Hope Filled Copy Writing

Reading Time: 26 minutes

I first started writing about this when I was still doing sales training. That was before YouTube flooded the market with hype videos. Eventually, I incorporated a workshop on Selling Hope Not Hype in all of the training. This course is the modern (online) version of much of that workshop.

For a good YouTube channel exposing guru scams check out Coffeezilla. He exposes the hype that’s emptying people’s pockets with fraudulent claims. I don’t want to focus on that here but keep this resource it might come in handy.

Introduction

Sales letters that rely on hype often use exaggerated claims, psychological tricks, and high-pressure tactics to make sales. While these techniques may work in the short term, they can damage your reputation over time.

Prospects can usually see through the hype and empty promises. This causes them to become skeptical of you and your offers. They may even warn others not to purchase from you.

However, sales letters focused on hope take a completely different approach. They aim to understand the customer’s problems and desired outcomes. The message shows how your product can genuinely help them achieve their goals.

Below is a direct quote from The Eight Pillars of Prosperity: Pillar Three Integrity;

“There is no striking a cheap bargain with prosperity. It must be purchased, not only with intelligent labor, but with moral force. As the bubble cannot endure, so the fraud cannot prosper. He makes a feverish spurt in the acquirement of money, and then collapses. Nothing is ever gained, ever can be gained, by fraud. It is but wrested for a time, to be again returned with heavy interest. But fraud is not confined to the unscrupulous swindler. All who are getting, or trying to get, money without giving an equivalent are practicing fraud, whether they know it or not. Men, who are anxiously scheming how to get money without working for it, are frauds, and mentally they are closely allied to the thief and swindler under whose influence they come, sooner or later, and who deprives them of their capital.”

That’s very blunt! When it comes to integrity in marketing blunt is the order.

This builds trust and goodwill with your audience. When you provide real hope and help them solve issues, customers are more likely to purchase from you repeatedly. They may even refer others to you.

My motto to all new sales professionals: “You make a living in sales but not from a single sale. Never put your reputation on the live for a single sale.” Today I would add or for a marketing campaign.

Hype is a short-sighted strategy that can undermine your long-term business growth. But sales letters based on hope create loyal, satisfied customers who become advocates for your brand. The emphasis is on helping the customer rather than taking advantage of them. This is not only better ethically, but also results in greater success.

Here is an overview of the main principles that will be covered in this master-level copywriting course:

• Identifying your target audience’s desired outcomes through market research
• Crafting hope-filled headlines by addressing the ideal customer, outcome, and timeframe
• Making an emotional connection in the introduction using stories, empathy, or questions
• Positioning your product as the best solution by highlighting unique benefits and credentials
• Validating claims through diverse types of proof like testimonials, case studies, and screenshots
• Creating a benefits list focused on faster, easier, better solutions the audience wants
• Reducing risk through strong guarantees that offer assurance without hype
• Making hope-based calls-to-action focused on helping the prospect achieve results
• Summarizing the core promise and social proof in an impactful postscript
• Pulling all the elements together into a complete sales letter template

Overall, this course will teach you how to create sales copy that provides genuine hope, helps the customer, and drives more conversions over the long term by building trust. The focus is on understanding the audience, showing how you can help them, and guiding them to take action.

Identifying Your Audience’s Desired Outcome

Do NOT gloss over this. The research is going to be key to a copy that connects. Never assume you know your audience. Research should be a continuous process. Things happen that sway the opinions, perceptions, and commitments of your audience. The language used to describe problems and outcomes evolves creating disconnects. Writers I work with tell me all of the time they know their audience until I insist that devote some time to research. Please don’t skip this!

Here is a procedure for researching your target audience to understand their problems and goals:

Step 1: Identify your ideal customer avatar

Our target customers are individuals who are looking for a reliable and efficient solution to their everyday problems. They come from diverse backgrounds and have different demographics, but they share common interests and pain points.

Don’t focus on the diversity but rather the commonalities: Interests and Paint Points. These are much bigger than living in the same city or being of the same age.

