Sometimes this gets me in trouble.
Especially with the copywriting fanboys.
But it’s my contention (and I’ve seen it happen) that a story can potentially carry the entire sale in an ad even if everything else is technically “wrong” (no clear call to action, confusing copy, weak headline, no offer, etc).
Prove it, you say?
Okay, how about these oranges:
Back in 1986 a movie called “Top Gun” hit the theaters.
Top Gun is about a couple hotshot Naval pilots given a chance to train with the “best of the best” pilots in the world at the “Top Gun” fighter pilot school. Now, whether you like Top Gun or not (I love it!), it was, in some ways, an extremely profitable “sales letter.”
How so?
Couple reasons:
First…
After the movie hit the screens, Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses (the kind Tom Cruise’s character “Maverick” wore) jumped 40%.
That’s a HUGE increase.
And secondly…
Air Force and Navy recruitment (both sometimes very “hard sells”) shot through the roof.
Crazy, isn’t it?
But apparently, the movie was so good at “selling” all the young whippersnappers of the day on how cool being a fighter pilot is, recruitment booths were set up inside many of the theaters it played in!
Hence, the selling POWER of stories.
And of giving people a fun, thrilling ride.
After all, there was nothing in the movie telling you to go buy Maverick’s brand of sunglasses or to join The Navy. Yet, the movie “sold” great hordes of people on wanting to be like Maverick.
To live his exact lifestyle.
And, yes, win over the hot babe at the end.
So anyway, what about you?
Would you like to tell stories that SELL like that?
Then check out the next Crypto Marketing Newsletter issue (that goes to print July 1), which is ALL about writing stories that sell in ads.
You can subscribe over yonder at:
See ya on the other side, Maverick…
Ben Settle
