Who Are You Calling A Moron?

Keep in mind there may be a good A recent chat with a friend reminded me of a copywriting lesson I learned long ago in a place far-far way (Philly): Never insult your audience. Easier said than done? Maybe. But we know there’s a fine line between insulting your audience and completely alienating them. Thank God there’s a solution:

Give your copy the “moron” test. I learned this during my days at a large business-to-business newsletter publishing company. We’d give our headlines a test to see if we could put an insulting name at the end of them – in turn killing off the headline.

Here’s an example:

Have You Complied with HR 1091?

Try adding “moron” to the end of that question. Flows pretty nicely doesn’t it? It’s almost like you’re a school teacher with a ruler standing over the reader.

You can change it to:

HR 1091 Requires Compliance by Jan. 1

Using this fact-based approach lets the reader ask his or her own compliance questions. Give the information or the germ of an idea and allow the reader to follow up on his or her own. We want to inspire thought and...