Do you need logical thinking when writing copy ? Here are some logical techniques.
Logic is one of the basic qualities of copywriting, and it is the source of the persuasiveness of copywriting.However, most people currently seem to be more accustomed to using more emotional qualities such as "heartfelt", "not self-indulgent", and "excellent copywriting" as a yardstick to measure the quality of copywriting, or using result-oriented qualities such as "sweeping the screen" and "explosive sales" as the ultimate goal, but seem to be relatively indifferent to the "underlying structure" such as logic. But when you are writing product copy, planning soft articles, and pursuing conversion rates , the role of logic is extremely important.Many novice and even experienced copywriters are prone to some basic logical errors, such as writing a bunch of reasons but forgetting to spend some time summarizing a few conclusions; writing a bunch of "X reasons why you must buy XX" but failing to provide strong enough and relevant support. Such copywriting, even if it hits the consumers' pain points and is heartfelt, cannot be a reason for consumers to buy your products or services.So, in copywriting, what techniques can help us build a tightly-knit logical chain in our brains and help us write more persuasive copy? The following 4 methods may help you.Three key points to clarify logicLogic is not necessary in all communication, such as when you are chatting with friends, expressing your feelings, or simply exchanging information. However, once you need to draw a "conclusion", you must ensure that the text is logical, and there are three key points of logical language: a conclusion, reasons, and the connection between the conclusion and the reasons.The essence of copywriting is communication with consumers. No matter what information you convey, you must let consumers know what your conclusion is and give strong reasons to support your conclusion.For example, in the eyes of many people, Xu Shunying's copywriting has a strong stream of consciousness style. However, stream of consciousness is only her strong personal style in word choice and sentence structure. When you carefully analyze her writing, you will find that her logic is not stream of consciousness at all, and can even be described as very logical. For example, the following copy was written for Stella Luna women’s shoes:The title of this copy is "Craftsmanship is the soul of fashion", which is also the core point that this copy wants to convey: fashion is not only about appearance, but also about the craftsmanship hidden beneath the appearance. Stella luna's shoes have excellent craftsmanship. This is the "conclusion" summarized by this copy for consumers, and every sentence in it is a reason to support this conclusion. At the same time, there is a strong logical connection between the first and second half of each sentence.For example, "the ability to interpret three-dimensional space" is a necessary condition for "the designer's creation not to become fantasy". Similarly, "ergonomics and aerospace mechanics" and "geometric logic deduction" are necessary conditions for "the heel height to be sexy enough" and "the lines to be attractive".Xu Shunying did not pile up adjectives to describe the materials. Instead, through careful logic, she used hard words in the fields of science and engineering, such as "three-dimensional space", "engineering", "mechanics", and "geometric logic", to combine the reasons behind the sexiness of high heels, thereby highlighting the significance of craftsmanship to fashion.Now that you have the conclusion and reasons, the key is to connect them. There are two ways to connect conclusions and reasons: "induction" and "deduction".Inductive method (parallel type)Induction is a method of juxtaposing several different facts, finding common points from these facts, and thus drawing conclusions. For example, “Daniel Wu is 1.8 meters tall,” “He has eight-pack abs and a mermaid line,” and “His facial features are as three-dimensional as marble statues,” leading to the conclusion that “Daniel Wu is a handsome man.” This is the inductive method, and the first three reasons are in parallel relationship.Deductive method (serial type)Deductive reasoning is a method of combining a fact with a corresponding law (decision, general common sense, regulations, etc.) to draw a conclusion. For example, “actors can act”, “Daniel Wu is an actor”, the conclusion is “Daniel Wu can act”.In specific writing, since the deductive method is generally more cumbersome, try to avoid using it at the key level, and instead use the inductive method more often. Even if you want to use the deductive method, the number of reasoning steps should be limited to four, and the number of conclusions should not exceed two. Otherwise, it will be too complicated and make it much more difficult to understand.After understanding the three key points of logic and the connection methods, special attention should be paid to avoiding three situations of inappropriate reasons, which is an important reason why the copy is not persuasive.The first situation is using personal subjective views or feelings as reasons.For example, "I am looking forward to this new phone, it will definitely double its sales this time" is a very unconvincing sentence because it is based on unfounded personal feelings and ideas, which is logically untenable.The second situation is that the opposite of the language or a different way of saying it is used as an excuse, but in fact the expression is repetitive.For example, "Because you don't own this phone yet, you should buy this phone." This situation sounds funny, but if you observe carefully, you will find that this kind of copywriting