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I recently took a test for a job and failed. Fortunately, unlike most other tests, this company gave me good feedback on what I need to work on, like a hook and a call-to-action. One thing stood out to me as a problem, however. They suggested I use stats.

There will be a debate among all of us copywriters on this issue. Feel free to write a comment about why you think statistics should be used in your copy.

Isn’t that a Great Way to Get People’s Attention?

When I was training to be a broadcaster, my instructors taught me never to use stats in any of my commercial copies. Now, this one is only related to commercials. I am sure that those who took the news route had to use those for their stories. Otherwise, there is a time and place for it.

How Come You Can't Use Statistics in Advertising Copy?

Here's the terrible truth: NOBODY CARES how many people are satisfied with your client’s product or service. In fact, they don't even care that nine out of ten dentists prefer one brand of toothpaste over another. All they care about is what's in it for them.

You can bet that most people would skim over the stats when they read your copy. Even if it is in big bold fonts or in one of those infographics. Nevertheless, the reader would only care about what is in it for them.

Another problem is that nobody can remember all these stats, unless you work as a statistician or are a math whiz. As an example, nobody knows how many people have died from Covid, to date. The problem still exists, it is a big problem, and it killed thousands or millions of people around the world.

In part, this is because stats have been overused, and customers are already tired of seeing and hearing them. A single person can't keep track of the thousands of different statistics out there about everything from their sex lives to how many hours of sleep to how often they should drink water. However, there is another problem with statistics.

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The Problem With Stats

Regarding any study involving statistics, there are several issues. The first is who conducted the study. Is it the government, an educational institution, a charitable organization, or a business? For example, there was a study done a few years ago that claims exercise can cure depression.

I recall hearing about that study a few years ago. I exercise every day and also suffer from manic depression. Exercise does not cure that condition for me. It might be true for those who don't always have depression, but not everyone. Besides this one study, there are countless others that are still debating this. I now wonder who funded the original study.

The point is that whichever company pays for any statistical study will obviously influence the results.

Who Participated in These Studies?

The next issue was who was asked. Was a small sample of people paid to take part in the study? 10 people do not represent the entire population of the United States.

Methods

What methods are used in statistics? Are they surveys or closed laboratory experiments?

The depression study was clearly the ladder. Similarly, surveys have problems as well.

First, let's look at the questions. Sometimes it's a multiple choice question such as "on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate this product or service?" Nowadays, it's rare that you get to write about something you truly want to say about the product or service. Few surveys ask for your actual opinion.

It's obvious that whatever company made those questions up is influencing what the person who is taking the survey is going to say.

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More About the Issues with Surveys

There are other problems with surveys. Obviously, if it were paper, some people would throw it away, never completing it or sending it back. I don't know if anyone has 15 minutes to complete an online survey. I have experience conducting surveys over the phone.

I have worked in a few survey call centers in the past. I had to quit the last one because I had to meet a certain quota of surveys. (Which is tough to do, and I'll explain why.) Otherwise, they would send me home early.

People often mistake telephone surveyors for telemarketers. This is not true. Surveyors are paid hourly without commission. However, most people will hang up on you, will say they don't have time and want to do it later, won't want to do it, or I will get a voicemail message. Now and then, I get a lonely old person who just wants to talk to someone.

But the point is that few people want to take surveys.

Misuse of Stats

Statistics can be abused. It could just be a simple mistake made by the researcher. Alternatively, a scientist, a company, or a statistician can change the numbers as they see fit. 

It could be a bias that a scientist has towards certain stimuli. This is where you get the placebo effect. 

As mentioned before, surveys can be reworded to enable respondents to answer in a way that companies want them to. They can misunderstand and not report an error in the estimate. I already gave the example of using a small sample of the population to represent everyone.

There can be overgeneralization towards a certain segment of a population, for example all Millennials and Gen Z’s have cell phones.

The Alt Right has also been misusing medical statistics to fight their point recently (I am not discounting the Alt-Left here either). Most likely, they misinterpret whatever information they read on medical sites like the CDC and write false posts about it on social media. For example, the Covid vaccine kills people (When we know that really isn't true).

There are more problems with stats that I can write here.

Conclusion

Stats have their place and time. In the news, proposals, grants, and academic research papers, for example. Most people, however, do not care.

If your client asks you to include statistics in a sales copy. Well, it's up to you whether or not to use them. This is just my opinion.

In the meantime, I’ll learn how to write a powerful hook and a call to action.

References

(2021, March 31). Statistics: Power from Data! Problems with using information. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/edu/power-pouvoir/ch6/5214803-eng.htm

., R. F. (n.d.). The Problems with Statistics. Washington State University. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://public.wsu.edu/~taflinge/evistats.html

Davies, W., & Berners-Lee, T. (2017, January 19). How statistics lost their power – and why we should fear what comes next | William Davies. The Guardian. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/19/crisis-of-statistics-big-data-democracy

5 problems with statistics. (n.d.). NSF Consulting. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from http://nsfconsulting.com.au/market-research-statistics-program-evaluation/

Huff, D. (n.d.). How to Lie with Statistics. Wikipedia. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Lie_with_Statistics

Misuse of statistics. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misuse_of_statistics