Personally, I think copywriting skill is something every marketer should learn. I know some people may disagree and they prefer to outsource copywriting. It’s probably the right thing to do if you have the budget. But if you are just starting out, it is better to know how to do it yourself.
Below are some basic copywriting tricks that you can use. Keep this page handy. Whenever you need to write a sales copy, just come back here to check if you’ve done these tricks.
1) Use An Action Button That Invoke Imagination
Most action buttons use words like “Submit Now”, “Subscribe Now”, “Send Now”, “Sign Up Now” or “Buy Now”. You see them being used in mega sites like Amazon, Ebay etc. But in copywriting, we don’t use these words. The experts say they have done the tests (honestly I haven’t, I merely follow what they say and so far it’s been working). These are the words to be used in an action button:
– Get Your Instant Access Now
– Download Now
– I Want The Report Now
– Show Me The Money
Generally you want to use words that invoke imagination and expectation. You want them to form a mental picture of what they can look forward to if they click the button. This way, it will make them feel that they are missing out on something if they don’t click!
2) Use The Power Of Subheadlines
If you are writing a sales letter instead of a squeeze page, it is important to break the paragraphs into subheadlines.
Studies have shown that people don’t read a sales letter from head to toe. Instead, they will just scan through. In the process of scanning, they are likely to read the subheadlines. They will only read the rest of the content if they find it interesting.
The subheadlines serve two purposes:
I) They must arouse people’s curiosity so that they will read the details.
II) They are like the content page of a book. By simply reading all the subheadline from head to toe, it should give the reader a brief idea of what the sales letter is talking about.
When your sales letter is completed, do this: Read only the headline and subheadlines from the top to bottom of the letter. Then ask yourself if you see a logical flow in the sales letter. If you do, you have more or less served Purpose II. Next, look at each subheadline and see how you can make it more intriguing, so as to serve Purpose I.
3) Use The Power Of Subheadlines Again
Testimonials is a must in a sales letter. The more the merrier. But overwhelming a sales letter with testimonials isn’t the right way to do it.
Again, the trick is to use subheadlines. What you can do is take a short phrase from the testimonial and use it as a subheadline for that testimonial.
People are not likely to read all the testimonials. By using subheadlines, they are more likely to get the gist of the testimonials and hence form a better impression of your product.
4) Use Words That Gain Attention
Some words are more likely to gain people’s attention. In a long sales letter, it is important to use these words throughout the letter to encourage the readers to read on.
Here’s a list of such words
– Imagine …
– Imagine this. …
– Can you imagine …
– You see, …
– Now, …
– Look, …
– Simple isn’t it?
– You’re probably thinking, “…….”
– Ok, …
– Wait! …
– Yes! …
5) KISS (Keep It Short And Simple)
I know, the experts have been saying that long sales letters sell better. But we also know that people don’t like to read.
A good sales letter is long because it has to include many things, such as testimonials, product benefits, how it works etc. It is not long for the sake of being draggy and beating around the bush.
It is your job to keep the sales letter short, yet still provide enough information to build prospects’ confidence in your product.
Here are some good practice to make a long sales letter short and simple.
– Avoid very long sentence. As a rule of thumb, if a sentence can be split into two sentences, do it.
– Vary between short and long sentences.
– Use short paragraphs. A paragraph can be as short as 1 sentence! Paragraphs with 3 or more sentences are considered long.
– Use active voice instead of passive voice.
– Use simple vocabulary and sentence construction that even a kid can understand.
– Write as if you are talking to them. Forget about those essay writing skills taught in school.
Copywriting is not rocket science. With some simple tricks, you too can write an effective sales letter like the pros.
See I always thought that you should keep it short and too the point but alot of my mentors and other places I’ve learned about copy writing and other writing forms said the more content you have in you sales letter, Copy write form, squeeze page ect the better. But like you said too much content and it seems like it’s JUST DRAGGING ON AND ON!! I know because I’m one of them poeple/buyers. For anyone who is interested in getting REAL prospects and sales you should read this before you write anything else :)
Definitely worth the time reading an article that provide us some tips about copywriting, especially when we have a product of our own for sales.
Personally, I do not like reading long copy as it is deem boring and dragging. Short and sharp with bullet points catches my attention real fast!
Well, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Just do it is better than doing nothing about it.
Kenneth, as always I Love reading your posts! This particular post is actually one of my favorite subjects in regards to marketing! I’ve been with LeadsLeap since the beginning of LeadsLeap and Kenneth, has inspired me throughout the years with his never ending awesome information, Great post!
Nothing is easy in the world. Even a content written is not that simplest job of all time.
blog is really dealing with perfect sense.. very sensible..
Great post! That’s eaxctly the way I have all ways done my promoting, KISS
Some great tips there. It’s interesting how the words that gain ‘Attention,’ in your examples, are words that imply a sort of verbal gesturing coming towards the reader. For me, this makes the writer seem more human.
I like the last point keep it short and simple and I am sure that always work for many.
All kinds of “gems” in this post. Never underestimate the power of stories in your posts. That’s one thing I’ve learned over the years.
Thank you for sharing the helpful tips! I’ll try it right now.
I fully agree with your idea that every marketer should learn copy-writing. Sure, there are a lot of different writing services nowadays that can write everything needed for you, but i think you don’t want to spend money on things that you can handle. So, that is why i found this article extremely important and useful. I’ll definitely use all tips listed here in my writing tasks. Thanks for sharing!
Excellent content in this post Kenneth. The advice and suggestions you recommended for marketers about copywriting.
Terri Pattio
MLM Coach/Mentor with a servant’s heart
Twitter Strategist
A good action phrase I like to use is:
Find out how
or
Find out more
You want to avoid phrases that invoke the word work because people don’t want to work (even though that is what they should be here for). The find word puts them in a mindset of adventure and discovery.
You also want to squeeze the word free into whatever you are doing.
And always under promise and over deliver. You might not even want to sell the best benefit so that the prospect ‘discovers’ a huge surprise when they are on the inside. You want their first experience with their new venture to be as exhilarating, surprising and refreshing as possible. This will galvanize (I’ve been thinking of that word lately and I finally got the chance to use it :) ) their loyalty.
Finally, a little bit of humor always makes you look human to them.
I’m not into writing sales letters per se but as a content creator for blogging, I recently discovered just what a big difference sub-headlines (or sub-headings as I know them), make to a post’s SEO score.
As a colleague rightly observed, people don’t read everything, hence you have to keep the skimmers skimming and the scanners scanning!
Drawing readers in, and getting them to scroll through the whole article/post, does wonders to improve your bounce rate.
All of the other principles you’ve touched on are just as relevant when creating a blog post.
Thank you for sharing.