15 Copywriting Tips From Jaws

This week marks the 50th anniversary of one of the first true movie blockbusters, Jaws. Like a lot of would-be classics, it was plagued with problems, took a long time to make (over 150 days), and the actors who ultimately played in it weren't the studio's first choice. You can write a book about everything related to the filmmaking of Jaws, and how it affected movies and culture - and in fact, there are plenty of them. Like many unexpected cultural hits, its success has been analyzed ad nauseam. It also inspired countless imitations, parodies - and copywriting. Here are 15 Copywriting Tips From Jaws to sink your creative teeth into...

"You're gonna need a bigger boat"

This is probably the film's most famous line of dialogue, and one of cinema's most iconic lines. Like many quotes, it was improvised by the actor, Roy Scheider. Lesson? A lot of the most successful ideas are improvised and have nothing to do with this testing or that research.

"Smile, you son of a bitch!"

Whether short copy or long-form content, you want to leave your audience with a memorable line that will stay with them, long after they finish reading your piece of content or saw your banner, post, or other type of ad.

"All this machine does is swim, eat, and make baby sharks."

Describing a product or service? Keep it brief and simple, and in bullet points if possible.

"I can do anything. I'm the chief of police!"

Use language that will empower the user/reader/potential customer.

"For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing."

When promoting a relatively pricey service or product, make sure your customers understands the high value they get in return.

"Cage goes in the water, you go in the cage. Shark's in the water. Our shark."

How many times did users have to read a piece of content over and over because the paragraph was too convulted or technical? Make it simple as possible.

"This is not a boat accident. It wasn't any profeller. It wasn't any coral reef. And it wasn't Jack the Ripper. It was a shark."

It's good to spice up the copywriting and content with some

"I can't argue with a man armed with Harpoons."

This is a just great phrase to use in a brainstorming argument...

"Do sharks charge rent for staying so close?"

What if a dog subscribes to your service? Or a cat is using your product?

"You'll never truly understand the ocean until you've felt its rage."

Show empathy to users in copywriting or other content that deals with daily crisises.

"The ocean teaches us lessons we'd all rather not learn."

"When you dive deep, the rules change."

Copywriting is not the same as content writing. When you make the transition from writing headlines and taglines to long-form content such as blogs, articles, etc., the writing rules change.

"You all know me. You know what I do for a living."

There's nothing wrong in high-value self-promotion.

"We're all prey in the right circumstance."

Life lessons with a twist are great quotes for social media posts.

"To survive, you must first respect your adversary."

Writing in a field with many/big competition? Respect them. Don't belitle their services or their products, it'll come back to...bite you.