Writing good Sales Copy can have a huge effect on your earnings, but it's a hard thing to master. So here are some tips to help you write good sales copy. I am in no way a professional, but I do think I have enough experience to share something with you and hopefully teach you something in the process.
Present convincing reasons to do business with the company you're promoting
For most of the people, one of the first questions that come to mind when visiting a website for the first time is:
These questions aren't always easy to answer, but you must try to be creative and find the right words and write them in such a way, that in the end, they'll contain compelling answers for your target demographic. Nevertheless, you must try to be creative and find the right words and write them in an articulate fashion, which, in the end, will be the right compelling answers for your visiting public.
Most of your visitors will arive at your site, have a quick look at it, they might read a few lines and then they'll ask themself what's in it for them. This fact is almost as old as marketing itself. People will always search for something that benefits them.
Knowing this, it becomes easier to see that finding the right words and articulating them in an effective way in your sales copy can literally make the difference between succes and failure. Do not underestimate the power of convincing people with reasons to do business with the company you're promoting than with possible competition.
People look for benefits not features
Always remember that your visitors convert into buying customers by being interested in the benefits instead of the features. In marketing, features only have a basic purpose of benefit. But never asume that visitors might effectively grind out for themselves what that purpose or benefit is, that's YOUR job.
Use strong wording that will sell possible customrs on the benefits THEY want to hear.
Always view your product from the visitor's point of view
After you've finished writing the sales copy, review what you have written and while reading it ask the following questions:
You'll have to do this because your visitors will. We all do. When we read a sales copy, we approach it with skepticism as well. This emphasizes the great importance of re-reading all of your sales copy, line by line. It's also a great idea to have other people in your neighbourhood or organization read it too.
Make sure your sales copy is easy on the eyes
You should always know your target demographic and customize your text to "fit" their eyes. Studies have shown that serif-fonts (Times New Roman) are easiest to read ON PAPER, but that's not what we're focusing on, now is it? Sans-serif fonts (arial, tahoma, trebuchet ms) are much easier to read on screen. Also break the paragraphs in easy-to-read pieces, it's best to make short paragraphs instead of long paragraphs that make people scroll too much. Alot of experts recommend using bulleted or numbered lists, bold type, mini headings, italics and heading tags to make the reading experience for the visitor easier and better.
Make sure your site loads in 20 seconds or less
Contrary to what most people tend to believe, even today, the majority of people connected to the Internet still use phone-modem dial-up connections that are still slow and even inefficient.
Even if your site ranks number 1 in the search engines, and no matter how good your sales copy is, if your visitors have to wait more than 20 seconds for your homepage to load, you WILL lose them. As you may or may not know, we live in an increasingly impatient world where time is getting more and more precious (time is money, right
) Many of your visitors will think that there's something wrong with a slow loading website and they don't want to do business with something shady.
So, do NOT use flash or make heavy use of a lot of graphics or large images that are slow loading and don't really contribute to the value of your content. Flash is also not recommended if you want to rank in the search engines and they're way more expensive to develop.
The importance of the first paragraph
Many studies have indicated that if you can attract the visitor's interest with a powerful headline and also manage to maintain that interest throughout that very first paragraph, then the chances are real good they'll probably go through all of your sales copy (psychologists call this the halo-effect for those who care). The first paragraph of your sales copy should answer a direct need, answer a specific question or clearly articulate the benefits the product of service you're promoting has.
Your visitor will then most likely completely read all of your sales copy and there's a high chance he or she will go to the next step, which means that with a good first paragraph, you can maximize your conversion. This technique is proven and works in most of the cases.
Pay particular attention to your headlines
One of the most powerful techniques that's often overlooked is the use of short but compelling and attention-grabbing headlines. Your headlines should articulate a real benefit for the visitor.
Professional ad-copy writers often spend more time refining their headines than the body text of the ad itself. You should always test different headlines against each other, while leaving the rest of your offer exactly the same. Remember, experimenting is the key to your succes.
Pay a lot of attention to your overall layout
The overall layout you're using is crucial to your business. You should always place headlines where they will be seen first. It's also very important to arrange your sales copy in an orderly and logical way. Marketing specialists would advice you to present your sales copy somewhat like a tour to maximize the amount of conversions.
The right way to do this is having a beginning, middle and an end (sounds logical right?). Avoid putting your visitor in control of the order in which they take the tour. This means avoid putting links or anything alike that might prevent them from following the steps you want them to follow.
Use graphics to invoke emotion
One mistake you should never make is using graphics or pictures to unnecessarily fill in "void" spaces. You should only use graphics if they can effectively demonstrate the product in the way you want it to be demonstrated. In this context this means any graphics used should illustrate a benefit for our visitor. If this is the case, then you can use the graphics you had in mind.
However, the space on your website is precious and you should always try to avoid wasting that precious space. Try to get the largest possible "marketing plus" from your carefully selected images. Use images that invoke positive emotions. For example, a photograph of a kid having fun with his toy is far more effective than just a photograph of the toy itself.
The use of testimonials
Having your visitors read customer testimonials of the product or service you're offering is one of the most powerful and effective ways to convert visitors into customers. Be sure to place these testimonials strategically along the way to help you validate important aspects of your sales copy. You should always make certain that every testimonial you are using is truly legitimate, and if you are using names of people or their business, make sure you get approval in writing before using it in your sales copy.
Call to Action!
One mistake you should never make is assume that your visitors will do what to do, it is your job to tell them. You should always spell out clearly the steps you want them to take. Here are some examples:
Well that's it! (for now)
Present convincing reasons to do business with the company you're promoting
For most of the people, one of the first questions that come to mind when visiting a website for the first time is:
- Why should I do business with you?
