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Welcome to the 74th issue of Write On!

The newsletter that’s always willing to share a piece of gum with you (even though you should buy your own pack already).

In today’s issue I’ll be covering:

• Learn how to make AI work for you.

• One word → 56.67% increase in conversion rates.

• Plus, even more copywriting tactics

Estimated read time: 2 minutes 24 seconds

Learn how to make AI work for you.

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One word → 56.67% increase in conversion rates:

Quick flashback: you’re in 6th grade and forgot to do your homework.

You’re sitting in class, and the teacher asks: “Why didn’t you complete your assignment last night?”

You stare blankly in front of you, trying to think of an excuse until you blurt out: “Because my dog ate it.”

Maybe your teacher lets you off the hook. Maybe they don’t.

But you instinctively knew, “If I give a reason, I might have a shot at getting away with this…”

But why?

In 1978, Ellen Langer studied the power of the word “because” at Harvard.

Langer ran an experiment and asked people to cut in front of people in line for the xerox machine at a busy part of campus.

The experiment was broken up into 3 specifically worded phrases:

1. “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine?”

2. “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine, because I have to make copies?”

3. “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”

Before we get into the results, let’s pause for a second to analyze the phrases:

1. No reason provided.

2. Fake reason provided. Everybody is in line to make copies.

3. Real reason provided. This answer is the most justifiable.

The results:

• Providing a reason (real or fake) resulted in a 55-56.67% uplift in conversion rate vs. providing no reason.

People need to hear “why,” but the “why” doesn’t matter:

The main callout here is that the reason for the favor didn’t matter.

The fact that the person making the request had a reason was why they were more successful in cutting the line.

So why does this work?

BECAUSE the word “because” is a trigger.

It’s always followed by information that justifies what came before it.

When the stakes are low: (like waiting in line for a xerox machine), you won’t get much resistance to your why.

When the stakes are higher: you should expect more resistance, but it’ll still be more successful than providing no reason (think of the homework example I shared at the beginning).

This goes way beyond copywriting…

Taking the copywriting hat off for a second…

The word “because” comes up in your life daily:

• “I didn’t workout today because I was tired.”

• “I don’t want to write online because I’m worried nobody will read.”

• “I didn’t ask for a raise because they typically don’t give raises at this time of year.”

These are all “fake because” examples we put in our heads to justify poor decisions.

And as you just learned, they can be as powerful as a “real because.”

Be mindful of that.

That’s all for this week! See you next Wednesday.

Cheers,

Joe

A few sources used in the research for today’s newsletter:

• The One Word That Drives Senseless and Irrational Habits

• The Power of the Word "Because" to Get People to Do Stuff

• How to Convince Someone to Say Yes: 7 Power Triggers to Help You Sell

Want more copywriting tactics?

I’ve got you covered.

Never stare at a blank page again: Download my FREE ebook with my top 15 copywriting frameworks: (Download for free)

Become a copywriting Jedi: Learn how to master buyer psychology with these 52 copywriting psychology tips: (Click here to view)