𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗭𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲

In George Romero’s 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 (1985), scientists and soldiers are holed up in an underground bunker while the living dead swarm outside.

Supplies are dwindling, tempers are exploding, and attempts to maintain control make things worse.

Eventually, a desperate soldier opens the gates and lets the zombies inside.

Now they’ve got more problems than they can count.

That’s a useful lesson for copywriters: 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲.

Suppose you’re selling a service that improves checkout pages.

You could write:

“𝘙𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.”

Fair enough. But that’s only the first zombie.

A confusing checkout drives away buyers, makes advertising less profitable, and generates support requests that consume time and money.

Now try:

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘈𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴.”

This approach works when prospects recognize a problem but underestimate its cost.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁:

1. Identify a familiar problem prospects tolerate.

2. Trace the consequences it creates.

3. Find evidence connecting those consequences.

4. Build a headline around the most costly or surprising chain reaction.

Don’t invent consequences to make your headline frightening. The connections need to be credible.

The survivors in 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥 had plenty of problems before anyone opened the gates.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘇𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲.

RW

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