Your visitors are hunters.
That’s right, imagine John, he’s part of your audience.
Spear in hand (or rifle, depending on his tech proficiency) he ventures into the forest, his forehead dripping with sweat.
He’s focused, tuned into the moment and scouting for his prey.
Now, let’s say that after 6 hours of constant, vigilant searching and exhausting walking, he has to go back home… he couldn’t find what he came for.
That’s a lot of work.
Sure he might have enjoyed it. There’s value in the practice itself, and getting your prize too soon, might not feel that rewarding.
We still need to work for what we value.
Still, had John gone home with a trophy hunt, with a win, he’d be in a much happier place – even if completely worn out.
That’s what exciting and gripping stories do, and what you can do with your copy.
You can give people their prize while still letting them enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
In the book “Wired for story” the author gives us 3 questions we must consider when writing copy and planning our UX flows:
“three basic things readers relentlessly hunt for as they read that first page:
- Whose story is it?
- What’s happening here?
- What’s at stake?
You can literally visualize your visitor asking themselves these questions (yes even on a B2B website).
Whose story is it? Who are you addressing? Is that person someone like them? In other words, craft your persona in detail based on real world data and address them in your copy.
What’s happening here? What are you selling? What’s the entire range of your offering? Or how is your product structured? People need confirmation and to see their expectations matched on the page.
What’s at stake What will happen if they don’t take action now? Are they aware of the consequences? Do those feel urgent enough? Do they make sense if you consider their situation (hint: it’s about awareness and sophistication).
Unless you’re addressing these points in your copy, your readers will keep on hunting.
It might be good for a while, but too much will just feel like work.
Make it easi(er)!
P.S.
Last week I had an amazing chat with one of you readers (thank you again V.).
Here’s something they said that meant a lot because it’s my goal: “what I really like regarding your approach Chris, is that you don’t just talk about UX and CRO but rather inject them in the copy smoothly to increase conversion rates.“
And I realized I’d love to do more of those.
I am super interested in people’s backgrounds, ideas, challenges and goals.
Particularly in learning.
A ton of copywriters are all about automation, tagging, segmenting and cutting any amount of work that doesn’t require their presence.
You know what, screw that. Let’s do things that don’t scale.
Want to jump on a quick chat, talk shop and get to know each other? Just book one here.
I’d love to help you out on one copy/UX challenge if I can.
P.P.S.
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