- What does this company have to offer that others don't?
- What makes the product or service you're offering truly unique from your competitors?
These questions aren't always easy to answer, but you must try to be creative and find the right words and write them in such a way, that in the end, they'll contain compelling answers for your target demographic. Nevertheless, you must try to be creative and find the right words and write them in an articulate fashion, which, in the end, will be the right compelling answers for your visiting public.
Most of your visitors will arive at your site, have a quick look at it, they might read a few lines and then they'll ask themself what's in it for them. This fact is almost as old as marketing itself. People will always search for something that benefits them.
Knowing this, it becomes easier to see that finding the right words and articulating them in an effective way in your sales copy can literally make the difference between succes and failure. Do not underestimate the power of convincing people with reasons to do business with the company you're promoting than with possible competition.
People look for benefits not features
Always remember that your visitors convert into buying customers by being interested in the benefits instead of the features. In marketing, features only have a basic purpose of benefit. But never asume that visitors might effectively grind out for themselves what that purpose or benefit is, that's YOUR job.
Use strong wording that will sell possible customrs on the benefits THEY want to hear.
Always view your product from the visitor's point of view
After you've finished writing the sales copy, review what you have written and while reading it ask the following questions:
- So what?
- Who gives a shit?
You'll have to do this because your visitors will. We all do. When we read a sales copy, we approach it with skepticism as well. This emphasizes the great importance of re-reading all of your sales copy, line by line. It's also a great idea to have other people in your neighbourhood or organization read it too.
Make sure your sales copy is easy on the eyes
You should always know your target demographic and customize your text to "fit" their eyes. Studies have shown that serif-fonts (Times New Roman) are easiest to read ON PAPER, but that's not what we're focusing on, now is it? Sans-serif fonts (arial, tahoma, trebuchet ms) are much easier to read on screen. Also break the paragraphs in easy-to-read pieces, it's best to make short paragraphs instead of long paragraphs that make people scroll too much. Alot of experts recommend using bulleted or numbered lists, bold type, mini headings, italics and heading tags to make the reading experience for the visitor easier and better.
Make sure your site loads in 20 seconds or less
Contrary to what most people tend to believe, even today, the majority of people connected to the Internet still use phone-modem dial-up connections that are still slow and even inefficient.
Even if your site ranks number 1 in the search engines, and no matter how good your sales copy is, if your visitors have to wait more than 20 seconds for your homepage to load, you WILL lose them. As you may or may not know, we live in an increasingly impatient world where time is getting more and more precious (time is money, right
) Many of your visitors will think that there's something wrong with a slow loading website and they don't want to do business with something shady.So, do NOT use flash or make heavy use of a lot of graphics or large images that are slow loading and don't really contribute to the value of your content. Flash is also not recommended if you want to rank in the search engines and they're way more expensive to develop.
The importance of the first paragraph
Many studies have indicated that if you can attract the visitor's interest with a powerful headline and also manage to maintain that interest throughout that very first paragraph, then the chances are real good they'll probably go through all of your sales copy (psychologists call this the halo-effect for those who care). The first paragraph of your sales copy should answer a direct need, answer a specific question or clearly articulate the benefits the product of service you're promoting has.
Your visitor will then most likely completely read all of your sales copy and there's a high chance he or she will go to the next step, which means that with a good first paragraph, you can maximize your conversion. This technique is proven and works in most of the cases.
Pay particular attention to your headlines
One of the most powerful techniques that's often overlooked is the use of short but compelling and attention-grabbing headlines. Your headlines should articulate a real benefit for the visitor.
Professional ad-copy writers often spend more time refining their headines than the body text of the ad itself. You should always test different headlines against each other, while leaving the rest of your offer exactly the same. Remember, experimenting is the key to your succes.
Pay a lot of attention to your overall layout
The overall layout you're using is crucial to your business. You should always place headlines where they will be seen first. It's also very important to arrange your sales copy in an orderly and logical way. Marketing specialists would advice you to present your sales copy somewhat like a tour to maximize the amount of conversions.
The right way to do this is having a beginning, middle and an end (sounds logical right?). Avoid putting your visitor in control of the order in which they take the tour. This means avoid putting links or anything alike that might prevent them from following the steps you want them to follow.
Use graphics to invoke emotion
One mistake you should never make is using graphics or pictures to unnecessarily fill in "void" spaces. You should only use graphics if they can effectively demonstrate the product in the way you want it to be demonstrated. In this context this means any graphics used should illustrate a benefit for our visitor. If this is the case, then you can use the graphics you had in mind.
However, the space on your website is precious and you should always try to avoid wasting that precious space. Try to get the largest possible "marketing plus" from your carefully selected images. Use images that invoke positive emotions. For example, a photograph of a kid having fun with his toy is far more effective than just a photograph of the toy itself.
The use of testimonials
Having your visitors read customer testimonials of the product or service you're offering is one of the most powerful and effective ways to convert visitors into customers. Be sure to place these testimonials strategically along the way to help you validate important aspects of your sales copy. You should always make certain that every testimonial you are using is truly legitimate, and if you are using names of people or their business, make sure you get approval in writing before using it in your sales copy.
Call to Action!
One mistake you should never make is assume that your visitors will do what to do, it is your job to tell them. You should always spell out clearly the steps you want them to take. Here are some examples:
- Call NOW!
- Complete the form and send it
- Sign up for our newsletter TODAY
- Download the free 30-day trial program NOW
- BUY the fleshlight NOW!
Well that's it! (for now)
