Who Are You Calling A Moron?
Author: Lisa Sparks

Keep in mind there may be a good A recent chat with a friend
reminded me of a copywriting lesson I learned long ago in a
place far-far way (Philly): Never insult your audience. Easier
said than done? Maybe. But we know there's a fine line between
insulting your audience and completely alienating them. Thank
God there's a solution:

Give your copy the "moron" test. I learned this during my days
at a large business-to-business newsletter publishing company.
We'd give our headlines a test to see if we could put an
insulting name at the end of them - in turn killing off the
headline.

Here's an example:

Have You Complied with HR 1091?

Try adding "moron" to the end of that question. Flows pretty
nicely doesn't it? It's almost like you're a school teacher
with a ruler standing over the reader.

You can change it to:

HR 1091 Requires Compliance by Jan. 1

Using this fact-based approach lets the reader ask his or her
own compliance questions. Give the information or the germ of
an idea and allow the reader to follow up on his or her own. We
want to inspire thought and then subtly direct action.

Though I gave a headline as an example, you can apply the
"moron" test to any part of your copy, especially the
questions.

What's the difference between an insult and a gentle nudge in
your product or service's direction? I've seen a few campaigns
(via e-mail) where it's obvious the goal is to shame the reader
into action. An e-mail I recently received from expert e-mail
marketer Stephen Pierce of the Whole Truth read, "Have you done
this yet?"

Moron could easily be added to the end of that question. And
though he didn't want to insult, he did want to get the
reader's attention - and that's just what he did. The
well-written letter that accompanied that subject line was a
gem - no doubt winning Stephen tons of sign-ups for his
teleseminar.

The Bottom Line

With the prevalence of books from the "For Dummies" series
you'll have to weigh whether your audience has no qualms about
being called a moron (or a dummy as the case may be). So
measure your audience's reaction to different tones of voice
and approaches. Use these steps to create a test group of
subscribers to try out your more creative e-mail newsletters
and campaigns:

1. Randomly gather 15 to 20 names from your list and only send
them your more alternative campaigns while sending the rest of
your list more traditional information.

2. Ask you test group for feedback on the campaigns.

3. Monitor the group's actions. Do they unsubscribe, click
through or just open your e-mails?

4. Integrate some of your more successful ideas into the
traditional information you give the rest of your list.

This way you have a relatively safe place to test out your
tones of voice. With this technique you can find out whether
your list loves - or hates - the whole moron/dummy approach to
marketing.


About The Author: Boost traffic, get more leads and increase
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