The Copywriting Litmus Test

Years ago, an ex-partner and mentor Tom Dombrosky would get our client brainstorming back on track with one question:

“What’s the big idea?”

Not the hook. Not the headline. Not the targeting. The idea.

His litmus test (which I’ve since heard called the Barstool Test) was: if you can’t explain it in two sentences over a drink (in Tom’s case Stolichnaya), it’s not ready.

Every idea had to pass four filters:

• Is it simple enough to say in one breath?
• Is it emotional enough to make someone feel something?
• Is it relevant to what’s happening right now in the prospect’s world?
• Is it consequential enough to demand action.

If it didn’t clear those, it didn’t leave the room.

Most modern marketing skips this part. We optimize headlines, tweak funnels, and let algorithms decide what survives. It’s efficient and measurable, but a lot of it feels like carefully engineered noise.

Great copy doesn’t start big. It starts small with a specific detail, then tension is built so the reader feels something before you explain anything. Then, once they’re leaning in and emotionally vested, you reveal the big idea.

That’s the difference between information and persuasion.

You can automate distribution. You can A/B test until your eyes bleed. But you can’t automate a clear idea.

If you can’t pitch it casually, cleanly, in two sentences without sounding like you swallowed a marketing podcast, it’s not done.

Start smaller. Tighten it. Make it matter.

Then put it out into the world.

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For a few years, Tom and I were partners in a small advertising agency in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was the senior. I was the junior. I learned a lot, made a lot of money, and had one helluva good time. Here are a few Dombrosky stories you might appreciate:

Chutzpah

Research

It Wasn't Pretty

Kicking Butt in Restaurant Marketing

Today's Consumer

 

Today’s consumer doesn’t browse. They feed.

An endless buffet of reels, memes, and microwave moments, shoveled down by the algorithm’s invisible hand.

Each of us wandering our own little maze of “for you” content … curated chaos, served a la carte.

The scroll never sleeps. It knows what we like before we do. And just as quick, we’re bored again.

Attention spans? Vapor.

Every ad, another reflexive flick of the thumb -- skip, skip, skip -- the modern heartbeat of distraction.

Judgment Becomes the Differentiator

 

When AI automates the commodity, judgment becomes the differentiator.

AI can now generate content, analysis, summaries, plans, and ideas in seconds. The kinds of tasks that once required hours of effort are quickly becoming automated.

What remains (and what AI still struggles to replicate) is the deeply human layer:

• Making decisions with incomplete information

• Having the courage to back an unpopular idea 

• Sensing when something isn’t working and changing course

As AI gets better at producing answers, the real value shifts to something else:

Knowing which answers actually matter … and what to do next.

David L. Deutsch on Copywriting and Persuasion

 

"Effective persuasion isn't about hacks, tricks or formulas. 
It's about understanding human psychology 
and then clearly and believably communicating 
the uniqueness and value of your offer."
- David L. Deutsch

Deutsch, who has written copy that has contributed to more than a billion dollars in sales for companies from startups to some of the biggest brands in the world, continues: I've found that copywriting ultimately boils down to just one thing: persuasion.

It may be obvious, but it's important to remember that people take action only when they're persuaded to take action.

And to do that effectively requires what I call the 6 Pillars of Persuasion — grouped for easy recall as S.P.R.O.U.T.

S - Singularity — Today, more than ever, a product must be perceived as unique to capture attention. And unless you can convince prospects that your product is in some way different from whatever else is out there, even if they like the product they will go off to compare alternatives and price shop.

 

P - Proof — What you say must be believed, and we believe what is proven — with facts, studies, track records, and logic. Proof also includes HOW your prospect will get the results you promise (the "mechanism"). That gives them the all-important "reason to believe."

R - Repetition — What we hear once barely makes an impression. Instead, we tend to believe and act on what we hear multiple times. Therefore, the art of copywriting is largely about making the same key points over and over in different ways, from different angles, in a consistently interesting way.

O - Overwhelming Value — It's not enough that the benefits promised and proven are worth the price. Or even worth more than the price. They must be perceived as being worth MANY TIMES the cost. (Some say 10 times — and that's a good number to aim for.)

U - Urgency — People, just like us, usually don't act unless there is some urgency. In copywriting, that's often scarcity — time or supply (or both) is running out. If both are unlimited, the urgency can be the importance of enjoying the benefits as soon as possible, and not being without them longer than necessary.

T - Trust — No matter any of the above items, people don't buy from people they don't trust. (Do you?) So be sure — with your actions, your words, your images, and your intent — that you do everything possible to earn the trust of your prospect. (First and foremost, BE trustworthy.)

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David L. Deutsch supervises, coaches, and trains writers and copy teams both in the U.S. and around the world. He is the creator of the A-List Copywriting Secrets course and author of Million Dollar Marketing Secrets and Think Inside the Box!.