You've started reading a newsletter. And before you know it, you're at 500 words. Then at 750 words. And hurtling past 1000 words. How on earth did you end up reading so much, when all you wanted to do was skim through the article? The answer is in the connectors in copywriting.
So what are the connectors in copywriting?
You may have not realised it, but you just read a connector. Look closely. What was the last line of the last paragraph?. The line said: The answer is in the connectors in copywriting. And then the very next line said, What are the connectors in copywriting?
Do you see what's happening? The reason you slid from one paragraph to another so easily is because you have a connection.
A connection is like a bridge
See? I did it again. I took the last word and connected it in the next paragraph. And yes, connectors are like bridges. All you have to do is take the last thought of the last line, and somehow re-create that thought in the first line of the next paragraph. And you have a live connection that keeps customers reading, and almost slip-sliding down the paragraphs.
Why is this slip-sliding so very important?
Umm...think about it. The purpose of this line is to get you to read this line. And then the next line and the next line, till the copy comes to a logical conclusion. By connecting lines to the next line and paragraphs to the next paragraph, I keep the connection always alive.
Example, Example:
Here's a piece from a recent article: See the connectors? They're in red too...just in case you didn't notice.
Been to Santa's website recently?
Before you decide to go clickety, click -- Santa doesn't have a website. You knew that didn't you? But what if Santa came to you and said, "Hey, I'd like to create a website. Can you help me?
So let's go about creating a brand for ol' chubster
You'd have navigation. You'd have graphics. You'd have content. And Santa's website would be like any website. Or would it? What would differentiate Santa's website from any other website on the planet?
Santa's website would rock, wouldn't it?
You'd put in stories of Rudolph. Of Dasher, Vixen, Prancer and all the deer. Santa's personality would bubble through. You'd feel happy and generous and full of good cheer once you stopped over at Santa's website, wouldn't you? His personality and giving nature would shine through and you'd really like this fat, cheerful chap who brings so much cheer to the world.
Imagine we then we tramped over to your site...
And we run into similar navigation. Similar graphics. Similar content. But there's something missing. And it's only when you compare Santa's site to yours that you find what's really missing.
Your site has little or no personality...that's what's missing
And if you don't have personality, you haven't really started down the road of creating a brand. Brand? What brand? Where do you start looking for a brand? You start looking for a brand in your character; your personality.
Personal Experience: In most of my copy I use connectors. They're very powerful and it gets the reader to really slip slide away. However, in some cases I also use a concept that's disorienting. I do this on purpose, to snap the reader out of a reverie. I'll talk about a disjointed connector in a future article, but if you look through a lot of the hidden articles, you'll get a headstart and see exactly what I mean.
If you noticed, the content in this piece didn't have enormous style. It lacked stories. It lacked metaphors. And yet it made a distinct point. It taught you something very powerful. Of course, the biggest reason you continued to read, was because of the connectors. Every movie, article or sales letter that's brilliant, always has a connection.
And that's because stories have connections. As a child when we listened to stories we always wanted to know what came next. Your connector is a bridge to what comes next.
