While working on a sales letter for a client in the pet space, I made a very interesting observation that I’d like to share:🧐

The client had a ton of User Generated Content…

(aka videos that customers have sent in showing themselves and their dogs and where they’re talking about their experience with the product) 🎥

I spent a solid hour watching those videos from people and their pets…

And while there were SO MANY awesome testimonials from their customers…

One stood out above all else.

It was of a couple and their dog Mr. Tankers.

First of all – that name is adorable…😍

But they’re also this cute older couple from Texas…

And the woman’s energy is just awesome.

She’s got a ton of personality…

And just watching their videos of their dog, with her narrating…

I get this huge smile on my face.

In fact, of the 30+ testimonials I watched and transcribed…

The ones with Mr. Tankers are the only ones where I re-watched them just for pleasure…

And when my wife Laura woke up and came into my office…

The first thing I did was make her watch the videos with Mr. Tankers too.

As Laura watched, she was laughing and smiling as well…

And it inspired me to write this post.

Why?

A few reasons:

1. You better believe that when I put the User Generated Content into the VSL, I’m leading with Mr. Tankers. If it’s making me smile, and it's making Laura smile, I bet it’s going to make other people feel the same way. These videos catch your attention, are high energy, and make you feel good. I want viewers of my VSL to experience all of those things too.
2. I’m also going to do a variant of the lead where it starts with 60-90 seconds of user generated content about their dogs getting better. Why? I’m selling a dog product to dog lovers. A good way to get their attention is to show a bunch of cute dogs doing fun stuff, while their owners talk about how much better they’re feeling now. And again, Mr. Tankers will be the first one.
3. There’s a broader lesson for copy here. What is it? People respond to high energy. They want to feel joy. They want to be entertained. So that’s why, when it comes to writing copy, you almost always want to inject personality into it. This is one of the very top problems I see with people's copy. In emails, landing page copy, and long-form – the writer comes across as a distant and vague voice. They’re reporting the facts, but they’re not telling a story. They’re not building a relationship or connecting emotionally with the prospect. That’s a huge mistake.

 

– SPG

 

P.S. This post originally came from an email I sent to my private list. If you want to see more stuff like this from me, you can apply to join my list using this link