The Hidden Power of Seeds of curiosity 🌱
Do you want to know the secret to literally forcing your prospects to read your copy entirely?
If you call yourself a copywriter, the answer is most certainly yes.
This is a golden skill any copywriter must acquire if he wants to write a profitable copy.
And that's exactly what you'll learn if you read the following.
What is a "Seed of Curiosity"?
"Seeds of Curiosity" is a concept developed by Joe Sugarman in his great Copywriting Handbook.
It is key if you want to make sure your reader will keep reading until your last sentence.
Here are a few examples of "Seeds of Curiosity":
- But there's more.
- So read on.
- But I didn't stop there.
- Let me explain.
- Now here comes the good part.
- Here is why.
- More about that later.
- But first, let me talk about...
- I'll tell you how to do X in a minute.
- I'm gonna share a secret with you.
- Beware what I'm gonna reveal to you next.
- Before that, let me...
- One more thing.
- Later in this article, I will be showing you...
- Why? (and other forms of rhetorical questions)
And the list is endless once you get the mechanism.
The concept is pretty self-explanatory: you make a subtle promise that you're gonna share some valuable information later... without telling us exactly what it is about. So the reader has to read more to know what it is about.
Most human are curious creatures that *need *to know what is the secret once they know there is a secret.
You can do this little experimentation with a friend:
[You] Did I tell you about this secret project I'm working on?
[Him] No, what is it?
[You] Well, it's really big... but I'm not sure I can share it with you since it's confidential...
You should see your friend trying to convince you to share your secret with him... Whereas he shouldn't care right? A few minutes before, he was not interested in your personal projects. But now he wants more.
That's curiosity.
And that's how you make sure your reader reads more.
Now you understand why seeds of curiosity do work, let's see how to use them.
How to use Seeds of Curiosity in your copy
First, you must be aware that curiosity elements are more useful at the beginning of the copy.
Why?
Because once the reader has already been reading your copy for a few minutes, he's more likely to continue reading it due to the sunk cost fallacy bias.
Think of your reader like a locomotive.
At the beginning, it is difficult to get started. But once it is started you can't stop it anymore because of all the inertie it gained.
That's exactly the same for your reader.
You need to add up curiosity more at the beginning of the copy, but once it has enough, there is no need for more and you can focus on other elements to close the sale.
Ok so now you must be convinced that curiosity is more efficient in the lead part of the copy.
But how to use those seeds of curiosity exactly?
Well, you must use them as a transition between two ideas.
Because this is between two ideas, two paragraphs, two sentences that we lose the reader.
So you must make sure every time you close a section that you're putting enough curiosity on what your reader will find in the next one so he keeps on reading.
Example of bad seed of curiosity
He is an example of a perfectible seed of curiosity. To be perfect, the "But there is more" should have been at the end of the first paragraph instead of at the beginning of the next one. Most of the readers will be lost before even reading the next one.
Basically, you must mention some benefit or payoff the reader will get further in the copy—so he stays.
Example of a good seed of curiosity
Here you can see a good example of seed of curiosity.
The author adds this seed at the end of a section, right before starting a new one.
And that's exactly how it should be done.
He also promises us to see how the hero instinct does work for a real woman. And if we want to know, we need to read further.
Conclusion
Hopefully you now have a clear idea of what is a seed of curiosity and how to use it in your own copy.
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A+
Gabin Marignier