How to write contrasting copy so that users can’t resist it?

Whenever it is necessary to write copy for a new product, most people usually think about how to refine the selling points of the product first, and then polish it a little. For example, taking the most popular knowledge payment as an example, an APP may say: Hundreds of super celebrities are online at the same time to share their knowledge.

The product selling points have been mentioned, the advantages have been demonstrated, and everything is reasonable. However, the mistake in this copy is that it makes consumers focus on the product itself first, rather than on itself. A study of the vast majority of successful copywriting in the market shows that they often make consumers focus on themselves first rather than on the product.

If a clothing e-commerce company wants to highlight the product selling points of "new fashion and many styles", it may first say: "The forefront of fashion trends, millions of styles for you to choose from." And let users pay attention to their own copywriting first: "Looking beautiful is a capital, dressing beautifully is a skill."

So how can you get him/her to pay attention to you first?

For example, a knowledge payment app can use the four levels of comparative psychology to say:

Spend a year to make yourself a great person - hope

30 minutes a day, read a book carefully - expected

Don't let your future self hate your present self -

Your opponents are secretly learning - others

Why do you have to let it pay attention to you first? Instead of the product?

Modern consumers are exposed to approximately 4,000 advertisements every day, but only a few can be processed by the brain. Essentially, people are born with limited attention spans and can only focus on their own affairs, such as going to work, eating, sleeping, dating, drinking, watching TV series, and other things that have nothing to do with them. No matter how good the selling points of a product are, it has nothing to do with me, right?

At this time, if marketers do not start from the consumers themselves, it will be difficult to grab the consumers' attention.

If the consumers themselves do not recognize the problem, they will not have any motivation to change. People's standards for judging whether things are good or bad can only be achieved through comparison. There is no harm without comparison. People not only compare themselves with others, but also with what they hope to get , what they expect, and what is in the past.

Through comparison, consumers will find the difference between reality and ideal and form new consumer demands. Only then will the product have a chance to enter the eyes of consumers and meet their needs.

For example, the knowledge payment APP mentioned above, if it simply says that hundreds of super experts are sharing their knowledge online at the same time, the selling point is very good, but what does this have to do with me? It's like a boss talking about big ideals with an employee who is short of money, instead of asking him to work harder so he can get a raise next month.

By shifting the focus from the product's selling point to the consumers themselves and letting them focus on themselves first, we can create a gap between reality and ideal.

Spend a year making yourself a great person, and use the comparison between what you have now and what you want to achieve to help consumers recognize their own differences.

Spend 30 minutes a day reading a book, taking advantage of the contrast between present and future , and meeting the difference between consumer behavior and intention.

Don’t let your future self hate your present self. Use the contrast between the present and the past to stimulate consumers’ avoidance psychology.

Your competitors are secretly learning to use the comparison between themselves and others to stimulate consumers' social comparison psychology.

How should these four levels of comparison be used in copywriting? Below we will see the specific application scenarios of these four comparison levels:

Now - I want to compare psychology

Only when consumers are dissatisfied with the status quo will they desire to pursue something better. Dissatisfaction with the status quo is something they want to get, but it cannot be achieved. Suddenly, a certain product appears that can achieve it, and this demand will be activated, for example:

• Everyone wants to be a master, but not everyone has the endurance to become a master. There is a gap between hope and reality. At this time, a product that says "Spend a year to become a master" just fills this gap.
• žSome people hope to be more beautiful, but there is a big gap between some people’s appearance and what they hope to get. At this time, the plastic surgery hospital fills the gap by saying “you can be more beautiful”.
• Five years ago, everyone was eager to own a smartphone. The market price of mainstream smartphones was generally around 3,000 yuan, but the cost budget was too high, and many people could only buy ordinary products that could not play large-scale mobile games . At this time, Xiaomi filled the gap by launching low-priced, high-performance smartphones.

Well, how do we apply this comparative psychology in copywriting?

Usually, this type of copywriting is to remind consumers that they want something that they cannot achieve now, and I can satisfy them better . The specific form of the copywriting is:

“I want unfamiliar scenery and windows, but I also want familiar breakfast and bed” - Shangtujia

"Han's will give back to you what God owes you" - A plastic surgery hospital

"I found a 5000 yuan replacement for Jiang Shuying's 5,000 yuan coat"

In short, at this comparison level, consumers have always wanted to meet a certain demand in the past but have never been able to do so. When your product can find an alternative or better solution, it will reignite consumer demand, and consumers will be more willing to accept your product.

