Tweet

Writing Great Copy for Supplements

Written by: AWAI’s The Golden Thread

Article Overview: Alan Serinsky has used his copywriting skills to build a successful supplement business, Vitalmax Vitamins. Today, he’s going to share his insider secrets on what propels supplement copy toward success

Writing Great Copy for Supplements

CI: As I understand it, you write a lot of your own copy – and you basically consider yourself to be a copywriter who became a businessman.

Alan: That’s correct. Copy is my thing – the thing I enjoy doing the most.

CI: So if you have a control, whether you wrote it or someone that you hired wrote it, and you say, “Today I’m going to sit down and work on this product” – how do you go about it? What’s your thought process in looking at a promotion that’s doing well and coming up with a way to beat it?

Alan: Well, I try to look for something that’s specifically unique to the formula that maybe somebody else hasn’t talked about. To do that, you need to be able to “seed” yourself with all your competitors so you can get their mailings and see what they’re saying.

I remember a long time ago … we were doing a prostate product and everybody was talking about saw palmetto berries. So we looked at our formula, and we had lycopene in it. We started researching lycopene, and found out that it is a very strong ingredient for helping prostate health, and we decided maybe that should be our big story. We took our control, which was focused completely on saw palmetto, and rewrote it. We made lycopene our big-picture focus, and we must have had over 20 percent increase in response rate. It just killed the control.

CI: Do you remember what your headline was?

Alan: I think it was something like “Your prostate’s a ticking time bomb,” and we talked about a new breakthrough, lycopene, that could restore your prostate and help your symptoms. That promotion really showed how picking something unique that no one else is talking about can make a big story – and when it comes to selling supplements, you need a big story.

You need some breaking news, something that everybody hasn’t heard about. Customers in the health product area receive a lot of mail. They get a lot of different types of promotions, and a lot of them are selling the same story for the same health problem. They want something different … because I can guarantee you that, after a period of time, they’re going to feel they’re not getting the full benefit of the product they’re currently using. When that happens, they are going to look for something that has a different promise, that has a different ingredient.

I keep looking around for something I can tell people that hasn’t been told before. I think that’s a very important marketing strategy in the health industry.

CI: So you look for the unique selling proposition or, really, the point of differentiation.

Alan: Yes, very important.

CI: Let’s talk for a moment about what the regulatory agencies allow you to say in healthcare copy (and what you should never say). What restrictions are you under?

Alan: Well, lately the FDA’s gotten very strong on direct-mail vitamin nutritional supplement promotions. So we’ve gone through a change. We now try to have all our copy be as much in compliance with the FDA as possible, which is a little bit different than what the FTC requires. The FTC is concerned with making false advertising claims – and that applies to all direct-mail marketing. But when the FDA steps in, they have a lot of different concerns.

We can’t make cancer claims, we can’t make prevention claims, and we sometimes even have trouble listing symptoms. The FDA has gotten very strict. It’s become quite a challenge to write good copy.

But I never give up, because there are always ways of saying the things you need to say without upsetting the FDA. I think the customer gets it. For example, it’s pretty widely known that once men get past their 40s, four out of five have prostate problems. You don’t have to hit them over the head with the word “cancer.” They know what you’re talking about. The trick is to figure out how to use different words that mean the same thing.

CI: How do you make sure your writers know the boundaries they have to work within?

Alan: I don’t tie their hands. I try to give them some guidance up front, and I say, “Listen. You know, you’ve got to substantiate everything.” That’s what seems to be the main thing. If you’re making a claim, you have to substantiate it. In other words, there’s got to be a study saying that this ingredient in your product is going to provide this benefit.

I tell them that if they see a study that’s going to add credibility to the piece, go ahead and use it. Pull the abstract out of PubMed (which you can find on the Internet). Just be cautious. If the study’s talking about 600 mg and your product only has 300 mg, you can’t use it.

CI: Let’s say you’re going to hire someone who’s a starting copywriter, maybe an AWAI graduate. It’s their first or their second assignment, or maybe their fifth assignment but their first with you. What kind of assignment would you start them out on? Would it be a direct-mail package? A headline test? An insert?

