Get Better Results from Your Marketing with Great Copywriting

The technology we use as marketers has changed a lot in the past 40 years, but human nature hasn’t. So if your job requires you to capture the attention of prospective customers – and induce them to action – you should learn the marketing techniques used long ago by the masters of persuasion.

A great copywriter can make the difference between profit or loss on a mailing or email campaign. In the heyday of direct mail marketing — which I define as the 1960’s and 1970’s — a small group of hard-working, talented marketers created a very profitable industry. Fortunately for us, they were prolific writers who loved to share in great detail “how they did it.”

One of the best marketing writers was Herschell Gordon Lewis, who worked as a direct mail copywriter, consultant and professor for many decades. One of my favorite Lewis books is “Direct mail copy that sells!” In that 1984 book, Lewis shared some of his proven secrets for direct marketing success.

12 Rules for Overcoming Your Readers’ Skepticism

  1. If You Make a Claim, Prove It
  2. Don’t Lie
  3. Tie Your Claims to Credible Testimonials
  4. Don’t Clown
  5. Imply Bulk or Community Acceptance
  6. Personalize
  7. Be Positive and Specific
  8. Cut Down the Puffery
  9. Don’t Assume Your “In” Terminology Is Familiar To The Public
  10. Showing Innocence or Artlessness Can Prove Your Sincerity
  11. Tie Newness to an Established Base
  12. Don’t Make Something Big Out of Something Little

Direct Mail = Action Now

While appealing to intellect and reason, an effective direct marketing message also needs to spur action. This is done by using some combination of what Lewis called “The Four Great Motivators”:

  1. Fear
  2. Guilt
  3. Greed
  4. Exclusivity

An Interesting Life Leads to Interesting Marketing

Like many other great marketers, Herschell was a man of varied interests. He was the self-proclaimed “Godfather of Gore” for his writing and direction of a few dozen low-budget horror movies. Some have credited him with creating the “Splatter Film” genre of movies. He also worked in advertising (which funded his movies), was a college professor of advertising, and wrote several books on copywriting and direct mail marketing.

The copywriting and direct mail marketing lessons from Herschell still apply today. Make good use of them in your preferred marketing tactics.