Demographics:

Age: Our target customers range from young adults to middle-aged individuals.
Gender: We cater to both male and female customers.
Location: Our services are available globally, so our customers can be from anywhere in the world.
Occupation: Our customers come from various professional backgrounds, including students, working professionals, and homemakers

Interests:

Convenience: Our customers value convenience and seek solutions that simplify their lives.
Efficiency: They appreciate products or services that help them save time and effort.
Quality: Our customers prioritize high-quality offerings that meet their expectations.
Innovation: They are interested in innovative solutions that bring something new to the table.

Pain Points:

Time constraints: Our customers often struggle with managing their time effectively due to busy schedules.
Stress: They experience stress and overwhelm from juggling multiple responsibilities.
Lack of resources: Some customers face challenges due to limited access to resources or information.
Unreliable solutions: They have encountered unreliable products or services in the past and seek trustworthy alternatives.

Desires:

Simplification: Our customers desire solutions that simplify complex tasks or processes.
Peace of mind: They want to feel confident and at ease knowing they have a reliable solution.
Productivity: Our customers aspire to enhance their productivity and achieve more in less time.
Satisfaction: They seek fulfillment and satisfaction from using products or services that meet their needs effectively.

There has never been a consumer that longed for complexity in their life. People are looking for simplification. Give it to them. Not make them think! Layout the process for them in the most simple terms possible.

By understanding our target customers’ demographics, interests, pain points, and desires, we can tailor our offerings to provide them with the best possible solutions and experiences.

Sample Profile of an Ideal Prospect

Executive Avatar: Facing an Uncertain Future in Current Career

Name: John Williams

Age: 47

Occupation:Chief Operations Officer (COO) in a mid-sized technology firm

Education:

• MBA from Harvard Business School
• Bachelor’s in Computer Science from MIT

Interests:

• Strategic management
• Technological innovation
• Golfing
• Reading business journals
• Mentoring young professionals

Goals:

• To secure a stable and fulfilling role that aligns with his skill set and aspirations
• To contribute to a company’s growth and innovation
• To achieve a work-life balance

Challenges/Pain Points:

• Uncertainty about the future of his current role due to company restructuring
• Pressure to constantly adapt to rapidly changing industry trends
• Balancing work commitments with personal life

Motivations:

• Desire for professional stability
• Passion for leading teams to success
• Aspiration to leave a lasting impact on an organization

Values:

• Integrity
• Innovation
• Leadership
• Work-life balance

Preferred Communication Channels:

• Email for formal communication
• LinkedIn for professional networking
• Face-to-face meetings for important discussions

Key Influencers:

• Industry leaders and visionaries [NOTE: quoting an influencer to your avatar will go a long way toward building your authority.]
• Harvard Business Review publications [NOTE: Linking to a favored publication will also build authority. When they see that you read the same sources and come to a more complete understanding you become an authority in their world.]
• Trusted colleagues and mentors

Buying Behaviors:

• Prefers quality over quantity
• Willing to invest in long-term solutions
• Values recommendations from trusted sources

Preferred Solutions:

• Executive coaching
• Strategic consultancy services
• Advanced management courses

How We Can Help:

• Offer tailored executive coaching programs focused on navigating career transitions
• Provide consultancy services that align with his goals and challenges
• Create specialized courses that enhance his leadership and strategic planning skills

Next Steps:

1. Initiate a personalized outreach via LinkedIn or email.
2. Schedule a face-to-face meeting to discuss his specific needs and how our services can address them.
3. Present a customized package that aligns with his goals, challenges, and values.
4. Follow up with additional resources and a timeline for implementation.

John Williams represents the archetype of an executive navigating an uncertain future. Understanding his profile can significantly aid in tailoring services and communication strategies that resonate with him. Armed with this information, you’re well-equipped to engage John in a meaningful way that addresses his unique needs and aspirations.

Too often the avatar-building exercise focuses on things that don’t really help the target market of this avatar. The details provided in this sample are focused on creating a marketing advantage by providing hope where it matters most. I’ve created a prompt to help you achieve this level detail.

👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼 Acting as a market researcher create an avatar for [insert your target] executive facing an uncertain future in his current career be sure to include: Name, age, occupation, education, interests, goals, challenges pain points, motivations, values, preferred communications channels, key influencers, buying behaviors, preferred solutions, How we can help, and the next steps

Step 2: Analyze competitors and top content

Research what content performs well for other sites in your niche

To determine what type of content performs well for other sites in your niche, you can conduct research and analysis. Here are some steps you can follow:

• Identify the top websites in your niche: Start by identifying the leading websites in your niche. These could be industry publications, blogs, or authoritative sites that consistently produce high-quality content.

