03/14/2026
HEADLINE: What is Direct Response Copywriting and Why Should You Use it in Your Marketing?
SUB-HEADLINE: written by humans, spell checked by AI
Direct response copy writing is focused on 1 result per article, email, or message.
I truly believe in order to understand direct response copywriting, you first need to understand where it came from, only then you can better understand why it matters.
> > DIRECT RESPONSE COPYWRITING: WHERE IT CAME FROM < <
Came from the direct mail industry where making money in direct mail meant avoiding the waste basket.
Bottom line: if your mail looks like junk, it gets tossed. That’s step 1, avoid being trash.
Once you get past the junk filter, then you have 1 shot at capturing attention.
This is called the “hook” or headline.
Again, this is where you either get tossed, or read.
Dan Kennedy is famous for creative marketing and mail, since the guys sent literally billions of dollars worth of mail.
Read some of his stuff for ideas.
If your hook sucks, then it won’t get read.
If it doesn’t get read, it doesn’t matter what it says right?
Then there’s getting someone to read the whole page(s).
More than 1 page is called “long form copy writing”
Less than 1 page, short form.
Either way, it could be a post card that you mail, or a 300 page book.
Doesn’t matter if they aren’t interested.
BOTTOM LINE: Don’t Be Boring...
If you aren’t writing with your audience in mind, then you’re not paying attention to what they need and thus you’re boring and they won’t listen to you.
> > WHY IT ALL MATTERS < <
So here’s the point where we make it make sense.
This is the point where I either lose you, or you read the rest of the post.
If you can capture attention and retain it, you can market anything in the world.
Your favorite question should be “How can we say that in less words?”
So remember structure:
1. Headline (hook) 60%+ of the battle.
2. Be interesting to your audience (30% of the battle)
3. Soft sell (build the trust - get them to subscribe to seeing you more. Don’t direct ask yet.)
> > WHATS THE END RESULT FOR ME? < <
We call this W.I.I.F.M. (Whats in it for me), or W.I.I.F.Y. (What’s in it for You)
Cheaper ads, better customers, deeper relationships.
By the time they’re ready to be sold, they’re begging you to sell them, not the other way around…
We as humans LOVE buying, but FEAR selling.
It’s actually quite simple, ask them what they want, then give em’ what they want.
If they aren’t aware of what they SHOULD want, educate them.
Then once they KNOW what they want, you don’t have to sell it, you just offer it up on a silver platter and THEY buy it.
Make sense?
> > WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOUR MARKETING < <
It means:
Marketing that DOESN'T suck...
Ads that ACTUALLY make you money (not cost you an arm and a leg)...
Customers that become RAVING fans...
and last but not least...
A business finally WORTH selling...
> > HOW DO I APPLY THIS?!? < <
Start by asking your customers questions.
Ask them about “why did you decide to buy from us” or “what are the most important things about what we do that matter to YOU?”
Once you have some feedback from your BEST customers, then you begin building and crafting your marketing around THOSE key points.
It’s not enough to broadcast your THOUGHTS, you have to KNOW what your customers DESIRES are.
I’m emphasizing the KEYWORDS that your brain should be catching.
Read that again.
You want to focus on what matters to THEM… NOT YOUR EGO
With AI, just remember...
When you plug in trash, you get back a pile of POLISHED garbage.
Copy is a craft.
Chat and ai can help, but it can’t replace your brain.
Use your brain to analyze the results of your customer feedback, then learn good copywriting skills, then use AI to assist you in analyzing it and testing different ideas quickly.
That’s the key, with enough testing even an AI money in a made up room can create Shakespeare.
The lead photo took 4 tries to get right.
AI is amazing, but needs to be guided just like a scalpel needs to be guided by a surgeon, otherwise its just a sharp knife.
