Do Classic Persuasion Principles Still Hold Up in 2020?

Being a digital marketer or copywriter back in 2010 was just a tad different from today.

A thousand likes and shares on your latest blog post?

This guy must be an unmatched genius.

A free PDF guide with an estimated value of $29?

She’s so damn generous. Can’t wait to reciprocate on the upsell page.

Signed up for an email list?

Yep, I’m forever compelled to stay consistent with my actions and open these newsletters.

Unfortunately, in 2020 subscribers are:

• More sophisticated than ever.
• More oversubscribed and looking to bail than ever.
• Totally numb to likes and shares that can be bought for less than a Starbucks latte.

That means it’s time to question whether our “tried and true” persuasion principles are really as tried and true as we think.

More specifically, are the principles of reciprocity, social proof, and consistency — the ones you’ve likely read about in Cialdini’s foundational persuasion book Influence and seen hailed on countless blogs — truly enough to get the “yes” today in 2020?

Or are they just a stack of old, tired “tricks” getting in the way from the true persuasive copywriting techniques that have been starting movements, selling chocolate covered peanuts, and getting men to wear Hathaway shirts by the millions for the last hundred years?

In other words, perhaps there are approaches that are even more tried and true that perhaps we’ve lost sight of.

As you’ll learn on this live training next Monday with our good friends Joanna Wiebe and Ry Schwartz, the stuff that worked in 1920 isn’t only “still working” in 2020.

In many cases, it’s the ONLY thing working. And that’s not just old school copywriting romanticism, either.

Jo and Ry are two of the most in-demand modern-day copywriters, who’ve been trusted to generate breakthrough win after breakthrough win for clients like Wistia, Neil Patel, Amy Porterfield, Shopify Plus, Todd Herman, and yes … even Copyblogger.

You may have seen Joanna speak at a couple of our live events, and heard her on our podcasts. More than that, she’s also the only outside copywriter I’ve ever hired to work with us — and she definitely did not disappoint.

When you attend this live training event, Jo and Ry will deliver full access to the most timeless and indispensable persuasive techniques that have fueled many of those wins:

Live Training: 3 Repeatable Persuasive Copywriting Techniques for 2020

Here’s just a small glimpse of how this training will make you a better copywriter (whether or not you identify as a “copywriter” — after all, if you’re doing digital marketing, you’d better understand how copywriting works today). This is what they’ll tackle for you, step by step:

• Why traditional persuasion tricks like reciprocity and social proof are quickly losing their conversion power and even becoming counterproductive (especially the way most marketers use them).
• Actual ways to use persuasion techniques — like “Ugly Jerry” — to instantly boost the attractiveness and perceived value of your core offer (as in, just because it’s a “Free PDF” with a fake value of $29 does NOT mean people will want it).
• Their proven and repeatable process for coming up with a high-converting “big idea” for your product (without day drinking like Don Draper waiting for the Muse to climb down from the mountain and give you a giant bear hug.)
• How you can — and should — powerfully and effectively market around your prospect’s “fear” and “pain” (without coming off as a fear-mongering sociopath).

Here’s that signup link one last time.

I’ll definitely be there. Hope to see you there, too.