If you’ve never written a copy before, the prospect can be pretty daunting. To help you get started, we’ll give you a basic framework for writing winning copy. First, though, we need to talk about what your goal should be: Writing effective copy is all about selling.
Many people in marketing consider copywriting and sales to be virtually synonymous that’s how important a good copywriter is to an organization! But it’s also true that some of the best salespeople out there aren’t good writers;
They’re just great at connecting with people face-to-face or on the phone. However, when it comes to digital marketing materials and content writing aimed at getting customers’ attention and driving traffic toward a sale or conversion.
You need stellar writing skills on top of all those interpersonal skills. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of pro tips for writing copy that converts!
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Understand your target audience thoroughly. |
| 2. Highlight the benefits and value your product offers. |
| 3. Craft attention-grabbing headlines that pique curiosity. |
| 4. Use storytelling to make your copy relatable and engaging. |
| 5. Create a sense of urgency to encourage immediate action. |
| 6. Incorporate social proof and testimonials for credibility. |
| 7. Address objections and provide solutions to overcome them. |
| 8. Keep your copy concise and focused on the main message. |
| 9. Use power words and emotional language to evoke feelings. |
| 10. Implement a clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA). |
1. You Need To Understand Your Target Market
Knowing what they want, need, are afraid of, and are excited about will enable you to write copy that sells more than a car. Here are some tips on how you can do that:
Know what they’re searching for. If you know what people are looking for via search results, then you stand a better chance of getting them over to your site or landing page.
It’s also useful in terms of understanding how much time users are spending on different pages in the funnel (i.e., the path from signup form through checkout). This will help you optimize the customer journey by optimizing landing pages and web pages further down the funnel.
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2. You Need To Be A Great Storyteller
Stories are one of the best ways to capture your reader’s attention, and if you can tell a good one, it will help them understand what it is that you’re selling. Stories are so powerful that they can make even the most mundane of products look like something special.
When writing your copy, think about how much time you spend talking about yourself and why people should buy from you in favor of talking about how great your product is.
This may seem counterintuitive at first; after all, don’t customers want to know about the features before they buy?
Sure but if all you ever talk about is yourself and how awesome everything is, readers will tune out quickly because nothing is connecting them emotionally with what you’re saying.
Instead of focusing on yourself and how great everything is (which isn’t very engaging), focus instead on telling stories about real people who have used your product or service for similar reasons as those who currently need it most urgently.
It’s much easier for customers to connect with real people than it would be for them if these same people were just anonymous unidentified figures on an advertisement somewhere else online.
3. You Need To Know How To Write Persuasively
To write copy that sells, you need to understand your audience. Your copy won’t be effective if it doesn’t speak directly to them and address their pain points or needs. You also have to know your customer’s buying process and how they make decisions.
You’ll need this information when writing your sales copy. If you can communicate the value of what you offer throughout the entire buying process, then you’re much more likely to get a sale.
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4. You Need To Use The Right Features And Benefits
Features and benefits are two of the most important elements in any piece of copy.
A feature is a quality or characteristic about a product or service that sets it apart from other similar products or services. It’s an aspect of your product that helps identify it from others, like how many different flavors of ice cream you offer, or how long your warranty lasts.
A benefit is what happens as a result of having those features (e.g., eating chocolate chip cookies for dessert makes you happy). In other words, what will make the reader want to buy your product?
5. You Need To Master Hooks And Curiosity Gaps
Curiosity gaps and hooks are two types of language that you should use in your copy to draw in readers and keep them engaged.
Let’s start with curiosity gaps. A curiosity gap is a question or statement that leaves the reader wanting more information. Curiosity isn’t inherently bad it’s what drives us to explore the world around us and learn new things.
You can use curiosity to lead your audience down a path without telling them exactly where it will go, which helps build anticipation for whatever comes next.
You also need to know how to write hooks, which are pieces of language that get people interested immediately.
A hook is anything that grabs attention quickly, whether it’s an unusual fact or statistic (“Did you know…?”), an anecdote from someone who experienced something firsthand (“If I had known…”), or a promise about what will happen as a result of reading what you’re about write (e.g., “You’ll never believe this…”).
By using both types of writing techniques together with curiosity gaps followed by hooks you create an opening paragraph that keeps readers wondering where it could go next!
6. You Need To Write For An Imaginary Audience Of One Person
Next time you’re writing copy, imagine that a specific person is reading it. Imagine their problems, desires, fears, and goals.
