How to win friends and influence people… through conscious copywriting!
2 min readJan 20, 2023
Originally published on heathergrantwriter.com (prev. writtenbyheather.com)
In his critically acclaimed book, Dale Carnegie sets out 6 principles for influencing behaviour, that I’ve found fit perfectly in an ethical and conscious approach to copywriting.
1. Be sincere. Don’t promise anything you cannot deliver. Forget about the benefits to yourself and focus on the benefits to the other person.
This one goes without saying. It isn’t ethical to make false claims in your copy.
2. Know exactly what you want the other person to do.
Two is the whole aim of copywriting: to inspire action.
3. Be empathetic. Ask yourself what it is the other person really wants.
Three busts the ‘marketing is manipulative’ myth. You have to show empathy and step into another person’s shoes to consider what they want and how you can get it to them.
