Copywriting Psychology: 7 Ways to Make Your Content Stick

Copywriters and content writers write to drive engagement.

Whether you’re writing to entertain, writing to sell, writing to educate, or writing to instruct, you want engagement from your target audience – however big, small, specific or vague that target audience might be.

But… we’re living in a competitive world, where more and more content gets added to Google search results, news platforms, social media news feeds (and so on) by the second.

So, how do you stand out and get that audience hooked?

By using psychology in your writing – that’s how.

What is copywriting psychology?

Copywriting psychology is a persuasive writing technique used to influence reader behavior, that requires you to understand your target audience deeply, including their pain points and – namely – their psychological triggers.

Applying these kinds of elements to your writing will grab their attention, and push them to engagement and take specific action.

These actions could look like:

• Reading on or reading similar articles
• Sharing, liking or commenting on a social media post
• Booking a demo or sales call
• Encouraging a purchase or sign-up

From one persona to another, pain points, motivations and behaviors will be different (which is something we talk about in a second), however as humans, we are all wired to work in similar ways and share intrinsic qualities.

In this post, we’re going to talk about how you can get inside the brains of your readers, users or prospects (…completely and utterly metaphorically speaking, of course).

But first, why should psychology have a role in effective copywriting?

The key benefits of copywriting psychology

By using effective psychological triggers in your writing, you unleash more potential in emotional responses to your content, which – in tow – will have a positive impact on the engagement of your content.

Writing with psychological-based or considered elements evokes feelings in your audience of:

1. Relatability and being understood: You portray yourselves as on a level with your readers, with a deep understanding of who they are and what they are looking for.
2. Specific emotions: While different content has different goals, you want to appeal to your readers emotions (eg. anger, happiness, urgency) in certain ways to unlock and encourage their next move.
3. Self-reflection: As humans, we constantly want to learn more about ourselves and others – incorporating psychology lets us in on a lot of secrets, helping readers to understand how they work, what makes them tick, and who might feel the same.

By evoking these kind of feelings in your readers, prospects and users, you can:

• Boost engagement rates via comments, sharing, referrals
• Promote your brand (or platform) as an authoritative in your field
• Influence their next steps to align with your own goals
• Ideally, improve your conversion rates as a business

Basically, it’s a win-win all round – for you and your readers.

Copywriting psychology: How to get started

Before you get started on going all Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung or absolutely-none-of-the-above in your writing to hook in your audience, you’ve got to do your research.

To use psychological elements effectively in your writing, you need to:

1. Understand your target audience (who they are, what they do)
2. Analyze their demographics and psychographics

Without this in-depth comprehension and compassion for your target audience as whole, this persuasive writing technique can quickly become irrelevant and not-so-persuasive for them, meaning little-to-no engagement for you. *Sad face*

This requires getting down and dirty with buyer personas – download your free buyer persona template now.

And remember: Ethical considerations in this kind of writing are crucial – use these tactics to inform and persuade, not manipulate or deceive your audience.

7 ways to use psychology in your content

Once you’ve got your customer and market research down to a T, it’s time to get writing. Here are 6 ways to use psychology to enhance your content writing:

1) Compelling headlines

We’re busy people, aren’t we? In fact, when it comes to reading blog posts, 43% of people just skim them.

This shows the importance of a good, compelling headline or header.

Headers are generally bigger than the rest of your content. So, make sure your headline captures your readers attention and sparks their interest, while remaining relevant to what’s shown in the text, image or other content below it.

Top tip: When previewing your post or article, scroll out of the page so you can only see the headers. Then ask yourself questions like:

• Do these headers portray the content’s purpose well?
• Do they flow well together or contradict each other? 
• Do they make you want to learn more about a subject?

2) Trigger words

Trigger words, or power words are phrases or words (go figure) used in copywriting that evoke emotional responses and encourage desired actions from the reader.

