John was awestruck, he had joyful tears in his eyes, but he was still in total disbelief. Without trying – or even wanting it - he had stumbled upon the single most persuasive weapon he could wish for as a copywriter. John immediately knew that with his newly discovered powers, his financial woes were over for good… and then some!
Did the last paragraph catch your attention? I’m sure it did. Most experts agree that one of the most powerful and hypnotic tools in your copywriting skill set is storytelling. In fact, knowing how to tell a good story is in many cases, that mysterious x-factor that sets amateurs apart from legendary copywriters.
But why? The answer is quite simple.
Stories and anecdotes are a highly rich source of powerful techniques to influence your readers and persuade them into becoming your customers. Because when a story is well told, in the eyes of your prospect it is not only interesting, entertaining and educational but it also becomes the most enjoyable element in your entire sales presentation.
Stories are the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.
~Howard Gardner, Harvard University
Stories are used naturally in everyday social interaction. For that reason alone, people feel comfortable with them. There’s nothing wrong, devious or even mysterious about a story, and as a result, stories never make your prospects suspicious.
In fact, stories have a way of relaxing the tension of a sales pitch and opening your prospects minds to new ideas or concepts. Plus when a story is skillfully told, it has the uncanny power to summon good feelings. And because stories tend to be fresh and innovative, they can plant a lasting image in your customer’s mind – often they become unforgettable. You still remember a lot of stories that you were told when you were a child… right?
And yet, benevolent as stories may seem, they hold almost infinite influential power. For example, did you know that one of the characters in a story could be easily giving hypnotic commands and suggestions to the story’s hero?
When a story is well told, the technique I just described has the ability of making the commands and hypnotic suggestions the character makes bypass the conscious mind of even the most skeptical and close-minded prospect. And best of all, the prospect would have no reason to doubt you as a salesperson or raise further objections; after all, it’s just the story’s characters interacting. Using this technique, you can even make suggestions that you would not normally dare making directly to the prospect - and all without making him raise an eyebrow!
The best part of it all is that stories are so flexible that they lend themselves to be used with virtually any persuasion or influence weapon in your copywriting arsenal. Plus they are a great way to convey your product’s benefits without actually having to talk endlessly about the product.
So now that you know the true power of storytelling in copywriting. How about trying to come up with a few stories you can weave strategically into your copy to make it more persuasive? I dare you to go ahead and try it… and I guarantee you’ll be surprised with
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