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Time for a pop quiz! Name three products that sell better when a facts-based approach to copy is taken. Just off the top of my head I'd say computers, fax machines and microwave ovens. Now, name three products that sell best when the copy is romanticized. Travel, fur coats and jewelry are good examples. Knowing when to use facts and when to use fantasy was a problem JuliesJewels.com had on one particular website page. Let's see how approaching the copy differently brought this e-commerce company greater success.
The Problems
One of the hardest things to learn as a copywriter is which focus or approach to take with copy. There are general guidelines to follow, but experience will tell you that there are almost as many exceptions as there are rules. However, in the case of JuliesJewels.com's Moissanite jewelry page, it was obvious we had a clear lack of -- and a clear need for more -- emotion.
For those who may not be acquainted with Moissanite stones, they were originally created in a laboratory by a Nobel Peace Prize-winning scientist. They are made of a replicated mineral that was originally found in a meteorite that crashed to earth thousands of years ago. However, unlike cubic zirconia (CZ), they are extremely hard and do not form a cloudy appearance over time. Moissanite offers the brilliance of a diamond without the flashy price.
Now, the guideline goes: If you have a product that is unfamiliar to the marketplace, you will want to educate your site visitors while you sell to them. However, sometimes "educate" gets confused with "provide facts." This was one problem Julie's page suffered from.