Post #2 Living collection of copywriting terms and distinctions

This post will host a living and growing list of working definitions for commonly used terms in advertising and marketing as as used on is blog:

1. Sale – exchange of value between 1 or more parties to solve a problem.
2. Persuasion – supplying and framing new information to another person so that they can voluntarily take a certain course of action. 
3. Rhetoric – art of persuading a crowd using the spoken word
4. Psychology – the study of the human soul. Sometimes this is equated to “human nature.” Here, we mean, how the human soul and it’s faculties operate when applied to sales and advertising. 
5. Value – ability to deliver a desired good to someone
6. Sales argument – the expression of logical and emotional reasons for why a sale should occur. Also called a sales process or sales pitch.
7. The buying Motivators – senses, emotion, imagination, logic, will, action 
8. Shatterpoint conversions – Michael Cassman’s framework for buying psychology and customer ascension
9. Conversion – the moment that action follows upon critical conviction
10. Critical conviction – the state in which a person has been persuaded and convinced to take some kind of action. It requires that all “conviction buckets” be filled.
    1. Conviction directly corresponds with willingness to commit
11. Conviction buckets – in order for a sale to take place, your prospect must reach the state of “critical conviction”.” This occurs when they have reached sufficient levels of certainty in all of the 10 of what I call “Conviction buckets”:
    1. Certain that they have a problem that can be solved.
    2. Certainty that your offer will solve their problem(s)/satisfy desires
    3. Certain that you can be trusted to deliver on your promises.
    4. Certain that competitor’s offers don’t measure up
    5. Certain that they’re getting a great deal
    6. Certain that they can successfully use the product to solve their problem
    7. Certain that it is better than doing nothing.
    8. Certain they won’t regret the transaction
    9. Certain that if something goes wrong, you’ll take care of them
    10. Certain that doing business with you will make them look good.
12. Certainty – intellectual acceptance that something is true.
13. Doubt – refusal to accept that something is true.
14. Sales friction – resistance to the sales process. Internal objections in the prospect.
15. Ad – a sales argument magnified by a mass medium.
16. Medium – the vehicle by which a sales message is communicated (face to face, social media, direct mail, email, etc)
17. Advertising – salesmanship multiplied. (Direct response advertising.) A sales message communicated to a target market through mass media which compels an action.
18. Marketing – the practice of amplifying a message or spreading the word about a business or offer. The act of and science behind raising awareness for a business/product/service.
19. General publicity – non-sales oriented marketing. (“brand advertising”, press releases, informational pamphlets, mega corporation “meh” advertising). Most so-called “advertising” falls into this category.
20. Copywriting – salesmanship expressed in the written word
21. Offer – the collection of products/services, bonuses, guarantees, price, terms and time restraint you propose to your prospect as the solution to their problems.
22. Ad Triumvirate – an ad has 3 essential elements: target market, sales argument, medium. 
23. Belief – natural faith and conviction based on evidence without seeing/experiencing results first hand.
24. Mechanism – the unique means by which your product/service achieves your prospects’ desired end result
25. Objection – a reason given by a prospect to not take action or discontinue the sales conversation. (Objections can be invalid [excuses] or valid [obstacles]).
26. Promise – the claim you make to provide value to your prospect
27. Proof – the evidence you provide that demonstrates you can deliver on your promises/claims.
28. Prospect Awareness – the degree to which your prospect is aware of his/her problems, solutions in the market, your industry, your competitors, your solutions, and your offers.
29. Market saturation – the degree to which other businesses offer solutions that are similar to yours or promise results that are similar to yours.
30. 3 buying powers of the soul – Momentum which applies to the emotions, imagination which applies to the senses, logic which applies to the intellect, decision which applies to the will, 
31. Desire – the movement of the will to obtain a desired good. (Desire is the root of all sales.)
32. Aversion – the movement of the will to flee a perceived evil.
33. Pain – current sadness resulting from suffering a concurrent evil.
34. Pleasure – current joy resulting from obtaining a desired good.
35. Handicaps – things that make your product suck and repels your prospect
36. Campaign – a progression of shorter ads intended to do the work of a full length ad. Each ad repeats the main compressions while adding appropriate embellishments and differentiations.
37. Kinds of proof – there are 11 major kinds of proof. The most effective form of proof, (and the one that all other forms of proof should try to emulate) is DEMONSTRATION. The 11 major forms of proof are:
    1. Sample proof
    2. Demonstration
    3. Expository proof
    4. Logical proof
    5. Authority proof
    6. Social proof
    7. Third party proof
    8. Indirect proof
    9. Analogical proof
    10. Literary proof
    11. Anecdote
38. Benefit – a good the prospect desires as a solution to his problem.
39. Feature – an ability the product/service possesses to bring about a desired benefit for the prospect.
40. Manipulation – abusing persuasion tactics to diminish someone’s or agency or convincing someone to do something against their own interest.
41. Mass desire – public spread of a private want
42. Market research (MR) – in depth investigation of your prospects, their problems, desires, your industry, competitors, and anything else contributing to your prospect’s decision to do or not do business with you.
43. Prospect – a person who qualifies as a potential buyer, but has not yet engaged with you.
44. Lead – a prospect who has demonstrated interest and some sort of commitment to doing business with you or starting a relationship with you.
45. Target Market – the pool of humanity you aim to target with your sales argument.
46. Sales conversation – the spoken/unspoken dialogue between buyer and seller (or themselves!) regarding an exchange of value.
47. Brand “Advertising” – public promotion of a brand identity aimed at making impressions. Here in the Immortal Advertising series, we don’t consider this to be “true advertising.” 
48. Personality Branding – “me-focused” promotional activity whereby a “guru” emphasizes his/her personality to attract a tribe of potential buyers/followers.