In just a minute you’ll discover…
With the explosion of online copywriting there has also been an explosion of people screaming louder and louder to get attention and sales.
Claims and promises and headlines are exaggerated to the level of insanity.
I call it “Howler Monkey copy”.
The bad news is that the Howler Monkeys are causing today’s burned customers and prospects to develop the highest levels of cynicism and disbelief in history.
The good news is that there is an anecdote you can apply to your own copy and regain the trust and credibility.
It’s called “The Ethos Effect”.
Ethos is a Greek term used 2500 years ago by famed philosopher Aristotle. In his work on persuasion called “Rhetoric” he defined the three main weapons a persuader has at his disposal.
1. “Pathos”. This is the root word of “Passion”. It’s the benefits and emotional reasons someone should purchase your products or services. Push the passion too high and you get hype - and howler monkeys. But without pathos, copy is virtually ineffective.
2. “Logos”. This is “Logic”. Logic rarely is that persuasive on its own - but without logic, the emotion and passion of pathos become unbelievable. So, logical arguments reinforce emotional arguments. Both are essential.Emotion and logic are the two most known tools of persuasion today.
But there is a third ingredient that Aristotle emphasized that trumps both emotion and logic. And sadly, it is the least emphasized in the internet age.
3. “Ethos”. Ethos can be called Character. Aristotle noticed that the speakers with the highest Ethos were by far the most persuasive. High ethos creates high trust with an audience. Most family doctors have high ethos. And most used car salesman would have low ethos.
Two major elements make up ethos and both must be present for the speaker or writer to have ethos.
First is perceived “Expertise”. The sooner your audience or readers feel that you have tremendous expertise in a subject area, the higher your ethos rises.
The second element that creates high ethos is a belief in your readers or audience that you have their best interest at heart.
Here’s how these two elements of ethos work together…
Imagine you’ve just inherited $500,000. And it just so happens that your brother is new to the financial planning business. Does he have your best interest in mind? Yup. Do you know and trust him with your $500,000? We’ll pretend you do for this story.But…Does he have high ethos? Nope.
Why?
Because the important ingredient of expertise is missing. He’s brand-spanking-new to the business and you’re about to trust him with one of the biggest financial decisions of your life. You may work with him out of obligation, but you sure are going to have doubts.
Let’s turn it around. Let’s say you know a guy who’s a millionaire stock-broker. You see him driving his Lamborghini around town. Hear about the big parties he throws. But when you talk with him he wants big commissions every time he moves your money from one account to another. Hmmm….Does he have expertise? Yup. But does he have ethos? No.
Why?
He obviously knows the stock market. His success is evident. But does he really have your best interest in mind? Probably not.
This is why Aristotle emphasized that both expertise and the reader or audiences best interest had to be present for ethos to exist.
This is why endorsed marketing relationships are so powerful. Someone with a list of tens-of-thousands of customers who know and love him or her just mentions that your product is the bees-knees and they rush out and buy it. All it takes is a suggestion on their part.
But how do we create ethos - and hurt our ethos - in say a sales letter or sales presentation with a new prospect who doesn’t know and love us? That’s the rub.
First is the tone and voice of your writing. And unfortunately, this is the hardest to define with technique. It comes far more from the intent you have when you sit down to write.
Ask yourself the next time you sit down to write - do you know your subject cold? Do you truly have your readers best interest in mind – whether they buy or not?
You may not be aware of it when you sit down to write - but your intent will saturate your letter.
Next, watch the adjectives. Often I’ll go through a piece of copy and strip out the adjectives. Then go back and strengthen the nouns and verbs. You’ll discover it not only reduces the Howler-Monkey effect, but simultaneously increases the power of your copy.
Another common technique is to admit a small flaw in the product or service. This causes the reader trust to rocket.
Related is to admit that the product or service may not actually be right for the prospect. This takes guts and a lot of clients and copywriters recoil at the idea of actually suggesting the product may not be right for the prospect. Yet, it gives the ethos a strong boost.
There are two ways to use this technique. The most common use is near the end of the letter…
“Is this product right for you? Maybe, maybe not. If you will have to borrow the money and not make rent next month, you probably shouldn’t take advantage of this offer. I’d feel bad. And there are more critical steps you need to take first. On the other hand, if you looking to grow your business against tough competition…If you are frustrated because sales aren’t increasing even though you are pumping more and more money into advertising…Then…”
One of my favorite ways to use this technique is at the beginning of a letter or a sales call. It disarms prospects like nothing I’ve ever used. I used this technique to put together a multi-million joint venture between the leading publisher of self development programs and a famous marketeer. It sounds like this…
“Hello Jim … This may or may not make sense for your situation, but we’ve recently helped a few companies in your industry increase their sales by a million dollars in 6 months time. Again, I don’t know your business and this may make no sense - so I thought I could run the idea by you, let you kick the tires and then you tell me if it makes any sense to keep talking…”
Notice how the “maybe, maybe not” actually allows you to make a Big Fat Claim, yet have it come off very believable. Notice also how this opening gambit gives the prospect the feeling that he or she is 100% in control of the situation.
