Remove Buyer’s Friction

In marketing, "friction" is any obstacle that slows a buyer’s path to completing an action.

• Confusing messaging? Friction.

• Unclear benefits? Friction.

• Lack of reviews? Friction.

And friction is costly. It can be the slight edge between:

• Gaining a subscriber or losing one.

• Getting a client or missing out.

• Scaling a business or watching it sink.

So what’s the antidote to friction? What legendary copywriter Joseph Sugarman, author of The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, coined “The Slippery Slope.”

Sugarman believed every piece of marketing—from a single ad to an entire landing page—should guide the reader seamlessly, one step at a time.

See, a headline’s job, is to suck you into the subheadline.

A subheadline’s job? To suck you into the body copy.

And so on, and so on, until you’ve consumed the entire message… and now you’re taking action.

Here’s a great ad example from Oura and notice where your eyes travel:

1. It hooks you with a compelling image:

   

2. It grabs attention with a polarizing statement—and even tells readers who it’s not for:

   

3. It builds credibility with data:

   

4. It presents a clear, irresistible promise:

   

5. And finally, it leaves no confusion about what to do next with a bold call-to-action:

   

Look, we can all use help removing “friction” from our messaging.

If you want an additional resource:

My free series—“21 Days to Get More Clients”—is worth a listen. Skip to Day 2 to discover what to do, and more importantly, what NOT to do, with your messaging. Check it out here.

Cheers,