The Top Three Movers Of Successful Copy – Mover 2 [Copywriting Knowhow]

A ‘mover’ is something that gets people (eg. prospects) to do something you want them to do whether they want to or not. Those last six words are interesting. They imply ultimate power – the sort of power dictators have.

It’s about as unethical as it’s possible to be for the simple reason it breaks the only real human right we have – the right to our life (which means the right to live our life).

We can achieve that power over people in two ways: 1) point a gun at someone’s head (or at someone they would be prepared to die for), or 2) change their beliefs. Dictators use both methods (the first is force, the second is by the use of propaganda).

Obviously, if someone already wants to do what we want them to do, we only have to show them the way (this is what our competition does, and it’s where the low hanging fruit is to be found), but since this series is about movers, it means exploiting ways to get people who are quite happy where they are, to finally “see the light” and start moving towards it.

In part 1 we covered the biggest mover of all: Hope (seemingly the basis for most human life and the will to live), so in part 2 we move to something a little more evil (or vile): Fear.

If I want a child to move away from a fire, I can instill in them a picture of burning in hell, and in no time at all, the child moves (this is how evangelical dogma works). The younger the person, the easier it is to control their present (and future) lives.

If we take an audience that has already been brainwashed by dogma or propaganda, they become the new low hanging fruit (instead of looking for people who already want something in the hope it will get them to the promised land, we look for people who simply want to stay away from whatever it is they’re afraid of).

In other words, “the already fearful”.  A business who is losing customers falls firmly into that category. It’s a problem they need fixing now, which makes them ripe for exploitation (ethics aside).

The notion of getting someone to do something they had no intention of doing, and getting them to do it through evil means is exploitation, as is getting someone to do something they had every intention of doing but hadn’t necessarily wanted to do it now. The most successful copywriters use exploitation to make something happen that wouldn’t otherwise have happened at the time (again, ethics aside).

Countdown timers are simple examples of exploitation. Do they use mover #2 (fear)? Of course. 100%. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is the exploit (and we fall for it easily).

But mover #2 works so much better when combined with mover #1 (hope). It’s why the PAS framework is so successful (Problem > Agitate > Solution).

The example of a business losing its customers is a Problem. The Agitation phase paints a fearful future (mover #2), and the Solution piles on the hope that it can be fixed swiftly if we were only to take action now (mover #1).

But what of mover #3? Find out in part 3 of this series.