Guest: Clyde Bedell, highly successful advertiser and prominent teacher. In this episode, the hosts delve into Clyde Bedell's influential book on copywriting and discuss the 7 keys to believability in advertising. They emphasize the importance of convincing prospects that the product is valuable through repetition, testimonials, guarantees, and more. They also explore the impact of testimonials, including photos and full names, in enhancing credibility. Additionally, they discuss building believability through assurances, proof, and customer reviews, and introduce a sponsor and a $10 Kindle book on copywriting.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Use Repetition to Build Conviction
Repeat your main idea at least three times to ensure it sticks with your audience.
Artful repetition builds conviction by reaching the unconscious mind, which learns best through repetition.
insights INSIGHT
Popularity Builds Social Proof
People seek comfort in group confirmation even if they value individuality.
Demonstrating product popularity leverages social proof to increase desire and sales.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Contrarians Still Follow Trends
Even contrarian groups seek belonging by adopting similar styles or buying the same products.
South Park's goth kids wearing identical clothes illustrate how niche popularity influences buying behavior.
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After a long pause, we are back with our popular Old Masters Series. Today, a deep dive into an important part of the work of Clyde Bedell.
He’s not all that well known these days, but decades ago he was one of the top guys you would turn to if you want to learn how to write copy that works. Besides being a highly successful advertiser, he was a prominent teacher.
For example, he built a national sales training program for Ford Motor Company in the 1930s. When he was teaching copywriting at Northwestern University, he couldn’t find a suitable textbook, so he wrote one.
That turned into “How To Write Advertising That Sells.” It was first published in 1940—13 years before I was born. The book is 8-1/2 by 11 and a massive 539 pages. It’s pretty hard to find a copy these days, but I found one copy on Amazon for $736. Lucky for me, I got my copy years ago when it was easier to get and not quite as expensive.
We zeroed-in on one chapter which I would call “7 Keys To Believability.” The word for believability that Bedell used was “conviction.” Same idea -- you want to get your prospect convinced that what you’re selling is valuable and worth buying, just by the way you write about it in your ads.
As we go through these 7 keys, you may be reminded on things you’re not doing as well as you could, or you aren’t doing at all. What we’re covering today is a little different in that we’re looking at elements of copy through the lens of believability, which is all-important. A focus on believability.
Copywriters and entrepreneurs intuitively know this is important, but I’ve never really seen a checklist-based system for maximizing believability.
This is that system.
The 7 Keys To Believability we’ll cover are:
1. Present the Main Ideas 3 Times
2. Tell of the Product’s Popularity—Who Uses It And Likes It
3. Zero-in with Bona-Fide Testimonials—And Authority’s Approval
4. Give Assurances and Proof—Build Confidence
5. Guarantee If You Can
6. Make Your Offer Vitally Valid—Be Congruous
7. Convey the Value Definitively—Positively Download.
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