By using them as persuasive tools, you can:

• Grab attention
• Build a connection
• Influence reader behavior

Trigger words or phrases will look different when applying them to different goals. Let’s take a look at some examples:

The emotions	The effect	The trigger words
Urgency and scarcity	Creating a sense of urgency and limited availability*	“Limited time only”, “Last chance”, “Don’t miss out”
Curiosity and mystery	Sparking curiosity and a need to know more	“Best kept secret”, “Unlock”, “Unveil”, “Discover”
Problem-solving	Offering solutions to the readers’ pain points/problems	“Say goodbye to…”, “The ultimate solution”
Reward or efficiency	Highlighting achievable benefits or positive outcomes	“Effortless”, “Transform”, “Boost”, “Guaranteed”
Herd mentality	Building trust and credibility in your brand and your content	“Trusted”, “Expert”, “Award-winning”

*We’ll talk more about this one in a bit (it deserves its own section for marketers). 

While trigger words are effective, they shouldn’t be used to manipulate or deceive the reader – apply them strategically and thoughtfully. Overusing them or using them incorrectly will only backfire on you and the authenticity of what you’re trying to promote.

3) Emotional storytelling

We all love a good story; it makes us feel part of something.

When it comes to storytelling in copywriting, we’re thinking less about the badly told work stories that you reveal to your colleagues after a few drinks, and more about clear, concise, emotion-evoking stories that relate to your brand – whether that’s your personal brand or the business you work for.

Storytelling is important in successful copywriting because it can:

• Humanize your brand, giving it a unique voice and character
• Create a deeper, more emotional connection with the reader
• Make your content or messaging more engaging and memorable
• Build brand authenticity and trust with your audience
• Demonstrate how your service offers a solution to their problem

In other words: it captures the readers’ attention and holds onto it.

So, consider hosting and posting things like brand origin stories (FYI: failure stories work a treat), case studies, customer quotes testimonials, and more to forge connections with your target audience and drive engagement.

4) Relatable insights and statistics

Relatable insights and statistics are powerful tools in your marketing psychology toolkit. Not only do they build brand authority and credibility, they spark an emotional connection in your audience.

Whichever way you look at it, this can enhance persuasion – but in a non-manipulative way.

By providing your audience with the relevant insights and statistics, you can:

• Capture your audience’s attention with information that resonates
• Support your authority and claims as a business with data-driven evidence
• Highlight surprising facts and quantity common experiences
• Evoke curiosity, surprise and sometimes even validation in your audience

Insights provide people with an opportunity to learn more about themselves – which, as humans, we love. Statistics also give off the feeling of inclusivity or exclusivity so you ask yourself, “Am I part of this group… or am I not?” – again, revealing more about ourselves and sometimes playing into our FOMO (fear of missing out).

5) Social proof and like-minded examples

In a world where there’s a lot of information thrown at us, a lot of businesses saying they’re the best, and a lot of platforms for people to voice their opinions, it does make it quite easy to take the shortcut and just jump on the bandwagon.

Social proof in marketing and copy can look like:

• Testimonials and case studies
• Reviews and rating
• Bestsellers and popular pages
• Influencer marketing and user-generated content (UGC)
• Social media following and engagement

As you can see, social proof isn’t all about positive endorsements for you as a business. It’s about social comparison and suggestions from like-minded individuals in a way that reduces risk and validates a decision to purchase or make the next move.

6) Sense of urgency

We touched upon this briefly earlier, however the tactic of creating a sense of urgency is an important one for marketers in many industries.

Promoting limited-time offers, low stock availability, or an exclusive deal motivates people to take action before they no longer have the chance.

Why does it work so well in influencing consumer behavior and driving conversions?

• Fear of missing out: Yep, FOMO strikes again – and no one likes missing out on potential benefits or opportunities.
• Increased value: When something is seen as limited or rare, it can automatically become more attractive or more valuable to others.
• Impulse buying: In this economy, purchases are often more thought-out and deliberated, but this can encourage a faster purchase decision.

It’s really important to point out that no marketing strategy should rely entirely on this tactic – it’s a novelty that can quickly wear off and become disingenuous or misleading.

