A recent study from Harvard university concluded that backing claims up with scientific evidence increases believability by 87%. That shouldn’t be new to you. In fact…
A-List Copywriter Gary Bencivenga says: “Never make your claim bigger than your proof.”
Wait a second… did you notice something? In the beginning I told you something about a study from Harvard university. To be honest this study is completely made up. In fact I didn’t even try to find a study that shows how studies improve believability.
Yesterday I saw a meme that went like this:
“Scientists have discovered that…
(Funny picture of Leonardo DiCaprio laughing and looking through a microscope)
People will believe anything when you say scientists have discovered it”
We as copywriters and marketers NEED to back every single claim. The more credible and specific your proof is, the better. Here are my 3 favorite ways to do that:
- Quotes, Data, Statistics, etc from credible sources. In some cases that may be a study from Harvard, in another case that could be a quote from a leader or expert in your industry. your source has to be already credible and established.
- Reviews, Testimonials. People listen to people and want to buy what other people buy. You and me included. One of the first things I do before going to a café, buying a product on Amazon, watching a movie is to read reviews. I want to know what other people think of it. Bonus points if the reviews and testimonials represent your target audience.
(A testimonial for a pregnancy course from a man wouldn’t be helpful I guess…) - Demonstration, case studies. The best kind of proof is showing that your product works.
Question for you: What would be the best advertisement for bulletproof west?
Answer: Someone getting shot with it and having no harm afterwards. Well, if you sell info products you can take the safer road. I personally like case studies: document what your customer has done and his results.
Videos on YouTube with titles like… “I tried Y for Z days…” are getting lots of views. Case studies don’t seem salesy and it shows that your product has been tried, tested and works!
If you want to be the first one to upload a YouTube Video called “I tried being on Philipp’s email list for 30 days and THIS is what happened…”, then you should join my email list. Gary Bencivenga and Harvard university begged me to not make this email list available to the public because it is so valuable to them (maybe not exactly, however that’s a different topic.)