I’ll let you in on a little secret:
Email copywriting — or any flavour of direct-response for that matter — isn’t really about writing.
The best copywriters are often not the best “writers”.
In fact, most English teachers would scoff at the way many of the copywriting greats bastardize grammar and the English language to get their point across.
Far more important: is keeping a finger on the pulse of the ever-evolving cultural zeitgeist…
… understanding what’s capturing your reader’s attention, right now…
… and knowing what emotions are bubbling just beneath the surface of your audience’s minds.
On that note:
One big story that’s capturing a ton of mind share right now is the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO.
And I find this story incredibly interesting, because in recent times, I’ve never seen an act of violence viewed so positively — and meme’d so much — by people on both sides of the political spectrum.
Now it goes without saying…
Ending someone’s life prematurely and against their will is never a good thing.
But the celebratory sentiment behind the death of the United Healthcare CEO comes from a deeply understandable place.
Because it raises the question:
Is an act of violence only something that’s perpetrated with weapons or fists?
Or is an act of violence, equally, the restriction of life-saving medical treatment?
And charging someone their life savings for a hospital visit they couldn’t avoid?
Imagine having a cardiac arrest and being rushed to the nearest ER — only to wake up later and discover that care wasn’t covered because the hospital wasn’t in your network.
Or a patient in surgery… whose insurer won’t cover the full cost because their operation ran over the allotted time.
What are they meant to do?
Spring to life, mid procedure, out of their anesthetic-induced sleep and say:
“Just leave it there, doc. I better be heading now.”
I think this following quote from Jia Tolentin’s article on the shooting in the New Yorker captures a lot of folk’s sentiment:
“Nurses, residents, aides, specialists — they are asked to absorb the rage and panic induced by the American health-care system, whose private insurers generate billions of dollars in profit and pay executives eight figures not despite, but because of the fact that they routinely deny care to desperate people in need.”
This is what’s fueling the anger, despair and dark humor we’ve seen around this shooting.
Is that dark humor justified?
(I’ll leave that up to you to judge for yourself.)
But it’s certainly understandable.
After all…
It’s hard for folks to show empathy to a corrupt healthcare system (or the human CEOs who are complicit in it)…
… when that same system has no empathy for them.
That lack of empathy is apparent in the United Healthcare’s decision to use AI systems to reject medical claims.
It’s cold. Faceless. Non-human.
And I don’t claim to have all the answers to fix the American healthcare system. In the UK, where I’m from, the NHS has its own fair share of issues.
But one thing is for sure.
This trend towards less humanity, less connection, less empathy isn’t unique to healthcare.
It’s universal.
And I believe it’s being accelerated by the growing use of AI.
Now, I’m not some sort of AI luddite. It has a number of amazing uses and it’s here to stay.
But if you’re going to use it in your own business or for writing copy…
It has to be used in conjunction (not in replacement of) human empathy.
For copywriters and marketers, empathy isn’t just a nice-to-have.
It’s essential.
You need to dig into the recesses of your target customer’s brains and understand their struggles, fears, and desires.
That’s the real secret to writing copy that resonates…
And creating offers that can be truly life changing for your prospects.
It means showing your readers that you get them, that you care, and that your message is meant for them.
So while everyone is busy zigging and going nutzo for AI this, AI that…
You’d do well to zag and lean further into the human side of business.
Because there’s a desperate need for:
- Businesses that prioritize connection over cold efficiency.
- Emails that feel like they’re written by a person, not a machine.
- And a world where decisions — whether in healthcare, business, or life — are driven by empathy, not algorithms.
That’s the human advantage.
Stay sharp,
Kenneth Turnbull