If you’re steeped in the direct response classics, you’ve heard it been said that the goal of advertisement is NOT to entertain. Make entertainment your goal and you’ve got a failed ad. Why? Because if entertainment is your goal, you’ll be pulled off course from accomplishing THE goal of every good ad – which is to sell! And you’ll start making decisions that disrupt the persuasive flow of your piece, killing its conversion rate.
However.
If while seeking to persuade you can make your copy interesting…
Fun to read…
Dare I say it – entertaining…
(And this is especially true in email…)
…people will read your copy. They’ll enjoy it. And they’ll come back for more.
i.e. Whenever they see new material that you’ve put out, they’ll be predisposed to open it and read it.
So how do you be entertaining in a way that doesn’t detract from your precious persuasion?
Here’s one way – do what I’m doing:
Allow yourself to alliterate. Now notice… by bringing words together, that start with the same letter… suddenly my copy sounds suspiciously poetic and ‘poppy.’ Com-prendo? It makes rote reads more magical – casting a spell on the sentences inside… so they sound more slick, and send you into some superb state… where what you once wanted wastes away and all you want now is to read more wonderful words.
Okay.
That was exaggerated.
You probably never want to use alliteration that much.
But start working it into your copy – especially when you’re making important points.
People won’t consciously pick up on it…
They won’t consciously think to themselves, “oh, this author is using alliteration! And I like that!”
But they’ll subconsciously find your copy easier to read. And more interesting.
They’ll like the experience of reading your copy.
And so they’ll keep on coming back for more.
Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t end where I started:
The principles of persuasion should perpetually be your priority.
Always make sure you’re nailing the ideas. The psychology.
And then use things like alliteration to ‘spice things up’ – and that’ll just make good copy better copy.
