James Clear · Customer insight
Write for the habit, not just the click
In Atomic Habits, James Clear describes four laws of behaviour change, tied to the four stages of a habit (cue, craving, response, reward): make it obvious, attractive, easy and satisfying. Use them when the copy should bring readers back – in onboarding, reminders and newsletters.
When it helps
When customers sign up but never get started, when a product depends on regular use, or in welcome emails and reminders.
Keep in mind
When the reader is making a one-off decision, such as requesting a quote – use Fogg's model for the next step instead. Don't promise habits or results the product can't deliver.
How to apply it
- Make it obvious (the cue). Tie the action to a moment the reader already has: 'After you send your last invoice of the month, upload your receipts.' A time, a place or an existing habit beats 'whenever suits you'.
- Make it attractive (the craving). Show what the reader gets straight away, or pair the new habit with something they already want to do. Speak to who the reader becomes: habits that confirm an identity last longer than habits aimed only at a goal.
- Make it easy (the response). Describe a first version that takes under two minutes – Clear's two-minute rule – and remove steps in the way. 'Snap one receipt' is easier to start than 'get your books in order'.
- Make it satisfying (the reward). Confirm straight away when something is done and show progress. What is rewarded immediately is easier to repeat.
- Invert the laws when the reader wants to stop something: make it invisible, unattractive, difficult and unsatisfying – and describe only help the product actually gives.
Questions to work with
- At which existing moment should the reader do this?
- What does a two-minute version of the action look like?
- What does the reader get straight away once it's done?
- Who does the reader become by doing this regularly?
A fictional example
Fictional: in Räkna's app, clients photograph receipts, which the firm then books.
Draft
Get started with smart receipt management and take control of your finances!
Revised
Every Friday when you close your laptop: snap this week's receipts. It takes two minutes, and we'll book them for you.
The copy ties the action to a moment, makes it small and says what the reader gets straight away, instead of promising control.
Read the original sources
- James Clear: The 3 Steps to Habit Change (de fyra lagarna) ↗
- James Clear: How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the 2-Minute Rule ↗
- James Clear: Identity-Based Habits ↗
- James Clear: Atomic Habits ↗
The application and example are our own. The example is fictional and has not been conversion-tested.