There are a couple of places you can look immediately to find top websites: Similarweb.com and this list seems to be updated frequently: 15 Best Niche Markets [in 2023 ] To Make REAL Money Online (nichepursuits.com)

• Analyze their most popular articles: Once you have identified these websites, analyze their most popular articles. Look for patterns in terms of topics, formats, and styles that tend to resonate with their audience. Pay attention to the number of comments, social media shares, and engagement metrics to gauge popularity.

My favorite tool for analyzing the most popular articles is ChatGPT with the

1. Look for recurring themes: Identify recurring themes or topics that appear frequently across multiple successful articles. This will give you an idea of the subjects that are of interest to your target audience.
2. Examine headline structures: Pay close attention to the headlines used in the popular articles. Note the language, tone, and structure they employ to grab readers’ attention. This can help you understand what types of headlines tend to perform well in your niche.
3. Study content formats: Take note of the different content formats that perform well, such as listicles, how-to guides, case studies, interviews, or opinion pieces. Understanding the preferred formats can guide your content creation strategy.
4. Analyze keyword usage: Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to identify the keywords that drive organic traffic to these successful articles. This will give you insights into the specific topics and keywords that are popular within your niche.
5. Monitor social media engagement: Keep an eye on social media platforms to see which articles from your competitors are generating the most engagement. Look at the number of likes, shares, comments, and retweets to gauge the level of interest among their audience.
6. Stay up to date with industry trends: Continuously monitor industry trends and news to identify emerging topics that are gaining traction. This will help you stay ahead of the curve and create timely, relevant content.

By following these steps and analyzing the content performance of other sites in your niche, you can gain valuable insights into what type of content resonates with your target audience.

To understand what kind of content your audience likes, you can do two things. First, follow these steps. Second, look at how well other websites in your field are doing with their content. This will give you important information about what works for your target audience. Sign up for news from sites that your audience will visit frequently.

Obviously you have an opinion about things in your niche. Set Google alerts or Feedspot alerts that notify you when some thing happens in your niche. Then create content about your opinion on that alert.

Look at the products/services competitors are selling successfully

When analyzing the market, take a close look at the products and services that your competitors are selling successfully. By understanding what is working for them, you can gain valuable insights into consumer preferences and identify potential opportunities for your own business.

Start by researching your competitors and identifying the key players in your industry. Look at their websites, social media platforms, and any other available sources of information to gather data on the products and services they offer. Pay attention to the features, benefits, and pricing of these offerings.

Next, analyze customer reviews and feedback to understand why these products and services are successful. Look for common themes and patterns in the positive feedback to identify the specific aspects that customers value the most. This could include factors such as quality, convenience, affordability, or unique features.

Consider conducting surveys or interviews with your target audience to gather direct feedback on competitor products and services. Ask questions about what they like and dislike, what improvements they would suggest, and what factors influence their purchasing decisions. This will provide you with valuable insights into consumer preferences and help you identify any gaps in the market that you can capitalize on.

Once you have gathered all this information, compare it to your own offerings. Identify areas where you can differentiate yourself from the competition and highlight the unique value proposition that your products or services bring to the table. This could involve improving existing features, adding new features, or targeting a specific niche market that is currently underserved.

Remember, while it is important to learn from your competitors’ successes, it is equally important to differentiate yourself and offer something unique to your customers. By understanding what is working for your competitors and leveraging that knowledge to improve your own offerings, you can position your business for success in the market.

See what people are searching for related to your offers

There are many tools and techniques you can use to gain insights into what people are searching for related to your offers. By understanding the search queries, we can tailor our offerings to better meet the needs and expectations of our target audience.

One effective method is to use keyword research tools such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs. These tools provide valuable data on search volume, competition, and related keywords. By entering relevant terms or phrases related to our offers, we can uncover popular search queries that people are using.

