How to edit – and the secret of charm: for Troy White. Troy who?

You may not know who Troy is – so I will tell you. He is one of the best copywriters around. He interviewed me recently and asked me how I manage to write “charming” copy.

 
I was at a complete loss for an answer. But it came to me yesterday – and this is for you, Troy – and anyone else who’s interested. You should be, because most copy has no character whatsoever.
 
Ask yourself: do you buy from aggressive bores – or corporate drones who’ve had a charisma by-pass operation?
 
The first part of the clip is about editing – which is equally important.
Best,
Drayton
Want to do better? Go to askdrayton.com

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

5 Comments

  1. “Omit needless words.” ~ The Elements of Style

  2. MarkAndrews IMCopywriting

    When I see you Drayton, I see myself looking in the mirror in 20 years time and I realize what a handsome looking devil I am afterall.

  3. walterdaniels

    I think “Charm” comes from two things. 1) As you say, is honesty. 2) In school, we're taught to be cold and objective. Personality is to be removed, and not used. To me, Charm is Honesty in both claims and personality. In your blog, your personality comes through as clearly as in your videos.
    To write copy that effectively sells, we must know the personality trying to sell to us. If it's a bland, faceless entity, we'll look for one that reads like a real person talking to us. So many ads read like school work, and not a conversation. I've sold face to face, and it must be a conversation, to work. Ad copy that works is the same.

  4. Drayton

    I'm not quite sure whether that is flattery or mild abuse:-)

  5. I think having a conversational style to copy also helps, and this is possibly where 'liking' people helps, because if you write in a boring, aggressive or cold manner, surely the response you get will not be as successful as writing in a warm, conversational, one-on-one style.

    Great to see these videos Drayton, been a long time coming.

    Thanks

    Simon

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