Ziegnarnik Effect
Unfinished tasks create mental tension, making people want closure.
Good for
Boosting engagement, keeping people reading, and encouraging action through curiosity.
What it teaches
The Zeigarnik Effect tells us that people remember and feel tension around unfinished tasks. In copywriting, this means if you leave something open, incomplete, or unsolved—your reader will feel a pull to keep going.
Ways to use it in copy:
Open Loops - Ask a question you don’t answer right away.
Cliffhangers - Start a story and finish it later.
Step-Based CTAs - Let the reader complete the next move.
Unfinished Lists or Promises - “There’s one more secret you need to see…”
Keep just enough mystery to spark movement.
Example Use Case
Sales email for a course
Example Implementation
Without Zeigarnik:“Here’s everything the course includes: 12 lessons, 3 bonuses, and lifetime access.”With Zeigarnik:“There’s one specific lesson in this course that completely changed how I work - and most people miss it. I’ll show you inside.”