“Copywriting” is one of the most intimidating words for newbie marketers and business owners who do their own marketing.
Whether for online or traditional business, copywriting is one of the most crucial elements for building a business, growing a customer base, and, most important, converting potential customers into buying ones.
Great skill in copywriting is a coveted talent among marketers. Those who possess the ability to create powerful marketing content are able to persuade customers with emotionally laden words, whether they are composed for sales copies, blogs, or marketing videos.
Emotionally-charged copy can accomplish the entire sales process, from attracting prospects to convincing them they need to act NOW.
Copywriting has come a long way, and evolved into a variety of forms, yet the traditional elements that make great copy content successful remain.
Let’s take a look at some of the tested and proven strategies to create effective sales copy.
Start with a solid promise
Your headline, or subject line for emails, should make a bold promise that your target audience couldn’t possibly ignore. The promise within the headline should compel your audience to want to consume the entire message below.
A headline such as “50% Off for the First 10 Subscribers” has all the elements of a sure hit. Other headlines that offer gripping promises tend to include terms like Guaranteed, Fast, In Two Days, etc.
This strategy works best for marketers who have already established strong relationships and trust with their customers. However, nothing says a newbie marketer mustn’t use this technique in a headline, especially if he or she can honestly deliver on a bold promise.
Keep paragraphs short and to the point
A big chunk of text or a lengthy paragraph tends to turn readers off. Its field of grey (or whatever color the author has chosen for onscreen text) evokes the feeling that it’s going to take some effort to read the message.
Your sales copies should be easy to read. One way to accomplish this is to shorten the paragraphs. Don’t cram too many ideas into a single straight block of sentences.
Long paragraphs should be broken into smaller ones. This is especially beneficial for readers who like to skim.
It’s also highly recommended to keep sentences short.
When composing paragraphs, try to place the most important ideas or information right at the start of each paragraph or sentence. This makes it easier for readers to figure out the gist of the copy.
Write copies that appeal specifically to your audience’s needs
Don’t write about what you want; write about what your audience wants. The key to successful copywriting is to devise marketing content that empathizes: it should make the readers feel they are understood, that your copy is appealing directly to them.
That’s why you need to do enough research to determine the exact needs of your audience before you set out to write any marketing copies. What are their pains? What gives them pleasure or satisfaction? How can your product or service ease their pain or increase their pleasure?
Appeal to the skimmers in all of us
Writing copies with short paragraphs is just part of the battle. We humans have naturally short attention spans, so we tend to skim and skip through most texts to get to the important points. Make it easy for your readers to get the important points by cutting down your content into smaller chunks.
Use bullets, numbers, headers, and sub-headers. It’s also highly recommended to include links that enable your readers to obtain more information from other sources.
Stay on course
Focus on your audience’s problem. Don’t try to talk about a lot of stuff or cram in several issues when you’re trying to solve just one problem.
Focus, focus, and focus. This also plays into your audience’s desire to get to the bottom line (your solutions) even more.
Conclusion
Copywriting is easy if you know what your target audience needs and you focus on talking about those needs.
If you need help with your business’s copywriting needs, contact us today.
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About the author
I am a Content Writer, SEO and Social Media Marketing Specialist and a full-time coffee lover.
