Youre usually much better with an under-promising headline. A great example that I learned in the days that I was working with Dan Rosenthal was for one of our clients who sold gold and silver coins and bullion. In this case it was an ad for silver. The headline was a famous headline that ran for many years, Why the price of silver may rise steeply. Thinking I was such a hot-shot copywriter, I said to Dan Rosenthal, who I believe was the author of that headline and the great, great ad that followed it, I said, Why are you saying, may rise? You should test a headline that sounds a little stronger, a little bolder, such as Why the price of silver will rise steeply. That way it sounds, Dan, like you believe what youre predicting.
So we tested my version and, of course, it bombed. Its counterintuitive, but Why the price of silver may rise steeply outperformed Why the price of silver will rise steeply maybe by 200%. And the body copy was exactly the same for both versions. It went into why inflation and why a silver shortage is about to exert irresistible pressure under the price of silver to cause silver prices to go higher. It gave every reason why silver was going up. It was full of proof and full of facts and full of figures, plus an opportunity to send for a booklet on how you can profit on the coming rise in silver prices. As I say, it created land office business on the strength of that ad but I could never understand why may rise pulled so much better than the more forceful will rise.
But its because of that disbelief factor. Most investors are savvy. So as soon as you promise something that really is unknowable such as will rise, they know that you cant predict the future. But when you build in a little bit of understatement, you suck them right in.
