How To Adapt Basic Copywriting To Medical Products, Is the selling process the same? Options

[yousaidwhat]

I have read a few books on copy writing and almost all say the same things:

USP--Compel the reader to go further in, rebuild the problem, then show your solution.

My question is, if you had to sell a herbal product for high cholesterol, would you still go with the regular Dear Friend approach?

Would a headline like this work: The First Scientifically Supported Product That Lowers Cholesterol By 12 PTS in 37 Days

or is it wise to go the way of bif pharmaceutical firms and simply keep it subtle and just educate them like hell.

Is emotion still a major factor even when it comes to buying health products?

[sheridan]

Dear yousaidwhat:
I was a medical copywriter before I became a Communications Director, and I have a few questions about your copy. You stated:
"The First Scientifically Supported Product That Lowers Cholesterol By 12 PTS in 37 Days"

Okay, my question becomes: What kind and type of scientific support is there? For instance, most of the statin drugs are very well supported by scientific studies for lowering cholesterol, so I would be cautious about stating that yours is the "first". Who funded the studies? Were they double-blind studies, or simply anecdotal studies (studies where people are interviewed, and say, "I felt better after taking this" without objective measurements)? This makes a huge difference in the reliability of your data, if you want to use that approach in your headline. Many, many supplements will have doctors on their "boards" endorse a product as "proven" but this does not mean that double-blind studies on human subjects were done (the best clinical "scientific support" to date for the effectiveness of a product).
I would key your copy to your audience. Someone buying an herbal product is doing so for one of several reasons:
-They don't have health insurance, and so can't afford medications (this is a real, increasing problem today)
-They are afraid of the side effects of medications, and believe that herbal medications are safer and will have less side effects (which may or may not be true, it depends on the supplement)
-They want to prevent problems, and believe that taking a supplement will do so.
So copy could address any or all of these motivations:
A completely natural supplement for lowering cholesterol levels that can help you enjoy better heart health-at a real value.

Or even:
Safe. Natural. Affordable. X supplement for better heart health.
Unless there are documented studies on the cholesterol-lowering effects that are accepted by the medical community, you need to be very, very cautious about claiming to lower cholesterol, or other health benefits, which is why education in your copy would be good, and references to clinical studies to back your claims (including its safety).
I wish you well in this.
Sheri