In George Romero’s ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ (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: ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ.
Suppose you’re selling a service that improves checkout pages.
You could write:
โ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต.โ
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:
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต’๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ด.โ
This approach works when prospects recognize a problem but underestimate its cost.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ’๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐:
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 ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ had plenty of problems before anyone opened the gates.
๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ, ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐’๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ.
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