Many marketers are stuck in the mindset that copywriting is about selling products, services, or their business as a whole by using descriptive language and plenty of fluff. With so many alternatives available at the click of a button, readers dismiss companies that are only interested in making sales and increasing profits. Prospects want to see that businesses have their needs in mind and are able to offer a unique experience. Good copywriting embodies these ideas, and you can achieve the same by following these tips.
1. Elicit Strong Emotions
Storytelling and copywriting go hand in hand. It is much easier to maintain prospects’ attention by telling them a story than by offering a sales pitch. When you write about people that customers can relate to, you activate mirror neurons in the brain that enable readers to experience the same sensations for themselves. However, for this to work, you need to know your audience and what they feel strongly about, which you can discover through psychographic research.
2. Consider Your Readers’ Point of View
Pushing your own needs or spending a long time talking about yourself in your copy is unproductive. Readers soon become bored and navigate away from your site. Instead, think about why a particular course of action could benefit your readers and how your solutions could solve their problems or generally make their life better. Think about what your audience want, and write about how you can give this to them.
3. Emphasize Experience Over Monetary Savings
Most businesses find it more effective to sell an experience than financial savings, found researchers at Stanford University. Experiences help consumers enhance their connection with your product or service, which subsequently leads to a higher number of sales than simply the knowledge that buyers will be cutting costs. Use your copy to demonstrate the value consumers gain and what they can achieve by making a purchase.
4. Be Specific and Concise
To persuade readers and ensure they take action, the meaning of ever sentence needs to be instantly obvious. For instance, “hundreds” or “thousands” sounds exaggerated, whereas an exact number provides you with credibility, says Enchanting Marketing.
The same principles apply to your call-to-action. A CTA is no place to be subtle — it should be obvious exactly what you want your audience to do next. Cut “ifs,” “whens,” and other forms of politeness that leave cause to doubt and dive straight in with actionable verbs.
5. Focus on Your Word Choices
Omit all flowery adjectives and superlatives from your copywriting — these mean little and lack persuasive. It is far better to focus on strong verbs backed up with facts and statistics. In addition, try to naturally insert what Copyblogger names as the five most persuasive words in the English language: you, free, because, instantly, and new.
Even the smallest change to phrases can make a huge difference to conversions. To find ideal phrasing, you need to measure the success of your copy and repeat only what proves to work.
Keep your customers and prospects in mind when copywriting and you will see results. Through trial and error, practice with the above tips until you develop the perfect formula for your business.
