Copywriter Secrets: Sample of Marketing – My job as a freelance copywriter requires me to constantly gather information. I read books about marketing, copywriting, advertising, web design, professional rainmaking, and other topics that interest only copywriting work. Also, I study the copy of others. (some could argue I’m hunting for ideas to steal, and they might be correct)
Though I enjoy all kinds of research, the one that results in free food is my favorite.
Free Sample of Marketing as Copywrite Secrets:
One of the closest shopping centers to me has a massive food court. A diet trap, for those who aren’t strong-willed enough to avoid it.
Some eateries’ go-to advertising strategy involves handing out free samples of their food. I found this out the hard way the other day. I passed by a Cajun restaurant no less than seven times, with a toothpick full of free samples greeting me each time. Not once have I ever claimed to be proud.
But once I’d had my fill of the complimentary food. I settled in to observe the bustle of activity at the numerous stands. As predicted, businesses who provided free samples did significantly better than their competitors.
What’s the deal here?
I can think of two explanations. The first, and most obvious, is that offering complimentary samples gives hungry customers a sneak peek at what they may expect from the rest of the dinner.
Nevertheless I find the second explanation to be more intriguing. Robert Cialdini discusses a powerful persuasion tactic he calls The Law of Reciprocity in his seminal book, Influence: Science and Practice. When someone does something nice for us, we have a social obligation to return the favor. When someone does something nice for us, our natural response is to return the favor.
Conduction of Cialdini Studies:
Cialdini uses studies conducted by psychologists, sociologists, and historians to illustrate the Law of Reciprocity. One experiment had a professor send holiday greeting cards to a group of people they had never met before. It was incredible to see how many people responded to him. Several individuals who had never heard of him or cared to find out who he was responded to his card.
The Hare Krishna Society is another group Cialdini uses as an example of a religious cult’s influence. They spent many years in the ’70s and ’80s approaching strangers in public areas, especially airports, to solicit money. After their initial efforts to solicit donations from strangers yielded disappointingly little dollars, they decided to try something new: they began offering the strangers a free present in exchange for a donation.
Successfully implemented freebies. Their donations increased rapidly until passengers learned to recognize their tricks and started avoiding them, and airports instituted policies to curb their operations.
Cialdini cites a study of waiters and waitresses as an additional example. when a small treat like candy or mint gave with the bill, results showed that tips were significantly higher.
For another, consider President Lyndon B. Johnson, who, throughout his administration, was able to get an unprecedented amount of legislation enacted. Obviously, there was a straightforward explanation. Johnson had mastered the art of doling out favors to his fellow lawmakers for a long time before he became JFK’s vice president.
Then, as president, he had a lot of congressmen owe him favors, so he was able to win over opponents of his policies who otherwise would have voted against them.
So, you might be thinking, all of this is fascinating, but how does this relate to copywriting(Copywriter Secrets: Sample of Marketing)? I’m happy that you brought that up.
