If I have said this once, I have said this 1 million times:

Copywriting is more than just stringing words together. It's about understanding your audience, tapping into their desires, and persuading them to take action.

 

In other words, it's salesmanship in print.

Just like a top-notch salesman, the most successful copywriters seem to have a sixth sense for what works, effortlessly crafting compelling content that converts.

If you follow the simple path that I lay out here, you too can develop a "copywriting sixth sense," as I have.

When you do, you will approach every project just like Steph Curry taking a “3” from deep. It just becomes part of you.

Patience and Practice

How do you do it?

First, you must realize that this won't take place overnight but over time. So you’ll need to be patient along with the understanding that you only get better at your craft through study and practice.

Understanding Your Audience

As I learned long ago, developing a sixth sense for copywriting begins with a deep understanding of your target audience. 

To know what makes them tick, you need to research and analyze their demographics, preferences, and pain points. This insight will enable you to craft copy that resonates with your readers on a profound level.

Embrace Your Niche

For my niche, selling subscriptions to investment newsletters and trading advisories, this came down to one simple understanding. People who invest are looking to get rich. They are all looking for the secret stock that will make them rich, so I learned how to tell a simple stock story that would resonate with them.

I would never have been able to do this if I hadn’t studied other investment newsletter promotions along with investment magazines. I would read what they would read, and I would then see which themes continued to repeat themselves. I would then emblazon that in my brain. Ultimately, giving me an instinct for what works and what doesn't.

Mastering Headlines

All of this started to click when I focused on headlines. In fact, nobody will even look at your promotion unless you grab them. Your "sixth sense" for copywriting should include an instinctive ability to craft attention-grabbing headlines that focus on the wants, needs, and desires of the people you are trying to reach. 

I would often write 50 or more headlines for one project until I would craft the right message to the right people with the right timing that would make them do a “swan dive to the order form.”

Evoke Emotions through Words

Once I could key in on the right message, I would then dial this down to the right emotions I was going for, using the kinds of words that would trigger a response in my readers, using storytelling to connect with my audience on a deeper level.

Because I was like a scientist, I would continually examine and deconstruct successful copywriting pieces. What strategies did they use? What techniques captured your attention?

 By analyzing what works in winning copy, you'll naturally incorporate these elements into your writing.

Internalizing Knowledge

As I did this, this knowledge would become innate inside me. My subconscious mind processes this information, guiding me to intuitive decisions about your approach that was right on the money more than 77% of the time. 

As I would say, there were writers much better than me. But I knew what to write about, including the hooks that would get people to put money in envelopes and mail it in or click and buy.

The Bottom Line is This:

Developing a sixth sense for copywriting is an ongoing journey. It involves learning, practicing, and honing your skills. With dedication and a keen awareness of your audience, you can become an intuitive and highly effective copywriter.

Trust your instincts, stay curious, and never stop learning. As you refine your copywriting skills, your sixth sense for what works and what doesn't will become increasingly reliable, helping you craft persuasive and engaging content that drives results.

All good wishes,

DD

P.S. If you are looking for a great way to speed up your sixth sense learning curve, I invite you to grab a copy of my $100 Million Copywriting Formula.

There you’ll have at hand the same headlines, subheads, transitions, and call to actions I developed over 30 years in the trenches that helped give me my sixth sense for writing copy.

You’ll find the full description here along with a special one-day discount.