Alan: I wouldn’t want a beginner to go ahead and dive into a 16-pager or a magalog or something of that sort. So what I usually do is give them a small package, a four- or eight-page package – and I ask them to do the head and the lead first. In other words, give me a page or two. Let me make sure you’re on the right track, because there’s a lot you’ve got to be concerned about. Are you telling the story we want you to tell? Do you have a big promise upfront? Do you have the right voice? Health supplements often have doctors that endorse the product. Does your copy sounds like it’s coming from a doctor?

CI: Though you usually start beginners with something small – like a four- or eight-pager – is that a format that you typically use?

Alan: Every nutritional supplement company has its own look. The formula that usually works for us is a self-mailer. Sometimes we have a picture of one of our doctors on the front, along with a big header and a promise. And it usually runs about 12 or 16 pages.

CI: What’s a reasonable fee for writing a direct mailing to sell a nutritional supplement? Can you give our readers a range?

Alan: It differs with the number of pages. At least, that’s how we do it. If you’re doing a four-page package, that’s an easy write. If you’re doing a 16 pager, it’s going to take some work. For someone new to the health field or just starting out as a copywriter, I would say anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000. Sometimes with royalties, sometimes not.

It’s very important for all new writers to do some work at very low cost or even at no cost. You want to get a successful piece in the mail, because that’s going to be your ace in the hole. If you get a successful piece, you’re going to be able to go to other clients and say, “Listen, I have a successful piece in the mail that’s making someone lots of money.” They’re going to want to see it … and that’s going to be your selling tool.

In the beginning, your priority is to get a piece that’s working in the mail, not the money you’re going to get for writing it. Think of it as an investment – one that’s going to pay off in the end.

So take jobs that you think you can handle. Even if it may not be what you’re most interested in at the moment, take the project anyway if you think it might lead to a good opportunity for you.

CI: Earlier, you talked about the importance of finding a USP for your product. But then what? What’s your secret for writing a strong package around that the USP?

Alan: There is a structure we use that works for us. So I tell my writers, stick to the structure. You have to have all the components in your piece. I also tell them to use subheads, because when you’re talking about nutritional supplements and ingredients, it can get very technical. Subheads help to keep pulling your reader back into the story.

Next, they need to find the voice. The voice is very important in writing health. We use a doctor to endorse our products, so our promotions have to sound like they’re coming from him.

Customers put a lot of trust into the doctors who are behind nutritional formulas. So not only does writing in a particular doctor’s voice help you build a loyal customer base, it also makes your customers feel like somebody with a lot of knowledge in his field is talking to them with authority.

CI: Not all supplement clients use doctors to endorse their products, but a lot of them do.

Alan: Right. And I tell my writers that they need to place themselves on the other side of the doctor’s desk. Imagine yourself in the doctor’s office. He’s sitting in his chair and leaning across his desk, talking to you like you’re one of his patients. You want to make your copy sound like it’s coming right out of his mouth, that he has an understanding of your problem and sympathy for what you’re going through.

On your first page, you have to state the problem and make a promise. Make your reader feel comfortable with the doctor. Make him feel that there’s a connection – that the doctor’s got solutions for the problem and that he’s going to explain why these solutions are better than anything you’ll find at the corner store.

If you build that story and you keep that pitch going through the whole promotion, by the time the reader is done, he’s going to feel compelled to buy the product.

CI: One last thing. What do you think works better in copy to sell health products? Fear or hope?

Alan: I work them together: problem/solution. I give them the fear of the problem and then I give them the hope of the solution. They go hand in hand.

Link directly to this article »
3 Powerful Ways to Get Your Prospect Ready to Listen
by Heather Robson
AWAI Copywriter and Copywriting Insider Editor-in-Chief

When it comes to supplements, creating a feeling of trust between you and your audience is crucial. You need to do this right up front, in your headline and lead, or chances are your reader won’t stay with you. That said, here are three proven ways to build trust:

Build trust through authority.

Writing from the point of view of a doctor is one way to establish authority. But just any doctor won’t do. You need to create the feeling that this doctor is fighting for the reader against the medical establishment. People trust doctors, but they don’t trust the medical industry. Use this dichotomy to reach your audience. (Hint: Including a photo of the doctor in the layout also builds trust.)

