I’ve learned a lot from the famous Copywriter Eugene Schwartz.
Studying the greats before you is a great way to learn.
It’s my favorite way to learn.
Eugene Schwartz’s Headline Formula
I saw this pointed out on Copy Skillz YouTube channel and it hits the nail on the head.
Eugene Schwartz often uses a headline formula: Proof + Pain + Benefit, in that order.
A lot of his headlines are very long.
They were used primarily in Print advertising, so he had space.
Working on the internet now, we don’t have that luxury.
Regardless, the formula still works.
These examples show it working:
Now, medical science has the power to say to you:
Follow these 3 simple steps and,
BEGIN YOUR “MIDDLE YEARS” AT 70, 80, EVEN 90!
This one fits the formula easily.
It came broke into those 3 lines in the ad, but each line shows each part of the formula.
The Proof is medical science.
The Pain is on the second line: processes are tough, but not in this case. This is three simple steps.
The Benefit is on the third line: “middle years” or “middle age” getting pushed back from 40-50 to 70, 80, even 90.
How modern Chinese Medicine helps both men and women
BURN DISEASE OUT OF YOUR BODY
…lying flat on your back, using nothing than the palm of your hand!
The Proof, again, is the medical part. “Chinese Medicine” in this case.
The Pain, again, is in how simple the action is. Normally, burning disease out of your body would be hard work. Not this. This is easy.
And the Benefit, on line 2, is burning the disease out of your body.
Favorite Eugene Schwartz Quotes:
“No sentence can be effective if it contains facts alone. It must also contain emotion, image, logic, and promise. “
Eugene Schwartz
Copy is not written. If anyone tells you ‘you write copy’, sneer at them. Copy is not written. Copy is assembled. You do not write copy, you assemble it. You are working with a series of building blocks, you are putting the building blocks together, and then you are putting them in certain structures, you are building a little city of desire for your person to come and live in.
Eugene Schwartz
The greatest mistake marketers make is trying to create demand.
Eugene Schwartz
This is the copywriters task: not to create mass desire — but to channel and direct it.
Eugene Schwartz
What you are doing when you are being creative is trying to connect two separate ideas that logically would not go together up until that moment.
Eugene Schwartz
There is your audience. There is the language. There are the words that they use.
Eugene Schwartz
“You can’t take nothing and make anything. You’re not God.”
Eugene Schwartz
Garrett Mickley
I've been working in digital marketing for a decade and a half, and I'm ready for a career change. This blog is my journal.
I don't have anything free to bribe you with.
