How to write good copy? Here’s a [universal little formula] for you!

Although some people say that there is a group of mobs behind the viral video that has spread over 100,000 times. But what I saw were three other words: concern, recognition, and shock.

The reason why the copy has over 100,000 views is not as simple as clickbait , swearing, or sensationalism, but that the author stands at a higher perspective and talks about things that people really care about, are willing to spread, and are shocked by. That is, the copywriting has a good idea, and the article is profound and thoughtful.

So next I’m going to briefly share the universal copywriting formula I summarized while I was writing, which can quickly improve your ideas - the Four Quadrants Method of Ideation: identify the two basic dimensions, grasp the two contradictory aspects of positive and negative, and resolve the contradictions dialectically.

1. Two basic dimensions

People are thinking reeds, worrying every day about whether they should eat fried chicken or lose weight. Should I confess my feelings or should I be reserved? Should I resign, or should I hold on? In a nutshell, people are concerned about how to get along with the outside world every day. Therefore, when writing a copy, you must grasp these two basic dimensions: people and the outside world. Taking recent articles as an example, almost all popular articles are based on these two dimensions.

Ms. Mi Meng :

o "My Ex-husband Got Married and I Held the Wedding" is about how a wife (a person) should get along with her ex-husband (the outside world);

o "The biggest lie I've ever heard is 'I'll treat you to a meal some other day'" talks about how (people) should get along with hypocritical friends (the outside world);

o "You guys go marry for love, I just want to marry for money" talks about how (people) should get along with love and money (the outside world).

Six Gods Leilei:

o "In the workplace, singing and giving likes also require qualifications" talks about how employees (people) get along with seniority in the workplace (the outside world);

o "You think Yu Xiuhua is a farmer first, I think she is a woman first" is about how a farmer woman (a person) gets along with poetry (the outside world);

o "To live up to an era, we must see the suffering of that era" talks about how all people (human beings) get along with the era (the outside world).

Reading at 10 o'clock :

o "Education that runs deep in our bones is about accepting the imperfections of others" talks about how (people) get along with imperfect others (the outside world);

o "Two hours after get off work determines the quality of your life" talks about how (people) get along with their spare time (the outside world);

o "A smart woman knows how to stop losses in time" talks about how (people) deal with losses (the outside world).

Therefore, the conception of good copywriting should first start from the two basic dimensions of people and the external world. Articles like "The walls of my house are super tidy" and "I'll give you a universal formula for copywriting ideas" cannot become popular articles. They should be changed to "Why keeping the walls clean can extend my life by 3 years" and "The universal formula that will turn you into a copywriting master, I highly recommend it."

Because the former only mentions the wall and the formula, which has only one dimension; the latter implies a second dimension: how people can improve their lifespan and how people can become copywriting masters.

2. Two contradictions: positive and negative

We know that whenever humans interact with the outside world, there will inevitably be collisions and conflicts. Contradictions are very attractive and shocking. Everyone wants to understand more contradictions and understand themselves more clearly and from more perspectives.

So Yohji Yamamoto said it well, let me just interrupt: Only when you collide with something very strong, something scary, something of a very high level, then you will know what "yourself" is, and this is your true self.

Therefore, a good idea must start with the contradiction. How to find contradictions? China talks about yin and yang, the West talks about logic, to put it simply, it is one positive and one negative.

Take the article "Education deep in the bones is to accept the imperfections of others" as an example. There are two pairs of contradictions in it.

o The paradox of education is: being well-educated (positive) and being uneducated (negative);

o The paradox of perfection is: others are perfect (positive) and others are imperfect (negative)

The conflicts between these two teams form four sets of relationships as shown in the figure.

o If you are well-educated and others are perfect, you get along well and there is no conflict;

o If you are well-educated and others are imperfect, it constitutes a contradiction;

o If you are uneducated and others are perfect, it will be a contradiction;

o If you are uneducated and others are imperfect, then they are the same and there is no contradiction.

Therefore, we will find that only the two sets of relationships that constitute contradictions are somewhat interesting. The two ideas "Why keeping the walls clean can extend my life by 3 years" and "The universal formula for becoming a copywriting master, highly recommended" can be further optimized to become "The walls of my house are very clean, but they actually caused me to live three years less" and "Even if you learn this copywriting formula, you won't become a copywriting master."

3. Resolve contradictions dialectically

Let’s go deeper. Why do people like to find conflicts? Is it to be abused? Of course not. People like to find conflicts because they want to explain and resolve them so that they can gain a sense of accomplishment and growth.

Pointing out a contradiction is equivalent to tying a knot in the reader's mind. The next step is to untie the knot and help the reader resolve the contradiction. A good way to resolve contradictions is Marx and Engels' dialectical thinking.

Let’s take the article “Education that runs deep in our bones is about accepting the imperfections of others” as an example. As shown in the figure, we discarded two sets of non-contradictory relationships and retained two sets of contradictory relationships:

o I am well-educated, others are not perfect

o I am uneducated, but others are perfect

If these two sets of contradictory relationships are not dialectically unified, they are at most just emotions:

o I am well-educated, others are imperfect and unworthy of playing with me;

o I am uneducated, others are perfect, and I don’t want to curry favor with others.

But with dialectical thinking, it is no longer just emotion, it has a certain depth and height:

o I am well-educated. Others are not perfect. I can tolerate them and grow with them.

o I am uneducated, while others are perfect, but a gentleman should strive to emulate the virtuous. I want to get closer to them and force myself to be well-educated.

Therefore, the two ideas "The walls of my house are very tidy, but they caused me to live three years less" and "Even if you learn this copywriting formula, you can't become a copywriting master" can be further optimized to "The walls are very tidy, but they caused me to live three years less, it turns out that..." and "You can't become a copywriting master even if you remember this copywriting formula, unless..." Of course, due to the number of words, they are shortened to: "Tidy walls made me live three years less, because..." and "The formula that copywriting masters must memorize, with detailed explanations of their usage."

4. Give an example

Let me give you a simple example. This article keeps telling you truths, and you find it boring. Then you suddenly have an idea and want to write an article with the theme of "Reasonable People Are Boring". This theme is relatively shallow, so use the four quadrants method to dig deeper:

The first step is to draw two basic dimensions: people and the external world;

The second step is to find four sets of relationships from the positive and negative aspects:

o You are reasonable, and so are others, and you get along well with them, without any conflicts;

o You are reasonable, but others are not, which creates a contradiction;

o You are unreasonable, but others are reasonable, which creates a contradiction;

o If you are unreasonable, and others are unreasonable, it is the same thing, and it does not constitute a contradiction

The third step is to dialectically resolve the contradictions between the two sets of contradictory relationships:

o When facing unreasonable people, you need to be reasonable yourself, so you don’t have to spend time being reasonable;

o He himself is unreasonable, a scoundrel and a loser, and has no right to reason with others;

The idea at this time is a little deeper:

o "I don't hate reasonable people, because I am reasonable"

o "I have no right to hate those who reason with me"

Taking "I don't hate reasonable people, because I am reasonable" as an example, if we condense it a little bit, it becomes "Reasonable people don't hate others to reason with them." This idea is obviously much better than "Reasonable people are boring."

Well, this is the basic application of the four-quadrant method for copywriting conception. We will talk about advanced usage another day when we have time. To summarize: start from the two basic dimensions of people and the external world, grasp the two contradictions of positive and negative, and resolve the contradictions dialectically to form a profound conception.

The author of this article @书虫小小钢 is compiled and published by (青瓜传媒). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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