In 2020, I read Claude C. Hopkin’s Scientific Advertising book.
It changed the way I viewed copywriting.
Claude made it crystal clear that copywriting is not about creativity, cleverness or humor.
It’s all about results.
Your copy either made sales for your client, or failed. You either generated new leads, or flopped like a penguin.
There is no guesswork or mystery to successful copywriting.
Claude revolutionized advertising & copywriting by breaking it down into a simple scientific approach.
Many of the common marketing and advertising principles we follow today were invented and perfected by this copywriting legend.
If you follow his scientific approach taught in Scientific Advertising, you will never struggle to write copy that sells.
In this blog post…
I’m going to cover Claude Hopkins and the top 10 copywriting lessons I’ve learned from him.
If you apply these 10 lessons, I can almost guarantee you will have a long, successful copywriting career.
Let’s get this party started…
Who is Claude C. Hopkins?
Claude C. Hopkins is the godfather of scientific advertising.
He was one of the greatest pioneers of direct response advertising & copywriting.
Hopkins believed advertising’s one & only goal is to sell.
Not to be clever, quirky or entertain.
Advertising should be measured by scientific tests and justified by the results it produces.
Hopkin’s data-driven approach transformed advertising as we know it, turning a once mysterious profession into a crystal clear system for advertising success.
Claude C. Hopkins worked for several ad agencies like Swift & Company and Lord & Thomas.
According to David Ogilvy (another advertising pioneer and the man Madmen’s Don Draper was based on), Claude was hired by Albert Lasker to work for Lord & Thomas in 1907… for a starting salary of…. $185,000.
$185,000 in 1907.
100+ years ago.
Any guess how much that is now?
Around $5,000,000.
Per year!
Claude C. Hopkins was paid a king’s castle because he provided superior value to the companies he worked for.
Where can you learn more about Claude C. Hopkins?
Claude C. Hopkins wrote one of the most influential books on advertising & copywriting called Scientific Advertising.
This is the Bible for advertisers, marketers and copywriters who want to turn words into dollar signs.
I recommend that every copywriter reads Claude C. Hopkins’s Scientific Advertising, at least 10x (I’ve read it 14 times).
(Jay Abraham, marketing legend, would only hire copywriters who read Scientific Advertising 10x.)
It’s a short read (less than 100 pages) and will transform your copywriting career if you follow his advice.
Another great book by Claude Hopkins is My Life in Advertising.
In this book, Claude walks you through his 36+ years of experience in advertising. He gives away great lessons and advertising principles to follow, based on his own results from scientific tests.
Also, with any great copywriter, it’ll pay you a fortune to study Claude C. Hopkins ads.
Simply go to swiped.co and search “Claude C. Hopkins”.
Read them out loud, write them out by hand and analyze them… line by line to uncover the psychology and direct response principles at play.
10 Copywriting Lessons from Legendary Copywriter Claude C. Hopkins
#1. Advertising is a Science
This is what Claude C. Hopkins is most well-known for.
Claude turned advertising from a risky gamble into a safe and surefire way to grow a business.
Before Claude stepped on campus, advertising was guesswork.
Companies were throwing mud against the wall and hoping it stuck.
And when it did, they had no clue why or how to repeat their success.
Most companies would try to sell their products through humor, quirky slogans, cleverness and entertainment.
Claude changed this.
He revolutionized advertising by establishing that advertising is a science.
It is based on fixed principles.
Through rigorous testing, he uncovered the shortest, safest and cheapest ways to grow businesses.
You can now uncover if your copy worked or not, within hours, by tracking your ads and analyzing the data.
TIP:
Make sure your clients are tracking their results. If not, you will have no real way of knowing if your copy is producing sales. If they are testing, you can quickly tell if you are helping them achieve their goals or not because you’ll have the data to prove it. When you have proof of your value, you can rightfully charge very high fees.
#2. The Only Purpose of Advertising
Clicks?
Open rates?
Impressions?
NOPE.
Claude C. Hopkins made it window clear that advertising only has one purpose.
Sales.
Your copy either made your clients more money or it didn’t… According to actual sales resulted from the copy you wrote for them.
And you can quickly find out whether your ad was a success or not based on the number of sales it produced.
You should strive to write copy for clients who are trying to get sales because this is the easiest way to charge premium prices.
Why?
Because you can frame your copywriting services as an investment.
Meaning:
For every piece of content you write, your client will make a positive return on investment (ROI).
When you frame your services as the value you provide clients (making them more money than what your service cost them) instead of the deliverable (5 emails, 1 landing page, 2 blog posts, etc.) you can charge a farmer’s fortune without much resistance.
#3. Copywriting is Simply Salesmanship in Print
If copywriting’s only purpose is to make sales, then you must become a great salesman.
Claude turned a bright lightbulb on in my brain.
He made it clear as day that copywriting is just salesmanship in print.
Good copywriting is good salesmanship.
It follows the same fundamentals, laws and principles.
The real beauty (and value) of copywriting vs traditional sales is that copywriting is salesmanship multiplied.
