The “Big Idea” in Sales Copy Explained

Good morning 🙂

A while back, I finished recording a new training for my RMBC Course and it was all about the “Big Idea.”🎥

I hadn’t originally planned to include anything about the Big Idea in my course, but several people wrote to me and said that a detailed breakdown would be very beneficial, so I figured, “what the heck” and made the module.

The video is about 34 minutes long and runs through a TON of examples, so I’m super stoked for you to see it.🤩

Here’s the cool thing:

I’m tempted to just spend this whole blog post teasing how great this module is in the hopes that you buy my course, but instead, I’m just going to give you the big takeaways in this blog post; that way, even if you never buy my course, you still get the benefit.

Why am I doing that?

copywritingI can’t f***ing help myself (LOL).

Also, even though I’m going to give you a breakdown of the Big Idea right here in this blog post, I’m pretty sure that most people will understand that in order to really, truly do the idea justice, it takes more than one single blog post.

Of course, I’m also hoping that you’ll still want to buy my course when the time comes.

Does this make sense… at least kind of?

Okay, cool, then let’s get to it.

Advertising legend, David Ogilvy, spent a lot of time defining the Big Idea and he provided multiple definitions throughout the course of his life.

copywritingOf all those definitions, the best definition Ogilvy ever offered was the following:

“A big idea is an idea that is instantly comprehended as important, exciting, and beneficial. It also leads to an inevitable conclusion, a conclusion that makes it easy to sell your product.”

For my money, that’s the best definition of a Big Idea ever written, but the one thing I think he could have added is that the best Big Ideas also have a “shareability” factor.

A great Big Idea is almost like a meme; it’s something that a reader/viewer immediately grasps and then wants to share with others.

Even more importantly, when a great Big Idea is shared with others, the receiver (the one hearing the Big Idea) intuitively and immediately grasps it as well.

One of the best examples of a great Big Idea is what Chris Haddad came up with for the Pimsleur Approach. This was a language learning company started by Dan Roitman and something that used the teaching methodology of Dr. Paul Pimsleur to help adults learn a new language quickly and easily.

The Big Idea behind Chris’s promo for the Pimsleur Approach is:

It’s easy for a child to learn a new language, while adults struggle. The reason why is because children learn innately by listening and observing. Adults learn through drills, memorization, and flashcards. Clearly, the adult approach doesn’t work very well – which is why we struggle. So if you really want to master a new language, you need to learn as a child does

copywritingTo put it even simpler:

If you want to learn a new language, you should mimic what a child does.

It’s a simple but powerful Big Idea and it’s one that’s easy to intuitively grasp and share.

Plus, back to Ogilvy’s point, if you want to learn a new language and you accept the Big Idea behind the Pimsleur Approach, then the logical conclusion is that you should buy the program since it teaches you how to learn a new language like a child does.

Pretty straightforward, right?

So yeah, that’s at least a glimpse into the world of Big Ideas. And I could stop here, but let me give away even more by also quickly differentiating between a Big Idea and a Unique Selling Proposition for you.

Ready?

copywritingHere’s the difference between a Big Idea and a USP:

The USP relates specifically to the product being sold. It’s the pitch that differentiates the product and makes you want to buy.

The Big Idea relates specifically to the promise of the sales copy. It’s what captures your attention and makes you want to engage with the copy.

Makes sense, right?

Okay, that’s it for today.

I’m going to get my daughter up soon, and then spend all day with her and Laura in lockdown. Well, kind of. We’re going to go outside a lot, too. I want to take her for a nice long walk around our neighborhood and we’ll probably spend a big chunk of the day playing in our yard, so it should be pretty fun 🙂

 

– 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.

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Stefan Georgi

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