My girl and I are heading to Columbus today for a concert.
And before I hit the gym this morning, I noticed something hideous:
A big, fat, ugly, white bird shit on my side view mirror.
Gross.
But ‘twas an easy fix:
Since I drive a Subaru, they offer me a free car wash whenever I want.
Sure, car washes aren't that expensive.
But it’s a small little advantage over other car dealerships. (I also have a bunch of friends who work at Subaru, so I would support them anyway.)
And it reminds me of a powerful copywriting lesson I first heard from the esteemed Jim Clair about general experience.
Here’s the story:
My copywriting training comes from the world of direct response.
Which is, objectively, the superior form of marketing.
Direct response made a lot of copywriters rich before the days of the internet, Facebook, or Google.
They birthed the infomercial industry.
And… many of the companies went out of business, despite raking in millions at one point.
Why?
They didn’t have a good general experience.
Which, in part, is why they had to hire the best of the best direct response copywriters.
So what’s general experience?
Sound it out, cully.
It’s the general experience your clients or customers have when using (not buying) your stuff.
This is why these successful direct response companies of yestercentury didn’t last even though they made a bunch of sales.
Or with my Subaru example:
Part of the general experience is free car washes whenever you want.
(I hear tell of a guy who would take his Subie in every single day for a wash.)
And that’s why they sell (and retain—Subie owners definitely have culty vibes to em) cars like hotcakes. Among several other reasons, of course.
Which brings me to the point:
If’n you have a better general experience than your competitors… you will retain more clients for longer and even develop a cult-like following, which makes your competitors irrelevant (no matter how much better they are than you).
Powerful stuff indeed.
And as a copywriter, writing about the general experience of your products is a cheat code:
* It helps your audience visualize using your product before they buy it
* It’s the most important ingredient in the copywriting equation (and far beats guru-y type advice like hype, future pacing, NLP tactics, urgency, etc.)
* And it shows your audience you care about them
Why?
Because to even spend time talking about the general experience means you put more thought into it than most companies or copywriters do.
Here’s an example from one of my clients:
He sells this supplement which is a spray instead of a pill or powder.
And you know what?
It’s not the only reason people buy it. (It’s one of the hottest products he’s added to his store, and emails I’ve sent about it have generated bookoo bucks—I’m talking like $20-$100k+ of revenue—so there are other reasons people buy.)
But it is a reason.
Because of the general experience:
Spraying something into your mouth is much easier than swallowing a pill or making a smoothie.
Try improving your general experience in your business, whatever that means to you. And watch what happens.
Anywho:
Need help with your email strategy?
Grab a time here. If we’re a good fit, we can make our wallets bulge much more than they do now.
Or if you refer a new client to me, I’ll split my first month with you 50/50.
John
Comments