Ultimately, you want visitors to your site to do something—find information, patronize your advertisers or buy your products. But today’s consumers aren’t easy to seduce.
Using overblown sales tactics is the equivalent of dousing yourself in Old Spice, exposing a rug of chest hair and layering on the gold chains—hopelessly old-fashioned and, frankly, a little eye-watering.
When you write for websites, you need subtle—yet devastatingly effective—persuasive techniques that will court your audience, draw them in, hold them close and keep them coming back for more. In other words, you’re looking for a relationship—not a one-night stand. Here’s how to do just that:
Focus on readers
When you read your site, do you see the word “we” again and again? ”We specialize in state-of-the-art widgets.” “We enjoy reading our customers’ positive feedback.” “We think you’ll enjoy our new widget.”
It’s not about you. Your audience doesn’t actually care what you do (or how well you do it). They want to know what you can do for them. They want to know that you hear their pain and can solve their problems.
The best way to identify your customer’s needs and problems is to create customer personas—fictional characters who represent the common elements of your main market segments. By imagining your personas’ state of mind and their hopes, fears and dreams, you’ll have a powerful tool to write content that truly resonates with readers.
Use the science of influence
In his bestselling book Influence, social psychologist Robert Cialdini describes proven principles of influence that exploit deeply ingrained behaviors we’re virtually powerless to change.
If you haven’t read the book, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy and hunker down. (It will probably change your life.) In the meantime, here are the principles—and how to apply them:
- Reciprocation. Do you feel obliged when someone offers a favor? Of course you do—it’s a natural reflex. You can take advantage of it by giving things away to your customers—like free content. (Or valuable free advice!)
- Commitment and consistency. Commit to something—an opinion or a course of action, for example—and you’ll find, more often than not, you’ll stick to your guns. This desire for self-consistency means that if you can get readers and customers to make a small commitment now (like agreeing with a statement), bigger actions will follow.
- Social proof. Why do unfamiliar guys seem more attractive when they’re with attractive women? Bingo: social proof—if they’re with someone else, they must be attractive. You can use social proof—like testimonials and referrals—to convince people to take positive action towards your offering.
- Liking. Ever wonder why Tupperware parties are so successful? It’s not the plastic—it’s the people. We’re more likely to buy from people we know and like—so relate to your audience like they’re friends, not marketing segments. (And be sure to write with personality.)
- Authority. Perhaps one of the most frightening weapons of influence is authority. We’re simply programmed to obey. Use an authority figure to tell people what to do and they’ll be far more likely to do it. (Yes, even someone who plays a doctor on TV is proven to work.)
- Scarcity. After reading this far, how would you act if you knew this article would be permanently deleted from the web tomorrow? The scarcity principle suggests that you would be far more likely to save or print it. The takeaway: Limit access to heighten desire.
Make messages sticky
Another must-read book for anyone interested in content optimization is Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick. This book explores the reasons behind why some ideas are memorable—urban legends, anyone?—and why some don’t last beyond a 30-second soundbite. For truly sticky content, make yours:
- Simple. For some reason, we’re constantly compelled to complicate things. More reasons! Bigger words! None of it sticks. (In fact, it’s completely paralyzing.) Cut your message to its core to make sure your audience hears, remembers and takes action.
- Unexpected. When you’re driving to work, do you notice the color of the car behind you? Probably not. If that car rear-ends you, do you notice its color? Of course. Anything that surprises your readers out of their sleepy autopilot becomes automatically memorable. Make the surprise relevant, not random, and you’ve got stickiness.
- Concrete. Like children learning how to subtract, your audience needs a concrete idea that lets them grip what you’re saying. So instead of writing “We create sleep comfort solutions,” write “We make the pillows that cushion NASA astronauts at takeoff.” (Of course, your concrete statement should also be true.)
- Credible. Once you’ve jolted people into receiving a simple, concrete message, you need to give them a reason to believe it. You can do this with an authority figure (see the principles of influence). But you can also do it with an anti-authority figure—like a smoker with emphysema talking about the dangers of cigarettes. First-person stories are particularly compelling.
- Emotional. When you appeal to people’s reason, they end up judging your message and looking for reasons to disagree with it. But if you appeal to people’s emotions, you avoid those internal arguments and connect on a level that wants to believe. Remember “This is your brain on drugs?” ‘Nuff said.
- Stories. Telling a story—one with your message embedded—is far more effective than blatting out your point directly. When people hear a story, they actively construct mental models in their minds. They experience and empathize with the events. And they live the message.
Of course, persuasive writing is great for people reading your web writing. But what about search engines? For them, you need to search optimize.