Here’s one way to write better copy:
Find the shocking tension between two ideas, then leverage that tension in your copy.
Why you should write copy with tension?
Tension happens in copy when you present two ideas, both true, that cause the reader to think something is wrong with the world or their life.
Tension causes people to say: “Things shouldn’t be this way!”
For example, imagine that the following things were true:
- Your boss works significantly fewer hours than you.
- Your boss makes $700k a year and you make $100k.
Your immediate thought is probably, “Hey, that isn’t fair!” That’s tension.
How to use tension in your copy?
Now let’s draft a real example of tension in copywriting.
Imagine you run a personal finance platform for individuals. Here is a paragraph you could write that introduces tension effectively:
“When a company wants to manage their finances, they hire a finance department. Yet, normal individuals also have complicated finance problems—investments, taxes, equity, income, debt, and more—and almost none of them have finance departments. They have to do it all on their own.”
Now that you’ve introduced the tension, you’ve primed your reader for your pitch, which is: Your personal finance platform is the finance department that everyday people deserve.
Feeling tense?
Try this out the next time you sit down to write copy. It often leads to effective results.
And if you want dozens more effective copywriting frameworks, sign up for Stacked Marketer Pro and take our copywriting course.
It’ll have you writing crisp, convincing copy in just two hours.