Imagine how they feel when they see your product or service advertised as the solution to their problem.
If you’re at all like me, this is something I do all the time in my daily life I’m constantly trying to figure out what other people want and need so I can help them get it. But when it comes to writing copy for mass marketing purposes? Well…I haven’t always done it so well!
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7. You Need To Engage The Reader’s Attention Immediately
There are many ways to grab your reader’s attention, but it all starts with one thing: an engaging opening line.
A compelling question is a great way to start any piece of copy, as it automatically makes the reader curious about what you have to say.
A good story or anecdote can do wonders for grabbing a reader’s attention. People love stories, and so if you open with one and tell it well, you’re almost guaranteed to get their attention from the first line onwards.
Statistics are also useful for grabbing people’s attention because they tend to be surprising and interesting and this is especially true when they’re statistics related directly to whatever topic you’re writing about!
So if there’s some data out there that proves how awesome your product is (or how horrible or amazing), then share it!
People love learning new things about their favorite products and services – especially when those things are backed up by hard data rather than just personal opinions.
8. You’re Not Writing A Novel: Keep It Short!
It’s important to remember that you’re not writing a novel. You’re trying to get your point across quickly and succinctly because your goal is to make an impression on the reader and convince them that what you have is something they need. So keep it short!
You can achieve this by:
- Using short sentences and paragraphs.
- Using bullet points or numbered lists (listing out everything in order).
- Incorporating subheadings into your copy, so the reader knows where they are at any given time in the text also helps create white space within which readers will be more comfortable reading long sections of text.
- Including images and videos into portions of your copy where it makes sense for visual stimulation or education purposes, as these tend to grab attention more than just words would alone.
9. Get Personal With Your Readers
Your copy should represent the voice of a real person, not just a brand. This makes it much more relatable and engaging for your audience, who are likely already invested in you and your product or service.
Personal pronouns like “I” and “you” can help make your copy sound natural. However, there are also specific situations where using one form of personal pronoun would be better than another:
- The first person (using words like “me” or “I”) is most effective when talking about something that happened to/with you personally
- The second person (using words like “you” or “yourself”) is best used when addressing an individual directly by name
- The third person (using words like “they, themself, or themselves) is most effective when referring to multiple people
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10. Be Honest, Be Fair And Be Trustworthy
It’s important, to be honest, fair, and trustworthy in your marketing. If you don’t tell the truth about your product or service, no one will trust you.
You have to have a good reputation in the industry and with customers. If people think of you as being unfair, dishonest, or untrustworthy they will not buy from you or recommend your business to others.
Your suppliers should know that they can trust you because when they do their job well then it helps them sell more goods/services which makes them more money which can then be invested back into the business so there is more work available for staff who want it.
So everyone benefits from this kind of cycle where everyone gets what they need but only if everyone does their part firstly by helping each other out whenever necessary because that’s what friends do!
11. Make Your Copy Easy To Navigate
Use headings. Headings help your reader skim the page and figure out what they want to read first.
Use bullet points. Bullet points are great for breaking up text and making it easier to read, but they should be used sparingly so as not to overwhelm the reader with too much information at once.
Use numbered lists and ordered lists (ordered by priority). Numbered lists are good when you’re listing steps or items in order of importance.
While ordered lists can be used for anything that has a specific order, such as steps in a recipe or events in chronological order (for example: “Monday: Write copy for blog post-Tuesday” or “Sunday: Go grocery shopping”).
12. Have One Call-To-Action (CTA) Per Page Of Copy At Most!
If you’re going to have one CTA, make it count.
Place it above the fold. The first thing that a reader sees when they land on your site is crucial and needs to be clear and concise. If you don’t have anything important to say, get out of the way so people can do what they came there for: buy stuff!
Be easy to find and understand. Your CTA should stand out like a sore thumb otherwise, it’s not going to get clicked very often (and if no one clicks on it, how will you sell anything?).
Be relevant! Don’t use a generic call-to-action such as “Click here” or “Buy my stuff” if there’s something more specific that would work better for your product/service/company/etc.,
Because then people won’t know why they’re being asked to click something they’ll just assume that either A) You’re spamming them or B) You really don’t know what else about this particular section could interest them further down the line…
Humor can be a powerful tool in B2C marketing, but understanding the psychology behind it is key. Uncover insights about The Psychology of Being Funny in B2C Marketing and learn how to effectively incorporate humor to engage and delight your customers.
