Technique: Tell a relatable truth

Telling a relatable truth is one of the easiest ways of getting your audience’s attention

Fran Lebowitz is a a writer, humorist and a New York icon.

Fran became famous because of her iconic candor and brutally funny criticism of mundane life situations.

Recently I was watching Questlove interview Fran.

So Questlove asks, "I learned that silence helps creativity.

But for you, have you done anything outside of New York?"

And Fran replies, "Well, I mean, silence is extremely important to me, which is terrible because I live in New York (...) which is the noisiest place on the Planet. "

Then Fran says, "Numerous times I've rented places outside of New York because of the noise. And so that's OK. It certainly is quieter. "

And she adds, "I mean, although the first time I rented a place outside of New York I discovered something I never heard before: leaf blowers."

(crowd laughs)

Then Fran says, "So, I thought like, I actually couldn't even imagine what the sound was. It's horrible. Leaf blowers, lawn mowers, I mean, I actually found the country to be too noisy."

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Fran isn't a copywriter.

But one of the most powerful techniques good copywriters use when writing copy is precisely what Fran is best known for: "observational humor".

Observational humor is all about paying attention.

It's all about noticing what people are doing or saying in the streets. Or in coffee shops. Or restaurants. Or Twitter. Or anywhere normal people hang out (offline or online).

It's all about noticing tiny, weird, excessively interesting relatable truths.

Finding out and writing relatable truths about a product or brand is one of the most effective ways to make your copy easier to be read than to be ignored.

Because your audience gets it.

Here's what I mean:

For example, Twitter is a goldmine of consumer insights.

You can search for what people are saying about your product category or brand and turn them into your website headline.

Example: Big Green Egg makes ceramic kamado-style barbecue grills.

Here’s how I turned a relatable truth someone tweeted about men who love good Barbecue into a better website headline:

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1. Relatable truths work because they’re the kind of unspoken truths that gets people talking.
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Here's a little trick I use a lot when writing copy for clients (Warning: This involves detective work):

1. Figure out where your audience hangs out online.

2. Open Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or whatever social media tool you picked in step 1.

3. In the search bar type your product's name or brand.

4. Open a Google Docs file and copy + paste what people are saying about your brand.

5. Pick the 10 most interesting/unexpected/funny/weird/direct/memorable unfiltered truths people are sharing online about your product/brand.

6. Decide how you want to make people feel about each one of those truths.

7. Then change a fews words and turn them into short sentences (Powerisms). Limit your sentence length to 10 Words.

Whatever you might end coming up with might not be the final copy, but it sure will help you get there.
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2. Write copy that hits the right people right in their confirmation bias sweet spot.
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3. Good copy is relatable copy. And relatable copy uses your audience’s language, not yours.‍
Your clients are going to buy your brand, your products, your solution because of your voice. Because, in some way, your voice reminds them of theirs.

That's why you should never "write copy". You should "assemble copy".

Most people write copy because it's the easy way.

Most people who write copy write to impress the client or themselves. But when you assemble copy you're not trying to impress anyone. You're just using the same kind of language your audience uses.

So you adjust your voice to the voice of your clients. And because of that they feel more connected to your brand. Because you talk like them.

So here's what I want you to do.

I call this the Netflix copywriting technique.I want you to keep a voice diary.

This is going to involve detective work, so I want to do a few things:

1. Buy a Moleskine notebook (or from any other brand, as long as it’s a physical notebook that’s fine).

2. Next, I want you to think about the person more likely to buy or influence purchase of whatever products you sell.But forget about the standard target audience demographics yada yada yada. Forget about age, income, etc. I want you to think about psychographics. I want you to think in culture, not audiences. So imagine that person more likely to buy or influence purchase. What's their favorite Netflix show? Figure it out.

3. Over the next 4 weeks I want you to watch that Netflix show religiously. And I want you to use your physical notebook and make four separate sections.In the first section write down words and phrases that made you curious.

In the second section write down words and phrases that made you laugh. In the third section write down words and phrases that made you feel energized.

In the fourth section write down words and phrases that made you feel surprised.
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Why is this a useful writing exercise?

‍If your brand is struggling to find it’s voice, the first thing you should figure out is to determine who's your audience and what kind of language they use.

And the Netflix copywriting technique exercise is perfect for that.

Because there’s a reason why your target audience loves the Netflix show you identified.

They love the language used by that show.

Because it reminds them of theirs.

So give the Netflix copywriting technique a try, and in 4 weeks you’ll have a clear idea of what your brand voice truly sounds like.
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