Copywriting Using Personality Types

One of the most useful tips on copywriting I've seen in recent years was from "Call To Action" by Bryan Eisenberg and Jerrfey Eisenberg (2005, Wizard Academy Press).

They start from the assumption that when you sell a product or service, different buyers need different information depending on their personality.

The Eisenbergs describe 4 personality types. I am really going to oversimplify this, but in essence the different personality types are best reached through different communications.

The Competitive. This person wants accomplishment. Goal oriented folks, who want to know why your product will solve their problem.

The Spontaneous. This type of person likes the personal touch, hates cold hard facts. They like to know why your service/product is the right fit for their need. This person wants acceptance. The approach best used with these types is to provide assurances, guarantees, an emphasis on personal service.

The Humanistic. Creative types who enjoy helping others and socialising. They want to know who else has used your service to solve their problems. They value testimonials, reviews and the knowledge that others have already used your product successfully.

The Methodical. These types like accuracy. Facts. Figure, statistics, methodology. They like logical information displayed in detail.

The Eisenbergs give an example of one paragraph that addresses all 4 types in 3 sentences.

"Our approach is personalised to meet your objectives. The bottom line is that your results are guaranteed. Explore our methodology to discover how thousands of clients just like you have been delighted"

Here's the same sentence with the personality types that are addressed highlighted...

"[Our approach is personalised to meet your objectives]*2. The [bottom line]*1 is that [your results are guaranteed]*1. Explore our [methodology]*4 to discover how [thousands of clients just like you have been delighted]*3"

1 = Competitive
2 = Spontaneous
3 = Humanistic
4 = Methodical


I thought I would give this a go myself.

I found this copy about Hummus Bros, one of my favourite lunch spots in Soho.

"Hummus Bros is about feeding you homemade hummus with mouth watering toppings, scooped off your own individual bowl with warm pitta bread, and accompanied by refreshing salads and juices. We focus on taste, value for money, freshness and simplicity. We are proud to be the only place in the UK to concentrate solely on what we love most - hummus."


So, here's my attempt to re-write it using the personality type approach...

"Tasty, great value for money, fresh and simple. There's a reason why the Soho locals fill our seats every lunchtime. Take homemade hummus and add your choice of a range of hot or cold healthy toppings to create your personal feast. Add brown or white pitta bread (hot or cold, small or large) and accompany with a refreshing salad or juice and enjoy with friends. We guarantee you will leave you feeling nourished and satisfied and will want to come back for more. We are proud to be the only place in the UK to concentrate solely on what we love most - hummus."

Here's where the personality types are addressed:

"Tasty, great value for money, fresh and simple. [There's a reason why the Soho locals fill our seats every lunchtime]*3. Take homemade hummus and add your choice of a range of hot or cold healthy toppings to [create your personal feast]*2. Add [brown or white pitta bread (hot or cold, small or large)]*4 and accompany with a refreshing salad or juice and [enjoy with friends]*3. [We guarantee you will leave feeling nourished and satisfied]*1 and will want to come back for more. We are proud to be the [only place in the UK]*1 to concentrate solely on what we love most - hummus".

1 = Competitive
2 = Spontaneous
3 = Humanistic
4 = Methodical

What do you think? Does it work better? Comments welcome.

I would imagine that better copy should lead to better conversion.

Online Copywriting Best Practice

So how should you write for the web? Here's some top tips to get you started.

1. Keep sentences short

Short sentences are easier to digest. They require less brainpower. Your visitors are one click away from your competitors, so don't make it difficult. If your sentence can be written simply, write it simply.

2. Get the message across quickly

You can get the essence of your communication across in the first few words. Don't make someone read through a whole paragraph to get to the point - they'll not get that far.

3. Use the words of your audience

Your vocabulary needs to use the words that your readers are familiar with. There are 2 good reasons for this. One: it's easier to understand. Two: these are the words most likely to be typed in by your visitors to Google. If you put these words on your page, your copy will already be on the way to being optimised for search engines. Use Google's keyword suggestion tool to research what words to use.

4. Keep paragraphs short

A good example of this is the BBC news site. Each paragraph is simple, short and easy to digest. Long paragraphs are just hard work.

BBC example article: Facebook's developer platform

5. Use good grammar and spelling

It sounds simple, and it is. I don't claim to be perfect either. I do however see sites that lose credibility at the last hurdle with a spelling mistake.

6. Be consistent in your style

By style I mean the way in which you use numbers, abbreviations, dates and terminology. It just makes your site more coherent.

7. DON'T USE UPPER CASE

It's so much easier to read sentence case!

8. Use headings, subheadings and bullet points

This gives your article structure, makes it easy to scan read. Website visitors rarely read every word - they need to be able to scan through quickly and select what copy they feel like engaging with. Ask yourself the question: "can I see at a glance what this article is about from 5 feet away?"

Related articles

• Interesting article from Jakob Neilson: Passive Voice Is Redeemed For Web Headings
• Fantastic site for online copy writing: Nick Usbourne's Excess Voice - copy writing tips for the web