How to write good copy: Understand the five psychological factors and hit the user's pain points

In this era of text proliferation, there are too many different kinds of copywriting , but very few can touch people's hearts or leave a deep impression, because most copywriting cannot hit the real pain points of users: either they are insignificant points or they are outdated needs.

The so-called pain points refer to deep-seated needs and desires: the user is in a state of physical or psychological deprivation, that is, they feel that something is missing and want to get it. Excellent copywriters are good at winning hearts and minds and have a deep understanding of user psychology, so they can grasp the user's inner needs in a timely manner. The texts they create ultimately cater to user needs, satisfy desires, and fill gaps.

Below, I will analyze in detail how heartfelt copywriting utilizes and satisfies user psychology from five perspectives: curiosity, conformity, emotion, fear, and vanity.

1. Curiosity: pursuit of novelty and uniqueness, and a strong desire to explore

Curiosity is innate and everyone has it. It does not need to be guided and exists naturally in the heart of every user. Users always show great interest in things that are rare, extraordinary, fresh, strange, and unique, and have a very strong desire to explore in order to pursue sensory pleasure and satisfaction.

A very common example is that curiosity often drives us to click on articles that have been forwarded too much in our circle of friends , to see what kind of content can make so many people actively spread it. When we unexpectedly discover that there is only one word or even one punctuation mark in the entire article, this unexpected result satisfies the curiosity of the peeper to the greatest extent.

When curiosity is applied to copywriting, we can create appropriate suspense, or use metaphors, showing thighs but not underwear, leaving endless room for imagination, allowing users to open their minds and come up with all kinds of strange ideas. This allows users to interact well with the copy, while deepening their impression and memory of the copy.

In this regard, Durex is a well-deserved veteran. It uses suspense and metaphors to the fullest extent. Every time it takes advantage of a hot topic, its copywriting will inevitably play word games to whet everyone's appetite and attract wave after wave of onlookers and industry professionals to repeatedly ponder and explore the deep meaning of it, and they enjoy doing so. Durex's copywriting skills and guidance of curiosity are worth our consideration and learning.

For long copywriting, in order to make users patient and interested in reading, the most effective way is to arouse their strong curiosity. On the one hand, at the beginning of the copy, it is best to present a contradiction, set up a mystery, and create an atmosphere in the first sentence to arouse the user's eager anticipation and exploration, so as to achieve the purpose of continuing to read; on the other hand, by setting a title that is novel, suspenseful, or contrary to the norm, it can well drive people's curiosity, and curiosity will further make people want to read the text of the copy.

For example, the long copy of Great Wall Wine , "What happened in the world in the past ten years?" uses a question-like title to leave readers with plenty of room for imagination. Often when readers see the title, the major events of the past ten years accumulated deep in their memory have already been quickly screened in their minds. Readers are eager to confirm their guesses and see if they have been guessed, so they naturally read the text.

2. Herd mentality - behavior tends to be that of the majority, turning pressure into motivation

In order to eliminate conflicts/anxiety/risks, seek belonging/identification, etc., people always try to keep their individual behaviors consistent with the general trend of the group as much as possible, turning the pressure generated by the group's influence into motivation. This is a manifestation of the herd mentality.

Conformity is a common mentality. After the launch of Apple 8, you saw everyone posting jokes and reposting articles in their circle of friends, so you hurried to follow suit, fearing that you would lag behind and appear not trendy enough. When shopping for an air conditioner, your friend told you that her family uses XX brand, and that all her aunts, uncles, and other familiar friends use it. Then you develop the mentality of "since everyone is using it, I might as well try it too", and the probability of you buying the same brand will greatly increase. These are typical examples of conformity in everyday life.

In short, users are happy to lean towards the side of the majority. In other words, users are more likely to resonate with and trust copy that is recognized or affirmed by the group, thus making the product and marketing copy unique in sales power. Among them, the cover copy of many best-selling books takes advantage of the herd mentality. For example, the cover copy of the world-famous children's literature short story "The Little Prince" has large fonts displaying "global sales of more than 200 million copies" . Such a huge readership inadvertently puts invisible pressure on you: people all over the world are reading this book, and if you don't read it, you will be left behind. So, your desire to buy is aroused.

In addition to this group influence created by specific data, some copywriting will choose relatively implicit expressions, for example, Pepsi’s product copywriting “The choice of the younger generation” : the new generation of young people are drinking Pepsi, if you don’t drink it, you will be out. It also achieves the effect of guiding users to follow the herd mentality.

