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Elements of Copywriting
Review by Mark Hall

Author Bio

By
Gary Blake and
Robert Bly

Longman
192 pages, paperback, approx. $9

While you may write for a variety of reasons—reaching personal fulfillment, experiencing free expression, getting published—companies are driven mainly by one motive: improving sales and the bottom line.

Elements of Copywriting, by Gary Blake and Robert Bly, published in 1997, addresses the latter goal by first describing four core copywriting principles and then detailing how to apply them in a wide variety of media contexts. Clearly, absent compelling graphics, audience-era music, or captivating multimedia, the structure and crafting of the text alone must incite the reader to inquire further into, and perhaps purchase, your product or service.

Both Blake and Bly speak from considerable experience. Bly has been an independent copywriter since 1982. He has written hundreds of promotional materials for more than 100 companies, including IBM, AT&T, Lucent Technologies and McGraw-Hill. Bly is also the author of more than 35 books on the subject.

Gary Blake, Ph.D., has developed writing, presentation, interpersonal and selling skills seminars for more than 250 organizations throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. His client list includes American Airlines, Bayer, Manitoba Telephone Systems and Price Waterhouse. Gary Blake's tenth book, Quick Tips for Better Business Writing, was recently published by McGraw-Hill.

Copywriting Fundamentals

In Part 1, Elements highlights the three fundamental features of copywriting: persuasive writing, headlines, and body copy. It then goes on to describe "power copywriting" techniques oriented more specifically toward professional copywriters.

Part 2 provides guidelines specific to the intended media for the copy: print, direct mail letters, brochures, catalogs, press releases, A/V presentations and the World Wide Web. Each section is punctuated with lists of clear "how to's," accompanied by numerous supporting examples.

In the "fundamentals" chapter, the authors point out that effective copywriting achieves eight goals:

1. Gets the reader's attention.
2. Focuses on the customer.
3. Stresses benefits.
4. Differentiates your product from competitive offerings.
5. Proves its case.
6. Establishes credibility.
7. Builds value.
8. Closes with a call to action.

As ways to get the reader's attention, the authors cite three methods:

a) Writing specific copy (for example, "How we collected over $20 million in unpaid bills over the past two years").

b) Shouting or talking loudly (for example, using all capital or bold letters in a headline).

c) Making a provocative statement (for example, "Get rid of painful kidney stones—without surgery!").

Concerning closing with a call to action, the authors remind us that persuasive copy is meant to bring about a change; and to do so, it must direct the reader to take specific action (for example, "When you call, be sure to ask how you can get a FREE copy of our new audiocassette.") The authors emphasize that for sales copy to be effective, it should include most, if not all, of these key components.

In the "power copywriting techniques" chapter, Blake and Bly add a few more tips for making copy more compelling, including doing thorough research, tailoring your copy to specific market niches, injecting a sense of time urgency into your copy, and including actual customer testimonials. The authors label these techniques a "bag of tricks"—tried and tested formulas that work—to be drawn from if appropriate for your writing project.

Key Lessons

For me, these were the key lessons of the book:

• Stress benefits over features in concise bullets. Benefits are tied to solving customers' pains, allaying their fears, or promising them some future gain. Benefits are the key emotional triggers that compel action. Lists of features and functionality are not directly relevant to the selling process.
  
  
• Quickly get the reader's attention with an effective headline. The headline must highlight a key benefit of the product quickly and directly. Again, to be most effective, it should relate to the prospect's pain, fear, or gain.
  
  
• Be as direct as possible, and emphasize key words and phrases. Via television and other interactive media, we have been conditioned to hear product pitches in 30 seconds or less. We humans also tend, especially when pressed for time, to scan rather than read promotional materials. So by being direct rather than verbose, we are not being over-assertive, but are in fact doing the reader a big favor.
  
  
• Prove your case with compelling, objective data. Stating what you could do for customers is one thing; showing what you've already done for them is quite another. Because the viewers or readers of a promotion for any kind of product or service are inherently skeptical, presenting objective data is one of the best ways to penetrate the "barrier" of skepticism.

If you are looking for a rigorous tome on the subject of copywriting, perhaps similar in tone to the Chicago Manual of Style, Elements of Copywriting might not be the best book for you. But if you are seeking a concise "how to" primer that presents solid, proven copywriting tips, Elements may just be the perfect guidebook to get you or your company started on a more profitable path.

Write the reviewer at mark@hallmark-consulting.com.