“Finally Get a 6 Pack Abs With This One Weird Trick”
Every now and then you’ll see a trend pop up in the advertising world. You’ve probably seen the above it before and maybe you’ve even clicked on an advertisement which uses this trendy copywriting tip. I say trendy because we went from never seeing it to being flooded with this one kind of ad in all kinds of niches.
Copywriting Tip
Some successful ads make it a point to peak the curiosity of their readers to get their attention and this is a quintessential example of just that. Let’s dissect the above ad to understand why this copywriting technique is so effective right now.
“Finally Get a 6 Pack Abs”
The first half of the ad establishes the “what” or reward of the ad. Most every guy wants the elusive 6 pack abs, so there’s a huge built in audience for this ad. The “finally” also plays on the awareness in the majority of its readers that the 6 pack is truly difficult to come by and that most “fixes” or “solutions” for this problem simply don’t work. The ad implies that THIS is the one which will finally be the exception which actually works.
“With This One Weird Trick”
The second half establishes the “how” of achieving the reward and is where the real copywriting tip exists so let’s dissect and break it down word by word.
“This” – The “this” implies immediacy; that the trick can be discovered instantly by clicking through the ad. This is important in getting people to take the desired action of clicking through the ad to discover the trick.
“One” – People love simplicity, so rather than giving your reader a drawn out laundry list of tips for realizing a 6 pack of abs, you’re telling them that there is really only one thing they need to know. It’s as simple and as immediate as it can be.
“Weird” – If the rest of this ad doesn’t peak your interest, the qualifier of “weird” for the word “trick” definitely gets the job done. This implies that it’s something that you won’t believe, something you’ve never heard of or considered for getting a 6 pack abs, or something which will just be interesting to learn about. In any event, you’re going to click through.
“Trick” – Another word for technique or method, but trick makes it sound much more interesting, as if you’re literally tricking the system and are stumbling upon a little known secret for getting a 6 pack.
One last note to make: this copywriting technique exclusively works well for the medium it was designed for; internet advertising. It wouldn’t work for a television ad, it only works with the instant gratification model of the internet. Anyone browsing the internet who sees this can presumably quickly click through and discover that trick for themselves. This really works out to be a call to action, because it’s motivating you to take the action of clicking through on the ad to see what that one trick is.