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The Difference Between Great and Average Copy
By Jeff Sexton
September 25th, 2008
Great copy communicates the emotional truth of your message; mediocre copy simply conveys information. Want to see the difference between the two approaches? Watch this video:
Copywriters worry about nuances, mental images, and word associations because the emotions behind your words matter. Never let anyone tell you different.
*Hat tip to Jim Anderson for sending me the video link.
P.S. If you like this post, be sure to read my follow-up analysis.
In Copywriting
About the author
Jeff is a Persuasion Architect, Web copywriter, blogger, and instructor of FutureNow's Persuasive Online Copywriting workshop. Follow Jeff Sexton on twitter
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September 25th, 2008
3:22 pm
That just made my day….
September 25th, 2008
3:37 pm
WOW- what an emotional rush I just got. Thanks
September 25th, 2008
3:59 pm
I’m smile’n.
Thanks!
September 25th, 2008
3:59 pm
Totally amazing. For sure I just got all choked up in the office. Thanks for sharing. It’s so, so true.
September 25th, 2008
4:32 pm
That was absolutely wonderful! I put it on my favorites on YouTube… definitely a great example of how re-wording your copy can make a WORLD of difference.
September 25th, 2008
4:34 pm
Literally took my breath away….
September 25th, 2008
4:49 pm
A angel with a beard
September 25th, 2008
5:07 pm
The truth of the message…Thanks for sharing
September 25th, 2008
5:12 pm
I have a folder which I enclude inspirational messages. This one definitely goes in that folder. Thank you the “eye-opener”.
September 25th, 2008
5:42 pm
TERRIFIC MESSAGE!
September 25th, 2008
6:55 pm
OMG, it was so inspirational, so simply executed but so powerful. It was awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Kathy
September 25th, 2008
7:04 pm
The visual and spoken can’t be beat, Kudo’s
September 29th, 2008
11:07 am
Thanks so much for sending this. I had an entire presentation prepared for my marketing team on the value of good copy. Needless to say it is now in the trash and we’ll be watching the video instead.
September 29th, 2008
12:04 pm
Fantastic video, very thoughtful. It really drives home the idea of attaching emotion to your message. I will certainly be thinking back to this video when I’m writing copy.
September 29th, 2008
12:09 pm
It is a beautiful day, and you helped me see it. Thank you.
September 29th, 2008
1:18 pm
Copy that goes beyond your eyes to your heart; like Hemingway selling cheese…. It tastes better paired with the message…
September 29th, 2008
1:45 pm
Brought tears to my eyes. Would that I could do the same with my copy. Thanks so much for sharing.
September 29th, 2008
4:06 pm
Thanks for this emotional post!
September 30th, 2008
4:40 am
Switching the message from ‘have compassion for me’ to ‘how lucky are you’ is the trigger that connects, creates an emotional response and demands action of some kind from the viewer.
September 30th, 2008
10:53 pm
Just great! Simple and strict to the point. Words should connect people through emotions.
Thanks for sharing
Patricia (Argentina)
October 1st, 2008
5:44 pm
Great video, great message. Now imagine that the guy in the suit worked for a corporation, and his boss asked him to come up with the words for the beggar’s sign.
His sentence would have been made into a paragraph by Corporate, watered down by Legal, and politically corrected by Human Resources. I’m thinking it would be a completely different message by then.
Uh oh, I think my cynacism is showing again.
October 4th, 2008
1:44 pm
Truly a great video. Very emotional indeed and a great approach to copy.
October 6th, 2008
10:01 am
I already thought my copy needed work….
Now I know how much! Ouch!
What a great video though, thanks for sharing.
Bill
http://www.RocketfuelSigns.com/blog/
October 6th, 2008
11:26 am
Esta bien
Sean
October 6th, 2008
12:02 pm
clavado! that was sweet.
October 7th, 2008
10:54 am
amazing how clear the real message becomes when it is from one heart to another’s when we take the time to look deeply enough. this video is a sincere conversation without a word being spoken.
I would love to see more examples.
October 7th, 2008
11:00 am
Tough to write copy with tears streaming down my face…but well worth it!
Thanks so much.
Jenny
October 7th, 2008
6:15 pm
Wow, that was truly amazing.
October 8th, 2008
10:23 pm
Major chills — a point extremely well made.
October 11th, 2008
1:19 pm
Great Video from FutureNowInc: Difference Between Great And Average Copy…
Is Your Website Copy This Good?
……
October 22nd, 2008
1:38 am
[...] This post is courtesy of the kind folks at Grokdotcom, but I wanted to add the media as well. There is no point me rewriting great commentary, so I’ve posted their analysis here. [...]
October 31st, 2008
1:39 am
One word. Bravo.
November 12th, 2008
5:57 pm
What we take for granted!!??
Thank You for making this beautiful film!
February 1st, 2009
11:40 am
[...] Tip to The Grok for originally [...]
March 6th, 2009
10:01 am
[...] Marketing sucks if your MLS property descriptions, advertising, marketing and promotional copy is tarted up with lame ass ad speak or bloated with cottage-cheese-cliche cellulite. You gotta make “magic” not “monotone”. Here’s an example of crap copy and great copy. [...]
March 7th, 2009
4:45 pm
[...] Marketing sucks if your MLS property descriptions, advertising, marketing and promotional copy is tarted up with lame ass ad speak or bloated with cottage-cheese-cliche cellulite. You gotta make “magic” not “monotone”. Here’s an example of crap copy and great copy. [...]
March 10th, 2009
6:39 am
[...] Marketing sucks if your MLS property descriptions, advertising, marketing and promotional copy is tarted up with lame ass ad speak or bloated with cottage-cheese-cliche cellulite. You gotta make “magic” not “monotone”. Here’s an example of crap copy and great copy. [...]
April 7th, 2009
11:55 am
thanks for the share!
April 22nd, 2009
10:07 am
Really cool video! I had no idea where it was going for the first half. It really puts it all together in the last 10 seconds!
October 28th, 2009
3:28 pm
So cool!!!