Most ads fail before anyone reads a single word. The headline lands flat. The promise feels generic. The reader scrolls past without a second thought.
The difference between copy that converts and copy that gets ignored often comes down to one thing: the Big Idea. This concept, perfected by legendary copywriter Eugene Schwartz, transformed direct response advertising from the 1960s through the 1990s. Schwartz beat approximately 90% of the control ads he competed against, an almost unheard-of winning percentage that made him one of the most sought-after copywriters of his era.
This guide will teach you how to identify, develop, and deploy a Big Idea that captures attention and compels action in your own marketing.
What Makes a Big Idea Different From a Regular Headline
A Big Idea is not simply a clever headline or a list of benefits. It’s a central, compelling concept that reframes how your prospect thinks about their problem or desire. The Big Idea becomes the engine that drives every element of your copy, from the opening hook to the final call to action.
Eugene Schwartz worked extensively with direct marketing companies like Boardroom, which sold books (primarily health and wellness content) through mail order. Consumers would open a magazine or receive an envelope containing an ad or letter that sold them on the benefits of information inside a book. Schwartz’s job was to beat the conversion rate of whatever ad was currently working, what the industry calls the “control.”
His secret weapon was always the Big Idea.
Consider this example from Schwartz’s collection: “Every cell of your face has a ‘clock’ in it. Here’s how to wind those clocks backward.” This isn’t just selling an anti-aging book. It introduces a new mental model (cellular clocks) that makes the reader see their own face differently. The promise (looking 10-20 years younger) becomes believable because the mechanism (rewinding biological clocks) feels scientific and specific.
Compare that to a generic alternative: “Look younger with these skincare tips.” Same product, same general promise. But the Big Idea version creates curiosity, implies a secret mechanism, and makes the reader lean in.
Step 1: Study Your Product Until Something Clicks
Before you can develop a Big Idea, you need to know your product inside and out. Schwartz famously spent more time researching than writing. He would read the entire manuscript of a book he was promoting, taking notes on anything that surprised him, contradicted conventional wisdom, or made him think “I didn’t know that.”
Start by asking these questions about whatever you’re selling:
a) What does this product do that people don’t expect?
b) What mechanism or process makes it work?
c) What would a skeptic find hardest to believe, and how would you prove it?
d) What analogy or metaphor could explain the benefit in a fresh way?
Schwartz found that books about health and wellness were goldmines for Big Ideas because the human body contains countless mechanisms that most people don’t understand. Your “digestive furnace” burns flab. Your body has a “specific chemical” keeping you fat. Enzymes can “melt” fat right out of your body.
Each of these takes an ordinary benefit (weight loss) and attaches it to a specific mechanism that sounds both scientific and surprising.
Pro tip: Look for the “why” behind the benefit. If your product helps people lose weight, don’t stop at “lose weight fast.” Ask why it works. Is there a hormone involved? A timing element? A food combination? The mechanism often becomes the Big Idea.
Step 2: Identify Which Type of Big Idea Fits Your Message
Schwartz’s ads reveal several recurring patterns. Understanding these categories can help you brainstorm more effectively.
Secret Revealed This type promises insider knowledge the reader doesn’t have. “There’s a specific chemical in your body that’s keeping you fat.” “A secret of bodybuilding known only to astronauts.” The appeal is simple: you’re about to learn something hidden from most people.
Contrarian Statement Challenge what everyone believes. “It’s possible to exercise without effort.” “It’s possible to grow thousands of flowers without getting your hands dirty.” These work because they create cognitive dissonance. The reader thinks “that can’t be true” and keeps reading to find out how.
Shock and Awe Make a claim so dramatic it stops the reader cold. “You can lose fat by blowing out the candles on an imaginary cake.” “New miracle drug can help you live to be 150, claims doctor!” The promise is so outlandish that curiosity takes over.
How To + Curiosity-Based Connection Combine a practical promise with an unexpected angle. “How to stroke the wrinkles right out of your face.” “How your body can make you rich.” The “how to” signals practical value while the unusual connection creates intrigue.
Conspiratorial Imply that forces are working against the reader. “There’s a hidden conspiracy in the world designed to keep you fat.” This type works because it validates the reader’s frustration and promises to expose the real enemy.
When developing your Big Idea, try writing versions in each category. One will usually feel more natural and compelling for your specific product.
Step 3: Build Your Big Promise Around the Big Idea
The Big Idea creates curiosity. The Big Promise delivers the payoff the reader actually wants. These must work together.
Look at how Schwartz paired them:
Big Idea: There’s a new 6-days-a-week diet that doesn’t just shrink fat cells, but destroys them.
