Writing copy for a specific person not a demographic

Creativity & Communication

All the while I have fixed in my mind a mental picture of who will read what I’m writing.

I don’t mean “AB males aged 35-44 with a promiscuous attitude to white spirits.” I mean I think of an actual person, be it a friend, neighbour or relation, who is in the target audience.

When I see that person in my mind, I know what will appeal to them.

That way I can write copy the way I believe all copy should be written: as a conversation between two human beings rather than an announcement from manufacturer to consumer.

Behavioural principles

Behavioural ideas at play in this post

Short, plain-English explanations of the principles behind this post, with links to related books and examples in the archive.

Goodhart's law

This principle helps explain why people behave differently from what pure logic would predict.

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Processing fluency

Easy-to-process things feel truer, safer, and more appealing.

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Narrative bias

Coherent stories feel truer than messy reality.

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Writing copy for a specific person not a demographic

Behavioural ideas at play in this post

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