Your “Elixir of Love” Sales Copy Formula

You’re wearing your finest gown/tuxedo/thneed and the lights go down.

The stage is set, the musicians have tuned, and the performance starts with a …

Sales Proposition!

Donizetti’s Elixir of Love begins with the beautiful Adina reading the story of Tristan and Isolde, in which Tristan wins over the heartless beauty with the help of a magical love potion.

She ignores Nemorino (“little nobody”), who’s madly in love with her.

As Nemorino sinks into despair, our hero, Doctor Dulcamara, literally drops onto the stage in a hot air balloon with an enormous stash of his amazing liquid cure-all.

(it’s actually cheap red wine).

After this traveling salesman and fast-talking quack sells it to ALL the men in the town, he needs to find a new product or a new market.

Predating the advice of legendary copywriter Gene Schwartz, he reinvents his product for a new market …

Rebrands it as a love potion for Nemorino (it’s still red wine) …

And rides away in triumph.

Oddly, it seems to work.

As a copywriter watching this, I wanted to scribble over every margin of my program with the timeless strategies this ridiculous 1832 story had for today’s marketers.

Want clickable sales copy? Borrow these timeless copywriting strategies contained in this operatic “blast from the past.”

Which of these Sales Copy elements will make your 21st century copy irresistible?

Appeal to exclusivity:

“Listen, listen, o peasants 

Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.”

How can you make your offer stronger by presenting it as exclusive or by making your audience feel like part of a selective club?

Go straight to the heart of the prospect with a big promise:

“O all of you, stiff matrons, 

Do you yearn to be rejuvenated? 

Your inconvenient wrinkles Will be erased with this. 

Do you want, damsels, 

To have smooth skin? 

You, young gallant men, 

To always have lovers?”

What’s your big promise? Look for one overall benefit that will sell your product. This product is an all-in-one formula for perpetual youth and vitality.

Don’t forget the emotional dimension:

It cures tympanitis … 

And even liver trouble, 

Which used to be fashionable.”

Notice that liver trouble is no longer fashionable … what will your friends think of you if you get it? He’s tapping into an emotional need to be accepted.

Establish authority:

“That I am that grand, 

Encyclopaedic doctor 

Called Dulcamara, Whose illustrious virtue 

And infinite wonders 

Are known in all the world…

and in other places. 

Benefactor of mankind, 

Curer of ills, 

In a little while I will have cleared out 

And swept away the hospitals”

Testimonials drive social proof. Read about how to use them and why here: https://www.judyolbrych.com/7-steps-sales-social-proof/

Offer independent proof/certification:

“It’s this toothache medicine 

Marvelous liquor, 

The mighty destroyer 

Of mice and bugs, 

Whose certificates, authentic and labelled, 

I will allow each of you 

To touch, see and read.”

Anticipate objections and prove your expertise with outside awards, certifications, degrees, and acclaim. Omitting this step is a common error I see frequently among new entrepreneurs and digital marketers.

Be a specialist:

“Buy my specialty, 

I’ll give it to you for a small price.“

Becoming the expert in your niche attracts more of the business you want and may allow you to charge higher fees as a specialist.

Include a case study:

“A man, in his seventies 

And sickly, 

Yet became 

The grandfather of ten babes.

Well, ten to twenty babes he had, 

Because of this touch and health”

Case studies and success stories portray your customer as the hero.

Give evidence for the value:

“I brought it by post 

From a thousand miles away”

Describe the process of creating or delivering your product. This can raise its perceived value. For example, Harry and David’s legendary sales letters tell all about the search for and cultivation of the perfect pear.

Start with a top price and give a specific reason for the first big discount:

“You ask me: 

How much is it? 

How much is that bottle worth? 

100 scudi?… 30?… 20? 

No…nobody shall be dismayed … 

To prove to you my gladness 

That I am accepted as a friend, 

I want from you, 

O good people, 

To give 1 scudo.”

If you offer a discount, tell your reader why. Making it seem random could cheapen your offer.

Give a reason for any secondary discount (3 lire = 1/2 scudo):

“All of Europe knows that I sell 

Nothing under 10 lire: 

But since it is also clear 

That I was born in this country, 

I’ll give it to you for 3 lire, I ask only 3 lire:”

When you drop the price again, remember to justify the change.

Repeat the Call To Action throughout the piece:

“Buy my specialty”

The Doctor gives his audience every opportunity to buy a bottle of medicine.

Do you have a long-copy sales page? Give your reader multiple opportunities to click as they scroll.

The medium changes. People don’t.

Our readers are driven by the timeless needs, wants, and emotions. It’s up to us to discover specifically what those are and show how we can help in a relevant way.

Translation Source: http://operainenglish.blogspot.com/2012/09/lelisir-damore-udite-udite-o-rustici.html