3 ways to exploit the “electric shock” effect in copywriting

Certainty sells in copywriting.

That’s because most of us are not trained to cope with uncertain outcomes in life.

We crave predictability and reliability.

In fact, a 2016 study in Nature used electric shocks to look at how people respond to certain vs uncertain outcomes…

And it found our stress response peaks when uncertainty is highest.

Today, I’m revealing 3 ways to exploit this effect so you can get more leads and sales.

Let’s dive in.

Read time: 2 minutes and 51 seconds

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Avoid Making This One Common Mistake

Most people will do almost anything to alleviate uncertainty...

So the goal is to create doubt in the reader's mind that they'll be able to figure it out on their own.

And let's face it...

Most people who try to DIY it end up spinning their wheels for years with nothing to show for it. So there's nothing unethical about this.

Just don't overdo it.

Because too much doubt can be crippling. Not to mention it’s a bit cheesy. And you want to avoid attracting leads and buyers who are in a super low emotional state.

But if you can create a healthy amount of doubt before, during, and after you present your offer...

You can exploit this allergy to uncertainty for fun and profit.

Now let’s dig into exactly how to do it.

1) The callout

Calling attention to the specific actions someone has taken, like opening an email, clicking on an ad, or reading a sales page…

Along with the implications behind those actions…

Is a powerful way to create uncertainty.

Here’s an example:

Let's be honest: if you could solve this problem with Google, YouTube, or ChatGPT, you wouldn't be sitting here reading this right now.

2) How’s that working out for you?

Appealing to skepticism is crucial.

Most buyers have been burned before.

But this also opens the door to challenge their past results.

Because if they had all the tools they needed to achieve the outcome, they wouldn’t still be searching for a solution.

Do this by asking a simple question: “how’s that working out for you so far?”

See how this next example incorporates this to build on the callout.

Here’s the copy:

Now, I know you may be skeptical. If you're like most folks, you're probably wondering if this sounds too good to be true. And whether you'd be better off just sticking to X, Y, or Z solution like you have in the past. But I gotta ask - how's that working out for you so far? If that really was the answer, would you still be sitting here reading this right now? Probably not.

3) Two choices

This is a common closing technique in both copywriting and sales.

You paint a picture of two different futures:

One where they take action and one where they don’t.

Depending on the medium, you might go into greater detail describing both of these futures.

But for the sake of this newsletter, I’ve kept the example pretty short.

Here, we are:

• Using a callout at the beginning

• Appealing to a shared belief (the definition of insanity)

• And reinforcing the paradigm shift (our diagnosis of the root cause)

Here’s the copy:

You’ve made it to the end of this [ad/email/sales page/etc] so, from here, you've got two choices: you can forget everything you've learned here today and keep doing exactly what you’ve been doing. Maybe things will get better.

But then again, maybe not. We both know what they say about the definition of insanity. Or, you can go with Option B and embrace the fact that [unique mechanism of the problem] is the real reason why you haven't succeeded in the past. And why [unique mechanism of the solution] is the answer you’ve been looking for.

Putting It All Together

3 ways to exploit the “electric shock” effect in copywriting:

1) The callout
2) How’s that working out for you?
3) Two choices

That’s it.

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Jim Hamilton