Optimism bias
When humans try predicting what will happen tomorrow, next month, or in 60 years we tend to overestimate and think "Oh I'm different, nothing bad will happen". And underestimate the likelihood that something bad might happen.
The optimism bias is real. And it makes our brains overestimate things like winning the lottery or "landingpageturitis".
(*keep reading, I'll tell you more about “landingpageturitis” in a minute*) .
On 17 December 2021, the Spanish police arrested one of Italy’s most wanted Mafia mobsters, Gioacchino Gammino.
When the police arrested him, Gammino was shocked, “How did you find me? I haven’t even called my family for 10 years!”.
Gammino was the former boss of the Stidda clan from Agrigento, Sicily, big rivals of the famous mafia clan the Cosa Nostra.
Gammino was tracked down in Galapagar, a town that’s only a 40 minutes drive away from Madrid.
Gammino changed his name to Manuel and he got married. That’s how he lived in Galapagar undetected for 20 years.
Gammino worked there as a Chef. And he also ran a fruit & veggies shop in Galapagar.
So how the hell did the cops find him?
One day the Sicilian police spotted someone that resembled him on Google Street View.
And that person was standing outside a fruit & veggies shop called El Huerto de Manu.
Guess where? In Galapagar, Spain.
But the cops still weren't 100% sure that person was Gammino.
So the cops kept digging deeper. Then they found a photo of Gammino on Facebook.
It turns out, near El Huerto de Manu, there's restaurant called *wait for it* La Cocina de Manu. And that restaurant had a Facebook page.
Now guess what the cops discovered when they checked La Cocina de Manu's Facebook page? Yep. A photo of Gammino.
The cops recognized him because of a scar "on the left side of his chin".
When we make decisions (specially stupid decisions) our brains are wired to blind us.
That's why in most decisions we make we tend to overestimate and think "Oh I'm different or special, nothing bad will happen". And underestimate the likelihood that something bad might happen.
Psychologists call this The optimism bias.
The cardinal sin of web copywriting is what I call "landingpageturitis".
And "landingpageturitis is a classic example of how the optimism bias makes a lot of business owners ignore basic copywriting principles.
"Landingpageturitis" are website headlines that start with filler, meaningless, marketing weasel words.
You've certainly seen them in a bunch of websites.
Soulless words like "Elevate", " Accelerate", "Unlock", "Supercharge", “Modern”, yada yada yada.
A lot of websites use these words because the people behind them think these words make their brands sound credible. OR cool OR smart.
The truth is, erhm, they don't.
These folks are being fooled by optimism bias.
Because these are words that no normal human being uses, except perhaps, marketers. Or tech bros. Or consultants.
Then these folks wonder why their website conversion rates are mediocre.
Good web copy is copy that respects the reader. And uses your audience's language, not “landingpageturitis”.
And when your copy respects the reader, the reader nods vigorously. AND rewards your website with their time. And their attention. And with their wallets (if your copy is persuasive enough).
Takeaways for your business:
1. "Landingpageturitis" is bad for business. Because people hate weasel marketing words.
And these words make your website sound boring. And boring doesn't sell. So use these style elements to write more vividly.
2. Good copy is copy that tells the truth about your brand or product in a way that’s never been said before.
3. A good writing technique to write unignorable website headlines (and avoid using “Landingpageturitis”)? Admit a product flaw.
4. The optimism bias makes a lot of business owners ignore basic copywriting principles.
To persuade people to act, your website headline must do 3 things (not only 1 or 2, but 3 things):
1. Cut through the noise with impact (“Is your message memorable?”).
2. Communicate (“Does it clarify ONE big idea you want people to know?”).
3. Persuade (Does it motivate the reader to act?).
5. When writing copy use your audience’s language, not yours.
The Netflix copywriting technique is a great place to start.
