What’s the end of your story? Do you have a Copywriting Formula for Success?
Last month at the Harrison Opera House, Donizetti gave away the end of his story in the first scene – a HUGE spoiler.
Here it is again in case you missed it: Tragic Love, Certain Death, and Destruction.
Of course. It was an opera: Lucia di Lammermoor.
It’s all part of the formula – and every great opera is built on a great formula.
There’s a Problem – Lucia in love with the only surviving member of the warring clan, who saved her life. (Yes, his name is Edgardo, even though they’re in Scotland – it’s Donizetti!)
There’s Action – They pledge their love, her brother’s short on cash so he tricks her and forces her to marry a nobleman. People get upset …)
And there’s Resolution – Basically, the good people die.
Add a mad scene with a pointy object and a 15-minute-long off-the-charts coloratura soprano passage to round it all out. Sure, we can guess what’s going to happen in this dysfunctional family. It looks like another Romeo and Juliet …
But it doesn’t stop us from being sucked in by the drama.
In marketing, we call this copywriting formula PAS or Problem, Agitate, Solve.
What Problem does your business solve? What pain do your clients experience before they find you?
Let’s say your prospects want to teach their kids about saving and investing and they hate talking about money.
Can you Agitate that?
- 32.1 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds lived with mom and dad in 2014, according to the Pew Research Center
- The average college grad in 2016 owed $37,172 in college debt.
- Only 31% of millenials are contributing regularly to a retirement account.
- And young men are working fewer hours as a result of playing video games
What will happen if they don’t find a Solution? What’s the next scene … the lingering fear … the tragedy that threatens?
Junior is 43 and living in your basement surrounded by fast food wrappers, World of Warfare trophies, and last week’s dirty underwear. If only he hadn’t overspent the hospitality budget at work and risked his entire life savings on the iguana farm …
Sing your mad aria. Add a surprise.
Then leave the Donizetti behind and save the day with YOUR solution.
