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# Psychological Principles for Better Marketing Copy
These are the principles that matter most for copy, grouped by the job they do.
## 1. Get attention and be understood
- **Curse of Knowledge**: You know your product too well, so your copy probably assumes context readers lack. Write for someone who has never heard of you, and test it on an outsider.
- **Jobs to Be Done**: Write about the outcome the customer is hiring your product for, not its features. "Get your Sunday back" beats "automated invoice reconciliation."
- **Hick's Law**: Use one clear CTA per section, and cut options and jargon.
- **Mere Exposure / Rule of 7**: Repeat core messages consistently across touchpoints. Familiarity builds preference, so don't reinvent your message every campaign.
## 2. Build trust
- **Social Proof**: Use specific numbers, named testimonials, logos, and reviews. "12,400 teams" beats "thousands of happy customers."
- **Authority Bias**: Add credentials, press mentions, certifications, and expert endorsements.
- **Pratfall Effect**: Admit a small weakness, such as "We're not the cheapest, but...". It makes your strengths more believable.
- **Availability Heuristic**: Vivid case studies make success feel achievable. Specific stories beat abstract claims.
- **Liking / Unity**: Use your audience's own language. "Built by marketers, for marketers" signals similarity.
## 3. Create desire and motivation
- **Loss Aversion**: Losses hurt about twice as much as gains please. "Stop losing 10 hours a week to X" often outperforms "Gain 10 hours."
- **Hyperbolic Discounting**: Lead with immediate benefits ("see results today") over long-term ones.
Show the rest (30 more lines)
- **Contrast Effect**: Paint the "before" state vividly so the "after" looks dramatic.
- **Mimetic Desire**: Show that people your audience admires want or use this.
- **Zeigarnik Effect**: Open loops ("The one mistake most founders make with pricing...") pull people to keep reading.
## 4. Reduce hesitation
- **Regret Aversion**: Use guarantees, free trials, and "cancel anytime" language right next to the CTA.
- **Status-Quo Bias**: Make switching feel safe and easy ("Import your data in one click").
- **Activation Energy**: Make the first step trivial: "Start in 30 seconds," no credit card, pre-filled templates.
- **Reciprocity**: Give value first with useful content, free tools, and generous free tiers, then ask.
## 5. Frame the price and offer
- **Anchoring**: Show the higher reference price first.
- **Mental Accounting**: "$3/day" feels different from "$90/month."
- **Framing Effect**: "90% success rate" lands better than "10% failure rate."
- **Rule of 100**: Under $100, use "20% off." Over $100, use "$50 off."
- **Scarcity / Urgency**: Use only when genuine. Fake countdown timers erode trust and train people to distrust you.
## A simple copy framework
Structure the piece with **AIDA**:
1. **Attention**: a headline built on the outcome or a pain point (JTBD, loss aversion)
2. **Interest**: show you understand their situation (contrast, specificity)
3. **Desire**: proof and vivid outcomes (social proof, authority, availability)
4. **Action**: one clear CTA with the risk removed (regret aversion, activation energy)
## Practical cautions
- **Don't stack every trick.** Pick 2-3 principles per piece. Over-engineered copy feels manipulative.
- **Keep it ethical.** Use scarcity only when it's real, and make claims you can back up. Dishonest persuasion tends to backfire through refunds, churn, and reputation damage.
- **Treat these as hypotheses.** They're tendencies, not guarantees, so A/B test headlines and framing with your actual audience.
If you tell me what you're writing (landing page, email, ad, pricing page), who it's for, and where readers are in their journey, I can recommend the specific principles to use and draft or critique copy with you.