Here’s more ways to ramp up the ethos in your copy…
Remember that a key component of ethos is having the prospect’s best interest in mind. But the prospect when reading your sales letter is suspicious that you really have your own interest in mind. The best way to disarm this trust issue is the give them your motives, your reason why.
Read the sales copy of copywriting courses and you’ll find it full of “I’m doing this to give back to the profession that has given me so much” arguments. Offering a big discount - say why. Are them bumps and scratches that can barely be seen on the product? Did the dweeb in inventory control over-order on stock? Is your company faced with impending disaster? Put those elements in your copy and boost your ethos.
Another point…
Don’t stifle your personality. Cold impersonal corporate speak does not engender the feelings that I’m reading something written by someone who knows my problems and has my best interest in mind. Think about the power of the advertising that Dave Thomas created for Wendy’s. It was so effective that they’ve brought back his ads years after he passed away. Same with the Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn ads.
So, let your personality shine through.
Another great method to enhance your ethos is to educate and enlighten your prospects before moving into the hard sell. It proves your expertise dramatically right in front of the prospect.
Jay Abraham’s famous letter for his $5000 marketing courses were an education in themselves to the prospect.
Eugene Schwartz used this extensively as well. He often educated his prospects about the hidden cause of problems before moving into his sales presentation.
In one ad for speed reading, he gave a great primer in how to spend 5 minutes with the Sunday paper to enhance your child’s memory and comprehension - before he went on to sell the speed reading course.The advice he gave could be used instantly and required no purchase.
The more you can saturate your copy with “self evident” truths, the higher your ethos will climb. By starting your copy with what the reader already knows to be true, you can lead them to purchase your product: Politicians have their own interest in mind…Mortgage Lender’s are greedy…Stock brokers are interested only in their own commissions first…The very rich are lucky or ruthless…Etc.. You get the idea.
Finally, a fast track to ethos is to hate what the prospect hates. Nothing taps into a prospects values faster than hating what they hate. We can see this clearly in politics.
If your a Democrat - the mention of George Bush’s stammering ways is enough to raise millions. On the Republican side, the threat of Hillary-Care is enough to send millions of donor-dollars on their way though the mail.
And if you are pro Green, then the mention of Arnold’s Humvee set’s your heart to beating. On the other hand, if you think the “green thing” is a scam, well, the sight of someone crossing the street with a Green Peace poster may just cause you to press the accelerator on your Humvee down a little too fast…
Ethos is your ticket to higher trust, higher response and higher sales. Sprinkle a little into your next letter or presentation and enjoy the extra profits on me.
P.S. Doh! After a year, I’ve finally put some info in the “About” section of this blog — so, if you’ve been wondering who I am, what I’m about and how to contact me, you can view it here…
http://www.copyideas.com/about
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7 Responses to “The Anecdote to “Howler Monkey” Copy – The Ethos Effect”
January 30th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
So you’re saying ethical selling might actually work? (And that philosophy major may have some value, too!) Hmmm.
January 30th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Andy,
That’s right - dust off that philosophy degree… In the months ahead we’re going to put that baby to work making sales.
Years ago, in his monograph, “The Basics of Copy” Ed McLean emphasized that the most important sale was the second sale. And you will only get that second sale by writing truthful, ethical copy.
Ironically, Ed smashed records and created controls doing just that. The truth - well told.
Perhaps I should post some of Ed’s lesser known, but remarkable sales letters here?
January 31st, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Holy So-Crates Stover-man!
Awesome revelations in this article! Where you say to strip out the adjectives and stengthen the nouns and verbs - whew - and you’re giving this value away? Nice!
Talk about boosting credibility with the truth. Man, oh man. Ethos, credibility, believability - tied together with philosophic strength from beyond the age of yore.
Anyone coming here as a neophyte will gain a year’s headstart just from reading, studying, and really tearing apart what you’ve written here. Where in hell were you 14 years ago when I could have used this info as a jumpstart? Eh?
Well, there weren’t any blogs online then, and HTML was in version 1.0, so I can’t really blame you. But still!
Very well done - and thanks for letting Robert shine through in this one! Later Dude.
Izzy
February 2nd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Great insights as always Robert.
Cheers,
Kyle
February 26th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Wow;
OK, I’m impressed.
I have read every “post” on this page, and while each has had value, THIS One is Exceptional.
Very well written; “Full Marks”, as they say ‘across the pond’, eh?
I am going to “copy & paste” what you have written to re-read as a principle upon which to base any & all writing I ever do; it resonates with me completely.
Best Regards,
Rick Louis
February 26th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Rick,
Thanks so much for the compliment. “Full Marks” - I didn’t get those in school, so I appreciate them here.
Reader’s with high standards like yours keep me working hard to keep the content standards high.
Thanks again for reading and especially your kind comments.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
“Anecdote” or “antidote”?
Good suggestions for forcing the strength of the writing to come from the nouns, verbs, and intent rather than fluffy adjectives…
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