption

Because many women (whether it is true or not) will “blame” their apparent inability to lose weight on their thyroid, arthritis (so can’t exercise), lack of time, lack of money or a number of other things. Granted… many of these are legitimate complaints, however often times people are simply looking for someone to offer solutions to all their problems before they act.
So the foundation of your weight loss ad could be any of the above emotions… or a combination of 2 or more. You could create a strategy that consisted of introducing anger (“I know you’re tired of companies who make outlandish promises they don’t keep…”) go into flattery (“…but you truly CAN achieve your weight goals and have romantic glances thrown your way from across the room…”) and then to redemption (“…even with your hectic schedule…”). If you have the space (such as on a website, a direct mail piece, an infomercial script, etc.) this is the best way to handle it.