13. Use Testimonials, Reviews, And Case Studies Strategically, But Not Everywhere!
- Testimonials are powerful.
- Reviews are powerful.
- Case studies are powerful.
You might have noticed that I didn’t just say “testimonials, reviews, and case studies.” That’s because they’re all different types of content that can be used in different ways on your website or in your copy to sell more cars.
For example, testimonials are great for boosting credibility and trust with your prospects but you only want to use them when you’ve got actual customer feedback from real people who bought from you before!
At the end of the day, if there’s no proof it happened then it didn’t happen and nobody will believe what you say about yourself! Be careful where you place these assets as well; too many will make a site look spammy and cheap (not good for selling cars).
While not enough may cause visitors to get bored by all the white space around them without any interesting content clickable options available anywhere near their mouse cursor location at any given time during their visit (also bad!).
14. Don’t Just Sell Products; Sell Solutions That Solve Problems
You don’t just want to sell products. You want your readers to come away from the page or ad with a sense that you’ve solved their problem, not just given them a product.
So instead of selling features (like this car has four wheels), sell benefits (this car will get you from point A to point B).
And instead of selling benefits, sell solutions (this car will help me get my kids safe and on time). And then go right back down the chain instead of selling solutions, sell a better solution than what was offered previously in your copy.
15. Use Social Proof Wherever You Can
Social proof is a powerful tool for building trust and credibility in your copy. It’s not just about numbers, it’s also about the quality of people who are backing your product.
You can use social proof to make a product or service look better than it is. You can even use social proof to make an inferior product seem like it’s on par with one that truly is superior (in other words, you don’t necessarily have to tell the whole truth).
16. Use Scarcity Tactics Whenever You Can
Use scarcity tactics. The more scarce something is, the more people want it. This is a powerful psychological trigger that can be used in any sales copy to create urgency and increase engagement.
Think about how many times you’ve seen an ad for a limited quantity or for a limited time offer? It’s everywhere!
You can apply this tactic in your copy by using phrases like “only available for today” or “limited time only” to create a sense of urgency around the purchase decision.
17. Have A Clear Brand “Personality” That Is Consistent Across All Your Marketing Materials, Including Your Copywriting!
Brand personality is the set of values, attitudes, and characteristics that make up your company’s identity. It’s the voice of your brand, and it can be highbrow or lowbrow, formal or informal.
This is important because it helps you establish trust with customers. People who trust you will buy from you more often than people who don’t trust you! And they’ll also be more likely to tell their friends about how great your product is (and refer existing customers).
The good news is that having a strong brand personality doesn’t mean giving up on creativity it just means being consistent across all of your marketing materials including copywriting.
Conclusion
Now that you have all these tips, we’re sure you are eager to get writing! Remember to keep these tips in mind as you write and edit your copy so that it is the best quality possible.
If at any point you need help or support, please reach out to us we’re happy to help. Now go forth, write some killer copy and watch those sales skyrocket!
Further Reading
How to Write Copy That Sells: 17 Tips: Explore additional insights and techniques for crafting persuasive copy that drives sales and conversions.
10 Tips for Writing Stronger Copy That Sells: Discover ten actionable tips to enhance your copywriting skills and create compelling content that resonates with your audience.
How to Write Copy That Sells: A Comprehensive Guide: Dive deeper into the art of writing copy that converts with this comprehensive guide, offering valuable strategies and tactics.
FAQs
How can I improve my copywriting to boost sales?
Enhancing your copywriting involves understanding your target audience, focusing on benefits, creating a sense of urgency, and using persuasive language to compel action.
What are some common mistakes to avoid in copywriting?
Common copywriting mistakes include using jargon, neglecting proofreading, being too verbose, and failing to address the customer’s pain points.
How important is storytelling in copywriting?
Storytelling adds emotional depth to your copy, making it more relatable and memorable for your audience, ultimately leading to higher engagement and conversions.
What role does customer psychology play in effective copywriting?
Customer psychology informs your understanding of motivations, pain points, and desires, enabling you to tailor your copy to resonate with and influence your target audience.
How can I create a strong call-to-action (CTA) in my copy?
Craft a compelling CTA by using action-oriented language, creating a sense of urgency, and clearly communicating the value or benefit the user will gain by taking action.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.
