Hypnotic Writing

Citation

Parsons, A.L. (2007), "Hypnotic Writing", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 380-380. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760710822963

What is hypnotic writing? According to Joe Vitale, hypnotic writing is “intentionally using words to guide people into a focused mental state where they are inclined to buy your product or service” (p. 27). The book sets out to elaborate on what hypnotic writing is, to explain what motivates people, to illustrate what makes writing hypnotic, and ultimately to describe how to write and edit copy that activates purchasing behavior. Descriptions of selected chapters that offer insightful advice follow.

Throughout the book there are exercises for readers to complete, encouraging them to think about what they want to achieve with their writing. These are helpful tools. In Chapter 2, readers are told to stop before reading further and to answer questions about their own writing strategy and approach to writing. The objective of this exercise is to help readers apply lessons from the book to their current writing strategies and approaches. Another exercise in Chapter 9 shows a picture of a product and asks the reader to describe that product. The focus of this exercise is to encourage the reader to emphasize the benefits of the product and not just the features. This point is presented in most selling and marketing textbooks but sadly is not utilized enough in advertising copy or written sales materials. The exercise really helps to encourage the writer to strive to make it clear to their reader what the product in question offers them (benefits) rather than just telling the reader what the product is or does (features and functions). This message is reiterated in Chapter 1,9 which encourages the writer to think about trying to answer the readers' question – what's in it for me?

Chapter 16 illustrates how to get readers to take action. The first step is to get the reader's attention by getting them to think about whether or not they have a problem, and the next step is to make a promise about how you can help the reader to solve the problem. This is followed by a presentation of some evidence of proof that you can help solve the problem, and then ultimately mentioning a price will motivate action. This strategy can be utilized in advertisements, sales letters, or web sites.

A simple but important point is covered in Chapter 20 about the power of repetition. Repeating key phrases and points increases the likelihood that the reader will remember and ultimately act on the information they read or hear. It seems that too many commercials today forget this simple idea and only mention their brand name or slogan once in a commercial. It is no surprise that brand and slogan recognition is often low among consumers.

Chapters 24, 29 and 31 discuss the role of editing and encourage writers to not worry about being perfect the first time around. Vitale recommends that you write first and edit last. Once you do reach the editing stage, you should not be afraid to cut out things, move material, or change words or verb tenses. You should also get someone else to read your material out loud to you to help you gain perspective on what you have written. And finally, it is okay to take a break when the creative juices temporarily stop flowing.

Copywriters might find Chapters 41, 45 and 46 to be especially helpful as triggers to begin the writing process. Chapter 41 starts out with a question – What are my secrets for writing hypnotic selling stories? The following text emphasizes the effectiveness of using questions to engage people in your writing. Chapter 45 illustrates 30 ways to write a hypnotic headline and gives concrete examples of each of the 30 different ways. Some tips include promising a benefit, making it newsworthy, offering something free, leading with a testimonial, and asking an intriguing question. Chapter 46 takes it one step further and discusses how to write a hypnotic opening. One tip is to use statements at the beginning of your writing that your prospect already knows because this creates trust. Another tip is to make sure the copy is connected and flows smoothly from one thought to the next.

The ultimate goal of hypnotic writing is to sell your prospect using the power of words. At the end of the book, Vitale outlines the hypnotic writing formula. Writing that is truly hypnotic captures the reader's attention, reels them in by offering a promise or benefits or raises their curiosity, builds desire by telling a story or painting a picture, gives reasons why to buy, anticipates objections, provides proof through facts or testimonials, offers a guarantee, issues a call to action, and finally closes the deal.

Most of the chapters are relatively short and easy to follow. The book flows quickly and uses some of the techniques Vitale recommends. Quite a few chapters start off with an attention‐getting sentence or paragraph, followed by a promise to provide insight on key points but then force the reader to find the proof by continuing to read the text to ultimately learn how to achieve the same thing in their own writing. Vitale mentions hypnotic writing multiple times,and key points are summarized or restated at different places in the book, illustrating the power of repetition. He also uses questions as chapter titles and starts many of the chapters off with questions to get the reader's attention and get them to continue reading. Examples: What's more important than copy? What about your web site? Are there any secrets to writing clear, crisp, alive, even break through material?

The tips offered in this book could be helpful for anyone who writes copy for advertising, direct mail pieces, blogs, web sites, e‐mails, or sales letters. The book's exercises may be useful in a classroom setting in writing, marketing, advertising, or selling courses. While the book does present a number of examples, it would have been interesting to see a wider variety of examples. The illustrations used were primarily for the author's own products or samples from the author's consulting work. Many of the topics covered are not brand new but they are packaged in a different way that some may find helpful. At times, it felt as if the book was one big sales pitch for the author's other books, tapes, and programs, but if you can get past the “infomercial” feeling of the book there are many tips that writers may find useful for creating effective persuasive advertising messages and selling materials.