Make Sure Your Copy Sells the Sizzle Not the Steak

Eating steak, when you come to think of it, is pretty gross. It’s a lump of flesh from a beef steer who died weeks or months ago. It’s been seared on an open flame and crusted with carcinogenic chemicals.

So why do you buy steak? Why does the scent of steak on the night air as you’re walking towards the restaurant make your stomach rumble, your taste buds tingle, and your spirits soar?

The sizzling sound of the steak, the snapping and crackling, the smoky charcoal smell… these are what describes the steak, what tempts, what drives the need to have a steak.

The features of a steak – lump of cow flesh broiled on high heat – that doesn’t sell.

Neither, really, does one simply benefit of steak: it satisfies hunger and provides nutrients.

No, what sells the steak is the tantalizing aroma, the promise of something beyond.

That’s what your marketing copy needs to do. Your messages and your marketing materials must always sell that “something” else that reaches just beyond the basic products facts, those boring features that are necessary, yes, but don’t belong front and center.

So when you sit down to write anything, consider the steak. Think about what you are really selling.

How You’ll Use It

In advertising copy and product brochures

When telling others about your product or service

Website copy

An Exercise to Develop Benefit-Focused Copy

Take a moment to figure out your sizzle.

1. First, just write down what you sell. No need to get fancy. “I sell faucets” or “I coach people” works just fine. Write it below.

2. Now tell me what that does for the customers. “Faucets allow water to flow freely into the sink.” “It helps people achieve their goals.”

3. Now, can you make it sizzle? Take it beyond!