Build empathy with the reader.

People with health concerns want other people to be concerned, too. Do your research and really understand the problems they are facing. Then build empathy by showing them you understand and you care. The best way to do this is with conversational writing. Imaging you are sitting next to someone, just talking to him about what’s worrying him. That’s the feeling you want to get across in your package.

Use customer anecdotes to establish a connection.

In the health industry, buyers respond to stories of people who have had a similar experiences. Use the information you find in testimonials to weave a story into your package that demonstrates the effectiveness of the supplement you are promoting. Personal stories can help you immediately connect with your reader. When you can show her that someone in her situation had success with your product, she is more likely to trust what you have to say.

Related Articles
  Industry Spotlight Health Supplements
  Understanding Personalized Supplements
  YOUR BODY AND ANTIOXIDANTS
  Learn Copy Writing - It will make a Huge difference in your Business
  Search Engine Marketing - Why You Should Write Search Engine Friendly Copy?

Article Tags: big picture, breaking news, breakthrough, businessman, copywriter, health problem, health product, long time, lycopene, mail, palmetto berries, promotions, prostate health, response rate, saw palmetto, selling supplements, thought process, ticking time bomb



Related Forum Posts
Top 19 Copywriting books - 1. Ogilvy on Advertising. David Ogilvy. Wiley. 2. Positioning: The Battle for your Mind. Al Ries and Jack Trout. Warner. 3. The New Positioning. Jack Trout. McGraw-Hill. 4. Tested Advertising Methods. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 5. How to Make your Advertising Make Money. John Caples. Prentice-Hall. 6. Guerrilla Advertising. Jay Conrad Levinson. Houghton Mifflin. 7. Direct Mail Copy that Sells. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 8. Sales Letters that Sizzle. Herschell Gordon Lewis. NTC Business Books. 9. Herschell Gordon Lewis on the Art of Writing Copy. Herschell Gordon Lewis. Prentice-Hall. 10. Romancing the Brand. David Martin. American Management Association. 11. The Art of Writing Advertising: Conversations with William Bernbach, Leo Burnett, George Gribbin, David Ogilvy, Rosser Reeves. NTC Business Books. 12. Confessions of an Advertising Man. David Ogilvy. NTC Business Books. 13. My Life in Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 14. Scientific Advertising. Claude Hopkins. NTC Business Books. 15. How to Become an Advertising Man. James Webb Young. NTC Business Books. 16. The Lasker Story as He Told It. NTC Business Books. 17. Advertising Concept and Copy. George Felton. Prentice Hall. 18. The Copy WorkShop Workbook. Bruce Bendinger. The Copy Workshop. 19. Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads. Luke Sullivan. Wiley. This should keep you busy for at least a year. Enjoy!
Need a book recommendation for writing better - I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing skills, so I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good copywriting or copyediting book? I was actually thinking of reading "The Copywriter's Handbook : A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells" by Robert W Bly [u:w3cg00nn]OR[/u:w3cg00nn] "The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications" by Amy Einsohn. Would anyone know if these books are any good? Thanks
Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly? - Writing, Article Spinning, Backlinking.
Re: Will 2009 be the year you write your book? - Writing a book takes time but its sure rewarding! Thanks for the info.
Different Hats - CEO Sales & Marketing & Leadership Development Company Strategic Vision 10 Alliances & Growth Strategies 10 Hiring & Managing People 8 Mentoring 8-9 Strategic Planning for Clients 10 Execution of Marketing Campaigns 9-10 (i have great people who do the nitty gritty) Financial Management 9 Bookkeeping 3 (outsourced as I really hate the fine details like GST0 Administrative Follow Up 6-7 (again have great staff) Writing & Publishing 9 (getting better all the time!) Speaking 10 (so I have been told) Self Promotion 9-10 Web development & Promotion 6-7 (learning more and have brought on players who are 10+) Babysitting Employees (1 - wont do it, that's why I work so hard to hire and motivate the people I have) Great topic Kevin!! Jude


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Are You Remarkable Enough?

Steps For Starting A Small Business

How do I finance a franchise?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.