How to Maintain Interest When Using Direct Response Copywriting

By: Andrew Sundstrom

How is it possible to maximize your profit if you can’t hold the attention of the consumer?

Well there are some easy tricks to keep your reader or viewer interested when you are attempting to market your product to them. By using simple phrases that will stimulate your prospect into continuing reading or viewing you can dramatically increase your profits by increasing the traffic for your company or product.

I call these phrases “attention-maintainers”, which can be just as important as “attention-grabbers” that are aimed at the initial attraction of buyers. But if buyers lose interest right after their attention is grabbed, what was the point of grabbing it in the first place? They probably won’t buy from you, they’ll go somewhere else or buy from a company that can captivate them.

What is an “attention-maintainer”?

It’s a simple phrase that has no real content in-and-of itself, but that will help to keep your target interested in whatever medium you are using for sales.

You may have heard something similar on television or the radio right before a commercial break:

“We’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors.”

Basically these “attention-maintainers” are just teasers that will compel your audience to continue whatever they were doing. That’s why you here phrases like “stay tuned” so often, because consumers have short attention spans and are extremely fickle, and once you lose interest there’s a good chance it is gone forever.

Why do I need to use “attention-maintainers”?

Obviously you should want your content to be compelling enough to not need these “attention-maintainers”, but the truth is that’s just too difficult. Even blockbuster movies aren’t captivating one-hundred percent of the time.

Now imagine if you were writing something and you just wrote something particularly exciting or interesting. After that section is read, the reader may become bored again if the excitement level dips. So if you were to say “but that’s not the most exciting part!” following an already exciting portion of your work, readers will be almost helpless to finish what you started. It’s the same as saying “I have a surprise for you.” Who isn’t going to want to know what that surprise is?

To sum up:

Basically using what I call “attention-maintainers” is just a method to build suspense so that your target consumer will finish whatever you had them start, therefore increasing traffic and exposure for your business. And all good direct marketers know, more traffic and exposure is directly attributed to more money in your pocket.