3. Emotional psychology: moving with emotion, unforgettable

That is, emotional needs. Everyone yearns for beautiful family, friendship and love, hopes to be understood and respected by family, friends and partners, and to gain happiness, touch and joy in various emotions. The poet Tang Xianzu's "I don't know where the emotion comes from, but it grows deeper and deeper" (emotion is aroused unconsciously and grows deeper and deeper), which can be said to be that the emotions are hidden deep in the heart, waiting to be awakened and satisfied at any time. Since ancient times, moving people with emotions has always been unforgettable.

When the copy appeals to emotions, the humanized and slightly warm words immediately narrow the distance between the content and the users. They can always touch the most vulnerable and softest part of the users' hearts, evoking deep memories and yearnings, thereby triggering emotional resonance. Whether it is warm family affection, pure friendship, romantic love or passionate patriotism, they can all be themes of separate copywriting.

When it comes to using emotions for creative copywriting, we have to mention Chivas’ classic long copy for Father’s Day. More than twenty "because..." sentences, simple and emotional language, describe a long life: you grew up with me, and I watched you grow old. Therefore, this profound fatherly love deserves to be matched with the most prestigious premium Scottish whisky, which should be sublimated from emotion to brand step by step. When readers carefully read this copy, they think of the little things between themselves and their father, and their feelings are beyond words.

The copywriting of the rose brand roseonly is "Those who believe will get love, love is the only one" , "Give to one person in a lifetime" , which strongly carries out the concept of "love continues" to the end. In this age of frequent extramarital affairs and rising divorce rates, who doesn't desire a lifetime commitment and everlasting love? Who doesn’t yearn for it? These romantic and firm words touch the hearts of lovers directly.

4. Fear psychology - a state of extreme fear, awakening crisis awareness

Fear refers to a strong fear of certain things or special situations, which will prompt people to do or not do certain things to fight, alleviate or even eliminate this psychological state. Because of the fear of aging, people will buy some anti-aging or anti-aging products; because of the fear of illness and death, people will buy insurance...

Nowadays, fear psychology is widely used in the creation of advertisements and copywriting. By sounding the "alarm bell", that is, creating pressure to hit the user's pain points, arousing a sense of crisis and tension, in order to change their attitudes or behaviors. Public service advertising copy is particularly effective using fear appeals.

In the anti-smoking advertising poster below, the copy "It's okay if you smoke, but don't bury your children with you" is accompanied by a realistic picture, which directly puts the fear of death in front of people. At the same time, it takes advantage of parents' fear of the death of their children and grandchildren, and always reminds people not to smoke, and not to let their families breathe your second-hand smoke.

Of course, in addition to these highly impactful public service advertisements that use fear, many companies and products also use it.

The copy of an advertisement of Mobil Oil is "Till death us do part" (Only death can separate us) , and in the accompanying picture, a man is hugging a girl in the passenger seat while driving. The text is a double entendre, but in this situation, the romantic declaration of love becomes extremely ironic, and dangerous driving may really lead to death separating you from each other.

5. Vanity: A human weakness; obey and cater to it

Vanity is a strong desire for self-expression. People pay too much attention to the opinions and evaluations of others and like to compare and show off. Although it is a flaw in human nature, it is undeniable that almost everyone has it, the only difference is the degree of it. When basic needs are met, men will desire satisfaction in career, reputation, money, house and car, while women will pursue appearance, partner and famous brands.

In life, when we have something that others don’t, something that is scarce, luxurious, and limited, or when we are better than others, we always can’t help but want to show off in order to get the envy of others or even jealousy. The sales of many products just catch this point. For example, the newly released iPhoneX pays tribute to Jobs and the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, and has special significance. It is also the most expensive iPhone in history, and its pre-sale date is later than 8. Vanity drives consumers to want to own an iPhoneX, or use it earlier than others.

In copywriting, copywriting can also be very thoughtful by complying with the user's desire to show off, raising the level to create a good atmosphere, giving a sense of superiority, and appropriately flattering the user in order to satisfy the user's vanity and trigger resonance.

For example, the promotional copy of Bonne Sante bar is "Come, here are good wine and bad women" . The title is bold and exciting enough to arouse the reader's curiosity and make them want to find out more. "The most fashionable Liu Lingke" implies that all the people who come here are gentlemen with good taste. They praise the person first to save face; "fine wine", "caviar", "jazz", "cigars", "seductive city ladies" - in the beautiful music, while tasting good wine, eating high-end snacks and meeting modern girls, men's strong desire for performance and vanity are satisfied to the greatest extent.