Copywriting: Made to Stick

Halloween Candy Razor Blades. The Kidney Heist Tale. Jared of Subway. “Where’s the Beef?” “Nice Guys Finish Last.”

A couple of years ago brothers Chip and Dan Heath published “Made to Stick,” an examination of why urban legends, conspiracy theories and bogus health scares resonate so strongly while important ideas struggle to “stick.”

The book is an indispensable guide to understanding how all sticky messages draw their power from the same six traits: (1) Simplicity – the idea must be stripped to its core so that the most important concepts jump out; (2) Unexpectedness – the idea must destroy preconceived notions about something to force people to stop, think and remember; (3) Concreteness – the idea must use real-world analogies to help people understand complex ideas; (4) Credibility – the idea needs to be something people will trust, otherwise they will ignore you (or worse, confront you); (5) Emotional – the idea should appeal to a person’s emotional needs, if it does, they will be more likely to act; (6) Stories – the idea should be a story since it will get people to pay closer attention.

Applying the Heath brothers’ SUCCESS formula to the right audience might help get attention. I say ‘might’ because telling your company (or product) story is all about the successful transfer of thoughts, feelings and mental pictures from you or your company to your audience.

If you have multiple audiences, you might need multiple messages. If your message doesn’t fit your audience, it won’t work. If you’re using the wrong media to tell your story, it won’t work. Telling your story well is a challenge, made even more difficult when you’re doing it via media (print, online, etc.). Why? Because you don’t necessarily get any feedback.

Telling your story well is, as they say, part science and part art. Word choice certainly matters. And most people are guilty of too quickly, lazily and sloppily using the first thing that pops out of their mind (or mouth) rather than carefully considering alternatives and agonizing over the best way to present a given idea. But it is my passion – distilling a message down to the core idea and expressing it well, whether in writing, public speaking, teaching or any other format.

I see this skill as the key success factor in building great companies – but the principle applies equally to training, copywriting, and even parenting. While I think “Made to Stick” errs on the side of being too long, I recommend it to anyone seeking to communicate more effectively.