Additionally, we can leverage autocomplete suggestions provided by search engines like Google. As we start typing a query in the search bar, Google suggests popular searches based on what other users have searched for. This can give us an idea of the most common queries related to our offers.

Another approach is to analyze the “People Also Ask” section in search engine results pages (SERPs). This section displays questions related to the initial search query. By examining these questions, we can identify specific topics or concerns that people have regarding our offers.

Bing search engine is the most complete for this task I’ve seen. They recently made huge advances in the space with a revamped search engine. I suggest you use it with Edge as the browser. This has greatly improved the search performance experience. Available with both Search and Chat features.

AnswerThePublic.com was recently purchased by Niel Patel. This purchase took a good tool and made it great. I love the new features, alerts and expanded capabilities. I use the paid version and set alerts for my primary keywords. The visualization of the keywords is priceless.

 

Searching Social Media

Furthermore, monitoring social media platforms and online forums can provide valuable insights into what people are discussing and searching for. By actively participating in relevant communities and engaging with potential customers, we can gather firsthand information about their needs and preferences.

By regularly analyzing and staying updated on the search queries related to our offers, we can adapt our marketing strategies, optimize our content, and improve our overall customer experience. This proactive approach allows us to align our offerings with the demands of our target audience, ultimately driving more traffic, engagement, and conversions.

Step 3: Leverage online forums and communities

• Join relevant Facebook Groups, Subreddits, Quora spaces
  • FB Groups: Join groups in your niche, monitor the questions, comments and complaints. Note the tone, the language, and the beliefs.
  • Subreddits: There is a whole Reddit world to be explored. What you’ll find on Reddit is subreddits for everything thing you can imaging. There are 430 million active users on Reddit per month. Don’t over look this resource. Don’t be surprised by the raw, real, and often vivid language used.
  • Quora: This is a great place to find the questions people are asking about your niche. You can set alerts to stay updated.
  • Forums: are still be used frequently in some spaces.

The way you find forums or communities is in your Google or Bing seqarch engine type: “forum: niche or keyword” you can do the same with communities.

Other search engine tips include:

• You can use quotation marks (” “) to search for an exact phrase, such as “search engine tips”.
• You can use a minus sign (-) to exclude words from your search, such as search engine tips -Google to find tips for other search engines.
• You can use a tilde (~) to find synonyms for a word, such as search engine ~tips to find results for search engine advice, suggestions, etc.
• You can use site: to search within a specific website, such as site:bing.com search engine tips to find results from Bing.com only.
• You can use OR to find results that contain either one of two terms, such as search engine tips OR tricks to find results that have either word.

For more tips checkout this blog post from SEMRush: https://www.semrush.com/blog/google-search-operators/

Step 4: Survey your email list or existing customers

• Send out a questionnaire about their challenges and desired outcomes
• Offer an incentive to get higher response rates
• Ask follow-up questions to go deeper into pain points

Response rates aren’t going to be very high if you don’t have a good existing relationship with you list. Keep the number of survey questions to 7 or under. If you need more information then that use logic jumps to collect more.

Example: You are buying our [Product] for? 1) Pain, 2) Anxiety, 3) Sleep, 4) Pets. That is the first question then the survey switches the next question based upon the last answer. If the answer is 4) Pets. The next question might be Dog or Cat? Large Breed or small breed.

Using logic jumps you can collect more than 25 pieces of information by only asking 7 questions.

Step 5: Monitor Social Media

• Search key hashtags and keywords related to your niche

Use a tool like Hashtagify.me to discover trending hashtags. You can follow this checklist mastering hashtags for your brand.

• See what people are complaining about or asking for help with
• Look for common themes and problems mentioned

Step 6: Analyze Customer Testimonials and Reviews

• Look for patterns in what people found helpful or wanted more of
• See what objections or issues they brought up
• Note what goals they achieved or results shared

Pay careful attention to the things people don’t like or the negative reviews. This is will give you great insight into writing copy that connects.

Step 7: Interview ideal prospects

• Recruit people matching your customer avatar for 1-on-1 interviews
• Ask about their goals, challenges, typical day, and ideal solutions
• Probe for emotional motivators and surface-level issues

By thoroughly researching your audience in these ways, you’ll gain a deep understanding of their problems and goals to create hope-filled messaging that truly resonates.