What’s your direct response copywriting philosophy?
If you don’t know, then your competitors who do know are almost certainly at your heels.
I’m a nerd basically. One of my master’s degrees is in philosophy, and I had a full scholarship to a PhD program in Houston …
…before I betrayed the “love of wisdom” for the love of moola and became a direct response copywriter.
My background in philosophy has enabled me to see the underlying approaches of various copywriters, companies, and agencies–their copywriting philosophies.
In many corporate structures, copywriting philosophy tends to devolve into brand and its attributes. But this is a confusion.
Copywriting philosophy is actually 1) a viewpoint of what copy can and should accomplish, and 2) a viewpoint of human nature’s free will and inclinations in relation to copy.
Many in charge of creative teams that do image advertising have a “low” view of copy and a “high” view of human free will … when it should be exactly the opposite.
Here’s what I mean: they underestimate what copy can and should accomplish, and they overestimate the power of free will.
They look at copy as something that sets a mood … presents a tone … and gently nudges the reader (if that). This is really all that copy can do, so they think.
Thus the vapid cleverness that you find from the big ad agencies.
Direct response marketers think differently: they have a high view of copy and a low view of free will–meaning, they’re confident in copy’s ability to compel action (that is, when copy is done well).
Direct response marketers produce copy in accordance with how human nature actually is, as opposed to how we would like it to be.
Compel the action. The best copywriting philosophy is compulsive copy.