The Magic Bullet for Effective Copy

To create truly effective copy, you know you have to lead with the benefit to consumer (what’s in it for them), but what else can you do to make your audience take action? You’re about to find out…

Today’s question comes to us from Kevin O., who asks “What can I do to really amp up my copy and get my audience engaged?”

Great question, Kevin. It sounds like you’re already doing some work as a copywriter, so I’m sure you know to lead with the benefit, give a strong call to action and keep your copy within your brand/company’s tone. But you’re right: There is something else you could be utilizing; a “magic bullet”, if you will, to make your copy even more effective. That magic bullet is call the “deep benefit”.

The “deep benefit” brings the consumer’s benefit into real-life scenarios. In order to do this, you have to be sure that you really understand your consumer—rely on your market research, but also be sure that you spend some serious time putting yourself in your customer’s shoes.

In order to identify the deep benefit, begin by identifying the benefit. So, say for example that you’re marketing a smartphone app. Let’s call it the “Activity Alert” app. This app syncs all of someone’s kids’ activities, pick-up times, drop-off times, driving distances to activities and to-do notes with alarms and alerts.

The target audience is busy parents who are trying to juggle their jobs and errands with their children’s many after-school and weekend activities. The benefit of this app is that parents can easily and conveniently keep their kids’ schedules straight without forgetting a thing (or a child!).

Now, to find the deep benefit, take the benefit and identify how this will help them in the real world. What needs does this fulfill? What worries or concerns just this assuage? What emotions can this change, and how?

For our example, these parents are under a lot of pressure and want to make sure that everything runs smoothly and well for their children. Every parent feels like they’re not doing a good enough job at one point or another—and the crazy activity schedule is often a situation that brings these feelings up. So, the deep benefit of our app could be that it allows them to be the perfect parent—they’ll never forget an activity, a snack-duty day or a pick-up or drop-off. They’ll never disappoint themselves and, even more importantly, they’ll never disappoint their children.

What sounds more powerful to you? The benefit of keeping your kids’ schedules straight…or the benefit of never disappointing your children?

Can you see how the deep benefit has an even stronger emotional pull? If you can write copy that contains or even alludes to your deep benefit, it instantly becomes much more compelling. It takes your consumer’s personal understanding of the benefit to a whole new level.

Now, deep benefits may not always be appropriate to use (it depends on the product, the purpose of the message and the medium), but when you can use them, you take your copy to a whole new level of effectiveness.

Your turn! How have you used “deep benefits” to make your copy more effective? Let us know in the comments below!