or dialogue is actually quite common in daily life.The third situation is that the causal relationship is unclear or the logical relationship is too jumpy.For example, the sentence "This phone has XXGB of large memory, making it a great gift for a girlfriend" is confusing because the cause and effect relationship is not clear. If it were written more clearly as "This phone has XXGB of large memory, which can hold XX photos, making it a great gift for a girlfriend who loves selfies" and complete the logical chain, it would be more convincing.Use pyramid diagrams to sort out logic.Pyramid diagrams are a writing tool commonly used by McKinsey. Its theoretical basis is that the human brain will automatically organize everything it finds into a certain order. For example, when the ancient Greeks looked up at the starry sky, they saw various patterns made up of stars, such as the Ursa Major and Orion, rather than a bunch of scattered stars.The pyramid chart can help us sort out the levels, highlight the key points, and make the copy clearer and easier to understand. So, how should we use the pyramid chart correctly?1. Conclude with the message you want to convey mostMany people at work are asked by their superiors "So what is your conclusion?" after reporting their PPT or work situation. Many people do not lack the ability to collect and organize information, but they lack the ability to refine and summarize it. But from the perspective of the audience and users, they need to hear a simpler and clearer conclusion.Pyramid-shaped copywriting will place important ideas/conclusions at the top and gradually expand the ideas downward to facilitate understanding, preventing users from becoming anxious in the process of receiving information and giving up on hearing the most important conclusions.2. Find at least 3 reasons to support your caseYou should find at least 3 reasons to support your conclusion that will form the base of the pyramid. Generally speaking, if there are only 1-2 reasons, the persuasiveness will be greatly reduced, but once the number of reasons exceeds 7, it will be difficult for consumers to remember.For example, if you want to use a pyramid chart to promote a mobile phone, first you need to summarize the information you most want to convey to consumers, which is your conclusion, preferably in one sentence.Take the recently released Xiaomi 6 mobile phone as an example, and use the pyramid diagram to analyze its logic. Its slogan is "performance monster", and there are three main reasons to support this conclusion, namely processor, screen, and camera. For each of these three reasons, another layer of secondary reasons is used to explain, forming a logically clear pyramid diagram:3. Pack information in the user’s mindThe more reasons you give, the more convincing you are. Sometimes this may make it difficult for users to understand. After you have prepared enough and sufficient reasons, you also need to organize them into groups so that users can understand them more clearly. You should integrate similar information as much as possible, divide it into about 3 groups, and then present it.This process is like packaging and boxing your reasons, putting your information into different categories so that users can recognize and accept them at a glance.Numbers and data are more convincingWhat reason is the most convincing? Using numbers or data as reasons is the easiest way to convince people. For example, “leading sales volume nationwide” is not as convincing as “7 out of every 10 cans of herbal tea sold in China are Jiaduobao ”; “super large capacity” is not as likely to impress consumers as “put 1,000 songs in your pocket”.For example, the other two sets of copywriting written by Xu Shunying for Stella Luna women's shoes: "Multiple medical studies have shown that the average heart rate of male animals is as high as 130 times when they see women wearing STELLA LUNA.""Scientists have found that a pair of STELLA LUNA shoes can attract enough eyeballs to circle the earth 20 times."The video website YouTube uses the same method to describe the length of its videos:Users watch videos on the platform for 1 billion hours every day.If one watches 1 billion hours of videos continuously, it will take about 100,000 years.If one travels at the speed of light, one can fly from one end of the Milky Way to the other.Of course, just because a copy uses numbers and data doesn’t mean it will be more convincing. There are also some techniques that need to be used properly when using numbers and data in different situations.For example, if the sales volume of a product of yours was 300,000 yuan last year and 900,000 yuan this year, if you write "sales volume increased by 600,000 yuan within one year", it is obviously not very attractive. However, if you change the way of expression to "sales volume increased by 200% within one year", the user experience will be completely different.ConclusionThe importance of logic to copywriting is self-evident. However, those copywritings that "sweep the screen" are not necessarily logical copywriting. In many cases, the situation is just the opposite.The incitement of emotions and the exploitation of human weaknesses are the reasons why this type of copywriting is so popular. However, for copywriters whose main purpose is to achieve conversions rather than promote brands, logic is not only a basic quality but also an essential tool. I recommend two books: "Writing Weapons Taught by McKinsey" and " The Pyramid Principle ", which provide more in-depth explanations of writing logic.
Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising
This article was compiled and published by @乌拉小曼(Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting! Site Map