7) Reverse psychology

We’ve all heard of reverse psychology, whether you’re trying to get your children, parents, or pals to do something you want them to – but have you used reverse psychology in a marketing capacity? Because, guess what? It can work in exactly the same way.

⚠️ Don’t read the next bit of this blog.

Well, you’re 100% reading this, aren’t you? Reverse psychology works in a way where you get to the outcome you want, by suggesting what you (or your customers) don’t want. Often enough, this gets you more attention than more traditional marketing copy.

Perhaps you want to encourage prospects to sign up to your newsletter or webinar, for example. Consider having a pop-up or qualified chat with two options:

1. Yes, I’d love to sign up!
2. No thanks, my strategy is already perfect

The ‘decline’ option is intended to make the recipient think twice before impulsively clicking no, because the likelihood is: their strategy (whatever strategy that may be) is flawed to some degree. It also cements the fact that your webinar or newsletter will help optimize and strengthen it, giving the audience more of an idea of what they can expect from signing up.

Examples of marketing psychology in action

Let’s take a look at some marketing psychology examples, combining powerful content and design:

1) Airbnb: Emotional storytelling

Airbnb takes on what sets them apart from the traditional hotel industry: the story behind each place to stay. In this marketing campaign, they introduce us to the people behind the properties to encourage a more human connection.

2) ASOS: Understanding your audience

In your thorough market research and buyer persona research, lifestyle is something to be considered. Here, ASOS considers price sensitivity for its target audience of students.

3) Peloton: Getting to know your audience

Offering quizzes or other ways to personalize the user experience is a great way to make your audience feel seen, heard and understood.

4) Slack: Benefits-driven, funny and relatable

Does this video script ring true to you? Slack hits on the oh-so-common pain point of efficiency in the workplace (or working-from-home place), to provide solutions and benefits in a humorous way.

Round-up: Mind games for your marketing

Copywriting and marketing psychology isn’t about manipulating your audience’s emotions; it’s about creating valuable content that resonates with the right audience in the right way.

You can’t get to that end point without a deep understanding of the audience you’re targeting, and knowing what kind of content will gain a spark or connection.

With data and insights into your market, your competitors, your audience, and what your audience are searching for, Similarweb can help you form a solid and competitive content marketing strategy that escalates your marketing ROI.

With Similarweb, you’ll find valuable insights into:

• What your customers are searching for with the Keyword Generator
• What trending keywords are gaining traffic and traction quickly
• Which of your competitors’ pages and ads that are performing well
• What kind of content gets hype (and what kind of content doesn’t)
• What marketing channels work best for engagement with your target audience

Optimize your own marketing strategy and be inspired by the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors’ marketing strategies, with the power of data.

Try Similarweb for free today.

FAQs

What is copywriting psychology, and how can it help me write better content?

Copywriting psychology is the art of using psychological principles in your writing to influence reader behavior. It involves understanding your audience’s pain points and motivations to craft content that resonates with them and drives engagement, such as reading further, sharing, or taking action.

Why is understanding emotions important in effective copywriting?

Emotions play a crucial role in influencing behavior. By appealing to specific emotions, like relatability, happiness, or urgency, you can connect with your audience on a deeper level and encourage them to take the desired action.

What are some benefits of using copywriting psychology?

Effective use of psychological triggers can lead to:

• Increased engagement: More comments, shares, and referrals.
• Enhanced brand authority: Position yourself as an expert in your field.
• Improved conversion rates: Influence readers to align their actions with your goals.

How do I get started with copywriting psychology?

Before delving into specific techniques, thorough research is essential. Understand your target audience by researching their demographics, psychographics, and pain points. This helps you tailor your content to their needs and avoid irrelevant tactics.

What are some examples of psychological tactics used in copywriting?

Some common tactics include:

• Compelling headlines: Capture attention and spark interest.
• Trigger words: Utilize words that evoke specific emotions or responses.
• Emotional storytelling: Connect with readers on a deeper level through relatable stories.
• Social proof: Showcase testimonials, reviews, and case studies to build trust.
• Scarcity and urgency: Create a sense of limited time or opportunity to encourage immediate action.