How to use metaphors & analogies for mass persuasion

Happy Wednesday! Welcome back to The Copywriting Gig.

I'm Jim Hamilton. Over the past 7 years, my copy has contributed to 30m+ in sales for clients across health, biz opp, and B2B.

Each week, I share 1 actionable tip to help grow your business.

Ever wondered why something you wrote didn’t convert?

It’s a frustrating feeling.

Especially if you know all the key elements are there:

+ Strong hook
+ Appealing offer
+ Believable proof
+ Authentic urgency
+ Etc etc

This has happened to me more times than I care to admit.

But what I’ve found in these cases is…

It’s (almost) always because I’ve forgotten one crucial persuasive ingredient:

A good metaphor or analogy.

So today, I’m revealing how and when to use metaphors and analogies for mass persuasion.

Let’s dive in.

Read time: 3 minutes and 13 seconds

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The Importance of Digestible Ideas

When you’re trying to sell a product or service…

Especially a higher-ticket one…

It’s not just one sale.

It’s three.

You are:

1) Selling them on YOU (values, beliefs, story, etc)
2) Selling them on your METHOD (unique mechanism)
3) Selling them on your OFFER (the actual product or service)

You need to make the first two sales before moving onto the offer.

And when it comes to selling them on your method, strategy, or approach…

(known as the “unique mechanism” in copywriting)

It’s crucial to make it digestible.

The reader needs to be able to quickly grasp it and understand it before they can say “yes” to it.

This is where a lot of copywriters and business owners get bogged down.

And the best way to avoid that is:

By relating it to something they already know and understand.

For example, if I’m selling a product teaching ghostwriters how to get clients with Facebook ads…

They might not understand how Facebook ads work.

So I could talk about how they work and how great they are until I’m blue in the face, but the concept still may not resonate.

This is where a good metaphor or analogy comes in.

How to Come Up With Metaphors & Analogies to Make Your Unique Mechanism More Digestible

The most important factor in picking the right metaphor or analogy is:

Starting with a frame (almost) everyone in your audience understands.

Here’s a basic list:

• Cars

• Dating

• Money

• Software

• Hardware

• The human body

There may be many more that apply specifically to your niche or audience.

From here, you can try to make the connections yourself.

But personally, I’d rather get ChatGPT to do it for me.

Here’s how:

STEP 1: Assign a role & task
STEP 2: Describe your offer
STEP 3: Specify the categories

Here’s an example of what the prompt might look like:

You are a world class direct response copywriter. Today, we are going to come up with metaphors & analogies for [PRODUCT].

Please give me a list of 10 metaphors & analogies from each of the following categories:

- Cars
- Dating
- Money
- Software
- Computer hardware
- The human body

Remember: the purpose of this exercise is to make my unique mechanism (MECHANISM) easy to grasp for the reader so they will buy my product.

Here are a few of my favs from ChatGPT for our ghostwriting example:

• Matchmaker, Matchmaker: Facebook ads can be like a dating app, pairing you up with the right clients.
  

• Boost Your Client Immune System: Learning Facebook ads will protect you from the "illness" of not having enough clients.
  

• GPS for Finding Clients: Know exactly where to go and how to get there, like using GPS in a car.
  

• Cruise Control for Client Acquisition: Once your ad is set up, it's like turning on cruise control—you just sit back and watch.
  

• Vending Machine of Opportunity: Put a small investment in, and it delivers clients to you without you having to be there.

As with anything AI-generated, they probably need to be workshopped a bit.

But there’s lots there to play with and spark other ideas.

I really like the vending machine idea.

The headline that immediately came into my mind is:

How 6-Figure Ghostwriters Are Building Automated “Client Vending Machines” With Just $25 Dollars a Day

Again, it’s super raw.

It could definitely be improved.

But now I’ve got both an intriguing hook + a way to make my unique mechanism more tangible.

Plus you can always use the ones you like to iterate further with ChatGPT until you get something closer to what you want.

Putting It All Together

You have to sell someone on your method before you can sell them on your offer.

Metaphors & analogies are the best way to do this.

Relate your new idea to something they already know:

+ Cars
+ Dating
+ Money
+ Software
+ Hardware
+ The human body

This makes it much easier for them to grasp and say “yes” to your offer.

That’s it.

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Jim Hamilton