Big Promise: Learn about the most important weight loss discovery of our time that doesn’t just empty out the contents of those ugly fat cells, distributed all over your body… but destroys the actual fat cells themselves!
The Big Idea (destroying fat cells vs. shrinking them) creates a distinction the reader has never considered. The Big Promise makes that distinction matter by explaining the permanent result.
When constructing your Big Promise:
a) Be specific about the transformation. “Look 10-20 years younger” beats “look younger.”
b) Include a timeframe when credible. “In as little as seven short days” or “the very first night.”
c) Acknowledge what makes your approach different. “Without exercise.” “While still eating your favorite foods.” “Using nothing more than your two hands.”
d) Make it feel attainable. The best Big Promises sound almost too good to be true but include just enough specificity to feel real.
Step 4: Craft Headlines That Make Readers Stop
Your Big Idea means nothing if the headline doesn’t arrest attention. Schwartz was a master of opening lines that demanded a response.
Study these patterns from his collection:
Question formats that create self-identification: “Are the foods you are eating today starving your brain?” “Do you have the courage to earn half a million dollars a year?”
Bold declarations that challenge beliefs: “You are twice as smart as you think!” “Your body is twice as young as you think!”
Specific, provocative claims: “From 4 packs a day to zero, in 4 hours!” “Double your reading speed in one week!”
Problem/solution with unexpected mechanism: “How to defend yourself against the human parasites who want to rule your life!” “How modern Chinese medicine helps burn disease out of your body… lying flat on your back, using nothing more than the palm of your hand!”
Notice how each headline does multiple things simultaneously. It identifies a desire or problem, hints at a solution, and creates enough curiosity that the reader must continue.
Warning: Avoid headlines that are merely clever. “Wind back your facial clocks” sounds poetic but lacks the specificity and promise of “Every cell of your face has a ‘clock’ in it. Here’s how to wind those clocks backward.” The second version works harder.
Step 5: Develop Fascinations That Pull Readers Through Your Copy
Once your headline captures attention, you need to maintain it. Schwartz used “fascinations” (bullet points that tease specific benefits or revelations) to create an almost irresistible pull through his copy.
Examine these fascinations from his ads:
- “The one fatal TIMING mistake that makes more people fat (90% of all overweight people do it). Not in this case, what you eat, but how you eat it. See page 19.”
- “How to keep your face and body from sagging – even when you lose 50 to 70 pounds!”
- “The ‘super-vitamin’ whose documented results, from Europe, now indicate: ‘not only a prolongation of the prime of life but an actual reversal of the aging process’!”
Each fascination follows a formula:
a) Tease a specific benefit or revelation
b) Add a detail that makes it feel concrete (a page number, a statistic, a specific condition)
c) Leave enough mystery that the reader must get the product to learn the full answer
Practice writing 20-30 fascinations for any product you’re promoting. Most will be mediocre. A handful will be strong enough to carry your entire piece.
Step 6: Test Your Big Idea Against These Criteria
Before committing to a Big Idea, run it through this checklist:
Is it instantly understandable? The reader should grasp the concept within seconds. “Your digestive furnace burns flab” works. “Metabolic optimization through thermogenic enhancement” does not.
Does it create a new mental category? The best Big Ideas give readers a new way to think about their situation. “Human parasites” reframes difficult people. “Cellular clocks” reframes aging. “Fat-destroying” vs “fat-shrinking” reframes dieting.
Is it specific to your product? A Big Idea that could apply to any competitor isn’t big enough. Schwartz’s ads were written so tightly around the specific content of each book that competitors couldn’t steal the angle.
Does it make the promise believable? Paradoxically, a good Big Idea makes an outrageous promise feel credible. If the mechanism sounds scientific or logical, readers accept claims they’d otherwise dismiss.
Can you sustain it throughout the copy? A true Big Idea can be developed, expanded, and reinforced across thousands of words. If it runs out of steam after the headline, it’s not big enough.
Put Your Big Idea to Work
The difference between copy that converts and copy that gets ignored is rarely about writing talent. It’s about thinking deeply enough to find an angle that makes readers see their problem in a new way.
Schwartz didn’t win 90% of his control battles by writing prettier sentences. He won by spending more time than anyone else searching for the Big Idea that would make his copy irresistible. He read manuscripts cover to cover. He looked for mechanisms, secrets, and contradictions. He tested different angles until one made even him sit up and pay attention.
Your next piece of copy deserves the same discipline. Dig into your product. Find the unexpected angle. Build a Big Idea that reframes everything. Then watch what happens when your prospect can’t look away.
If You Need Help to Market and Grow Your Business Call Paul (602) 849-0662