Now-Expected Comparison Psychology

Usually people's behavior is often very different from their expectations. Sometimes it's not that they don't want to do it, but other factors hinder their behavior and cause people to experience failure , such as:

• Many people are determined to lose weight, but often cannot resist the temptation of delicious food.
• I often buy a lot of books and collect a lot of good articles, but in the end I spend all my reading time on news, gossip, and popular TV series.
• The doctor reminds us to take medicine on time, but sometimes we are too busy to take medicine.

At this time, consumers have faced obstacles or failures, and the emergence of a certain product reminds consumers that it can well meet the gap between behavior and intention, so this product is more easily accepted by consumers.

The specific application forms in the copywriting are as follows:

30 minutes a day to read a book carefully - in the past, it took a long time to read and think about the essence of a book, and the process would be hindered by various factors, resulting in many books being bought without being read. Now, you can grasp the essence of a book during your commute.

" Keep , the fitness coach in your mobile phone" - In the past, if you wanted to exercise properly, you had to spend money and arrange time every day to go to the gym to consult a fitness coach. Now you can enjoy professional fitness tutorials anytime and anywhere.

"What you care about is the headline" - in the past, information push on other platforms was standardized, and individuals who wanted to read content that interested them had to spend time searching slowly. Now, based on your interests, you can get accurate reading content recommendations.

At this comparison level, this demand is only established if the consumer has tried other products in the past and experienced obstacles or failures, and your product can better satisfy him/her.

Now-Once Comparative Psychology

Even moving out of the palace to a slightly inferior luxurious residence is unacceptable, but moving from a thatched hut into a brick house is a blessing. If things get worse than in the past, people will develop a kind of "fear of falling" in status, and this anxiety will make people desperately try to maintain the status quo.

• Americans cannot stand even the slightest setback. When Trump and Hillary were running for election, Hillary's policy proposals were globalization strategies and ways to legalize refugees. Trump believed that all the current setbacks in the United States were caused by its favorable foreign policies. He wanted to safeguard the interests of American citizens, and his policy proposal of "making America great again" just catered to the nerves of the American people.
• žToday, the successful business cases in the media and the endless new concepts often attract people's attention and inspire people's "fear of falling" that if they cannot keep up with the times, they will be eliminated by society. The emergence of knowledge payment has alleviated people's anxiety.
• žPeople who have built a good figure will keep going to the gym to maintain it.
• ž Baidu will bet on artificial intelligence at all costs to consolidate its position

So how should this level of comparative psychology be applied specifically?

You just need to remind consumers that if they don’t change now (use my product), they will suffer a loss of status compared to the past or the future, for example:

"This era is eliminating those who are unwilling to learn" - Suntech Institute

"The pride of one's hometown should not be a wanderer in the city" - a real estate advertisement

"Don't let your future self hate your present self" - Knowledge Payment APP

Self-other comparison psychology

In life, people cannot avoid comparing themselves with others, such as colleagues, friends, opponents, and the kids next door. When we make upward social comparisons, we will have negative emotions, but when we make downward social comparisons, we will feel satisfied. The more common ones are:

• žPeople are willing to accept that I am bad but better than him in academic performance, but not willing to accept that I am good but worse than him.
• ž WeChat red envelopes see who gets the most, those with the most are happy, and those with the least are frustrated.
• In order to grab a place on the WeChat step count rankings , some people would stay up late at night and walk around with their phones in hand.
• We often see some tests in the circle of friends , such as left and right brain tests and net worth tests, which are all to meet the comparison results with others.

So how should the product copy be written at this time?

Note: When using comparison, if there is a huge gap between the people and the consumers, the pit is too big and the consumers have no ability to change (such as ordinary people and Jack Ma ), or if the pit is too small and no one feels dissatisfied (such as rich people and poor people), then you need to find people with similar attributes to the consumers for the product, such as: colleagues sitting next to you, competitors, classmates, and friends.

"Another friend is getting married, and you are obviously better" - MarryU high-end marriage and dating platform

"Your competitors are secretly learning" - Knowledge payment APP

"In the same ten minutes, others just scroll through their social media, but you have to think about a new marketing problem here at Kexue."

In this comparison level, you only need to show that consumers are in a backward/superior situation compared to people with similar attributes, and using your product can solve this problem well or get more than others.

Conclusion

People tend to maintain the status quo, especially when they need to pay financial costs. So when writing copy for a product, you must let consumers pay attention to it first, create a gap between reality and ideal, and the product will have more opportunities. There are only four ways to make TA pay attention to themselves first:

Spend a year to make yourself a great person - now - hope

30 minutes a day, read a book carefully - now - expected

Don't let your future self hate your present self - now - once

Your opponents are secretly learning about themselves and others

The author of this article @柯学 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services, advertising platform, Longyou Games