Meaning:
You can sell to thousands, or even millions, of people at once, with one piece of copy you write.
Whereas with traditional sales, you could only sell to 1 person or a small group of people at a time.
Not only that…
But your ad can act as your personal salesmen, selling hard 24/7, all year round.
This is another way I like to frame my copywriting services to freelance clients…
What I really provide for them is a personal salesman who works hard for them all day and all night, 365 days a year. Potentially converting new customers for them… every single day.
Woah, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about that.
Do you see the power of this?
When you frame your services this way to clients, you can charge virtually any price you desire, as long as your copy is making them sales.
That’s why I snarf at copywriting salary “averages” and recommend every copywriter studies and writes direct response copywriting (copy that sells).
#4. Fine Talkers are Never Good Salesmen
This really stood out to me…
In Scientific Advertising, Claude explained how fine talkers make terrible salesmen.
Because they show an attempt to sell, and this creates resistance.
They create suspicion in prospects that an effort is made to sell them on other lines than merit of value.
This applies directly to writing effective copy…
Fine talking in copy:
Using big words, trying to sound sophisticated, bragging about how great your company or product is, using clever phrases, being quirky and unique, and on she goes.
Don’t write to impress, write to sell.
(By following the direct response copywriting principles.)
#5. Don’t Limit Yourself
2 of the most common questions beginner copywriters ask are…
“Should I write short copy or long copy”… And… “Is long copy dead?”
These are foolish questions because no salesman would ever think this way.
You would never limit a salesman to a specific number of words.
This would butcher his selling abilities.
Claude explained it perfectly…
Your message should be as long as it needs to be, and not any longer.
Do a complete selling job.
Yes, you should always write in a clear, concise and direct way, but cover all the bases.
#6. The Only People Who Read Your Ads
Claude expressed how no one reads ads to be entertained.
The only people who read ads are people who are interested in the product or service being sold.
When writing copy, write to your ideal buyer.
Everything you write is for this specific person.
Appeal to their interests, wants and desires and strike emotional chords with this particular buyer.
If you talk about what they’re interested in, you will NEVER bore them.
#7. The Biggest Reason for Copywriting Failure
In Scientific Advertising, Claude C. Hopkins revealed the biggest reason for advertising failures…
Trying to sell people what they do not want.
The solution…
Don’t write for a mass audience.
Write for the individual who is most likely to want what you sell.
Always study your ideal customer.
Place yourself in their shoes.
Your success depends on doing this to the exclusion of everything else.
Understand…
People are selfish.
They only seek service for themselves.
They don’t care about your interests, awards or profit.
They only care about what’s in it for them.
So…
Write copy entirely on your readers’ interests and the value you can provide for them.
Drench your copy with benefits and advantages and give compelling reasons why they should respond.
#8. The Importance of Headlines
Struggling to write effective headlines?
This will cure your headline troubles lickity split…
Claude wrote that the sole purpose of your headline is to pick out people you can interest.
Grab your ideal reader’s attention by adding the main emotional benefit they’re interested in and display it clearly in your headline.
Understand this…
100 years ago, when Claude wrote Scientific Advertising, he understood that people are rushed and in a hurry.
They skim headlines fast in search of one that interests them enough to read. You only have a few seconds to grab their attention.
Nowadays it’s MUCH WORSE.
We are bombarded by 10x more advertisements and messages.
So, it’s even more important to write for one specific person and to grab their attention by writing about what they are interested in most.
Find the biggest benefit and place it in your headline.
#9. Specificity Wins the Day
“Never be general, it leaves no impression.”
Claude clearly explained how superlatives and generalities are damaging to the trust and believability of your claims.
However, when you make a specific claim, it has the opposite effect on your readers.
Specific details, facts and statements are usually believed.
So…
To make your copy more believable, throw in specific details to every claim you make.
For example:
Don’t say: “Lots of people love our ice cream.”
Do say: “1,502 people have enjoyed our delicious ice cream this year.”
Don’t say: “Our supplements can help you lose weight.”
Do say: “Jen lost 67 pounds in under 9 months, after taking our supplements.”
The more specific you are in your copy, the more believable it is.
And when you state desirable claims that are believed by your audience, they are more likely to buy from you.
#10. Digging Up Buried Treasure
One of my favorite lessons from Claude C. Hopkins was from chapter 11, of Scientific Advertising.
He talked about the importance of information.
If you want to succeed in advertising, you must get all the information on your product, market, company, competition, etc.
You get this from research.
If you dig up enough dirt, sooner or later you’ll pull out a breakthrough idea that can transform your copywriting career and make you and your client dirty rich.
When taking on a copywriting project, I spend 80% of my time on research and only 20% on actually writing copy. Why? Because good copy is created BEFORE writing.
Conclusion
The top paid copywriters all have one thing in common…
They get desirable results for their clients.
When you take a scientific approach to writing copy, and apply proven sales principles, you will dramatically boost results for your clients.
Use these tips from Claude C. Hopkins to improve your copywriting abilities.
Plus, make sure you read his 2 books and study his ads.
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