Copy Breakdown: 3 Takeaways from Dr. Marty’s Dog Food VSL

Studying another copywriter’s work is a great way to improve your own copywriting and direct response skills. In this week’s post, I’ll be breaking down the first 3 minutes of Dr. Marty’s dog food VSL.

I happen to stumble upon this VSL on Facebook where it is currently running as an ad. It’s a short 15 minute VSL that is packed with a lot of valuable copywriting and direct response tips. While you can watch the whole VSL here, I’ll be sharing the 3 biggest takeaways from the intro alone.

Before We Go On…

I like to consider Dr. Marty the Dr. Gundry of the pet health and pet food industry. And if you watch this VSL, you’ll easily see why. Within the first few minutes, you can already extract a lot of information and value that you can apply to your own copywriting, marketing, and direct response efforts, like…

Takeaway #1: Opening with a compelling story or factoid

Right off the bat, this VSL opens with a compelling factoid about how dogs are descendants of wolves. While that isn’t necessarily the interesting fact, Dr. Marty goes on to explain that because of this lineage, the only way dogs would have access to grains, vegetables, and fruits are through the inner contents of their prey’s stomach. This interesting factoid will have viewers thinking about what is in their pets’ dog food. Which brings me to the second takeaway…

Takeaway #2: Introduce a cool mechanism behind the problem

If the viewers aren’t already thinking about what the ingredients of their dog’s food contain, Dr. Marty introduces an intriguing mechanism — the 3 dog food health disruptors. This sets the stage for Dr. Marty to introduce the problems with most dog food on the market, including the high-quality, premium grade brands. According to Dr. Marty, most dog food brands out there contain at least 1 of the 3 dog food health disruptors without you even realizing it.

Takeaway #3: Tease your viewer’s fascinations

At this point, any pet owner would be hooked in to the VSL, waiting to hear about the 3 dog food health disruptors, how it affects their dog’s health, and what they can do about it. This is when Dr. Marty and his team decides to tease their viewers’ fascinations by promising to reveal the one meat humans eat that we should never feed our dogs. What’s more, they also promised to reveal one common type of dog food in the United States that is missing a critical vitamin that your dog needs to have a healthy heart. If you’re a dog owner, chances are… you’re hooked!

Incredible Value Within the First 3 Minutes

One thing that Dr. Marty and his team could split test, if they haven’t done so already, is to open the VSL with a heart-wrenching, emotional story, instead of the factoid about wolves and dogs. Because Dr. Marty has experience as a working veterinarian, he could share a patient story of a dog’s tragic health issue that he was able to solve by identifying one of the dog food health disruptors as the cause.

Idea aside, this VSL is incredibly informative and filled with great examples for anyone who wants to write high-converting copy. If you’re a copywriter, add this video to your swipe file immediately! As you can see, the copywriter on Dr. Marty’s team completely understands the principles and fundamentals of long-form sales copy and direct response.