One of the secrets to writing good copy is being able to understand the “uncomfortable truths” of human nature.
For example…
A friend of mine in the conservative niche recently hired a copywriter that got him a 41% increase in conversions on his VSL.
Pretty awesome, right?
Well…not exactly.
You see my friend never actually reviewed the copy that his copywriter wrote.
It just went into production…
And his team put the VSL up.
However, after the new copy won by such a large margin, my friend decided to watch the VSL to see why it was converting so well.
Well, this was his “uncomfortable truth” moment.
He clicked play on the VSL…
And sat there stunned at what he was watching…
The whole lead was filled with thinly veiled racism against Mexicans, blacks and middle easterners.
He couldn’t believe it.
He was shocked that his copywriter even thought to write something like this…
And he was even more shocked that the copy was working so well!
I remember him calling me a few days after this to get my thoughts on it.
He explained the whole situation…
And how he was baffled by the fact that it was working.
Honestly when he told me the story, I just kind of chuckled at how naive he was to who his market really was.
The fact that this lead was working was NOT surprising to me.
Having grown up in small town Ohio (around the guys who are his target market), I heard a LOT of this when I was younger.
This is how guys who work construction jobs think…
This is how guys who work 12-hour shifts at the Ford plant think…
They think Mexicans are stealing their jobs…
They think black people are thugs…
And they think anyone from the middle east is a terrorist.
That’s a very uncomfortable truth.
But it is a truth (as evidenced by the fact that this lead was working so well).
So what’s my point with all this?
It’s this…
Part of being a good marketer is being able to address uncomfortable truths in your market.
If you’re selling dating advice to 55 year old divorced men, you need to be ok with the fact that they probably want to sleep with 19 year-old women.
Or if you’re selling anti-aging to women, you need to be ok with digging into all the insecurities they have about being “invisible” and getting most of their self worth from their looks.
Like I said these are uncomfortable truths…
But they are truths.
So it’s your job as a marketer to be able to SEE the uncomfortable truths (and to not sweep them under the rug and act like they don’t exist).
Make sense?
I hope so…
Cause that’s all I got for ya today.
Enjoy your Wednesday.
– Justin
P.S. – Since I know some people will ask…
My friend ended up scrapping the lead with the thinly veiled racism. He wasn’t comfortable running it and being associated with it.
I think this ties in with what I’m saying. Just because something works, doesn’t mean you have to use it. But you still need to be aware of these uncomfortable truths about your buyers.
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Note: If you like the insights I share in my emails, you may be interested in working with me in my mentoring program.
You’ll get to learn from me, Stefan Georgi and a group of A-list copywriters every single day.
We’ve already helped hundreds of copywriters hit multiple 6-figures in income like Amber Peoples, Tanner Henkel, Mario Castelli, Scott Connorton, Michael Rochin, Scott Mills, Krista Edsall and more.
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If you want to work with us, get feedback on your copy, and potentially 2-5x where you’re at now…
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-> Mentor under Justin & Stefan
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