Want to boost sales, level up the development of your business, or attract more customers to your product? Perfect! Then it’s time to start learning how to create effective copy.
Nowadays, a large number of writers want to get involved in marketing copywriting for very different reasons: to sell more, to become prosperous entrepreneurs, to expand their businesses, etc. Yet, almost each of them ask the same questions: How do I become a successful copywriter? How do I create stunning copy to make people buy a product or request a service? What are the ways to create persuasive content and increase sales?
Since the connection between copy and the amount of goods you sell is obvious, many content specialists are constantly looking for practical tips to refine the value of the selling text, improve its quality, and thus, make it valid.
In this article, we will consider tips on how to create stunning content that can motivate people to buy goods or get services you offer. Indeed, following some simple techniques can make your text more effective and influence your readers in a greater way.
5 ways to make your copy powerful and to raise sales
Knowing the peculiarities of human psychology, as well as arranging your copy in the right way, will make customers’ interest toward the message you convey higher and encourage them to do what you expect from them. Upon following some simple but proven recommendations, you will quickly learn to turn an ordinary piece of writing into strong copy.
1. Get to know your target audience
Being a copywriter, you can’t force people to buy—you can just evoke their interest and fuel motivation. This means to be like a secret agent who aims to find out as many details about a certain circle of people as possible. Consider the marketing analysis of the customers you want to attract or conduct your own study on. Focus on questions like: Who are your potential buyers? What are their ages, lifestyles, and annual incomes? What are their habits? This information is really significant while writing an article, since it enables you to address the audience directly, and speak a common language with your prospects.
Knowing the peculiarities of a particular group of buyers will build trust and increase the credibility of you as a specialist and toward the subject you write about. Besides, when you know for sure who your customers are, you can easily choose the best wording for the USP.
2. Be a researcher
Believe it or not, but a successful copywriter is someone who is constantly involved in doing different kinds of research. You have to know not only the target audience pretty well, but also everything connected with the goods or services you sell (e.g., the latest marketing analysis, the main features of a product, its advantages and disadvantages, the significant benefits it gives, etc.). Such a serious and profound approach will make you an expert in speaking about the things you write about.
Gary Bancivenga, an outstanding copywriter, suggested a great comparison. According to him, “The best copywriters are the most tenacious researches. Like minors, they dig, drill, dynamite, and chip until they have carloads of valuable ore. Research is the infallible cure for writer’s block.”
In other words, when you are competent in a certain topic, you get more chances to create convincing articles using this information.
3. State the benefits
In your copy, touch upon the practical side of the product. As Eugene Schwartz said: “Talk about what your product ‘does’, not ‘is’—and demonstrate this.” Be as sincere and direct with your customer, as possible. Avoid misleading information and do not give empty promises. Explain to your potential clients what advantages they will get after taking certain steps. It’s better not to walk around the topic, but make the benefits obvious. Tell your customers how their lives will improve after buying the goods. Dwell on what difficulties a product or a service will solve and thus, help your prospects to understand the reasons to act.
4. Refine the headlines and the beginning of copy
When composing copy, you have to remember that you have to hook the reader’s attention with the first lines of your text. The best way is to start with a headline. Its main function is to convince a person to read the article till the end. Make the title simple, witty, or emotional. Another good idea is to write the copy first, then to choose one key phrase and make it a headline.
Once you have succeeded with the title, make the first part of your text catchy and intriguing. The well-known copywriter Joseph Sugarman in his book “Advertising Secrets of the Written Word” said: “My first sentences are so short, they almost aren’t sentences.” Always keep the value of opening phrases in mind and never underestimate them. At this stage of viewing the article, a person decides whether to read it till the end or not. So, think of the proper wording to raise the interest of a customer immediately. This may also increase the chances that a person will read the whole article and even follow a call to action.
5. Fill copy with powerful verbs
Action verbs make the content much stronger compared to adjectives. John Carlton expresses this idea in his great book “Kick-Ass Copywriting Secrets of a Marketing Rebel” by saying that, “Good copy goes light on adjectives. And heavy on action verbs.” Therefore, use the most powerful verbs when working on your text. They will make it meaningful and memorable. Hence, you will definitely get the attention of your audience.
What else you should know about writing great copy
Once you’ve mastered the above-mentioned techniques, you can also try out a couple of additional pieces of advice to turn an ordinary writing piece into stunning copy.
Make your message more personal. A personalized email letter, post, or even a short leaflet has more chances to gain interest if you fill it with personal pronouns and address the reader directly. This simple method will make a potential customer get more involved in the subject you write about.
Use various stylistic techniques. Rhymes, similes, etc. work perfectly in copywriting. They make your content easy to remember. It is often a good way to mention the name of the company, show a benefit, and even express a call to action just in one sentence. Since short lines are always very catchy, prospects can keep them in mind without any effort. Moreover, these playful phrases can make clients act the way you ask.
Choose active voice instead of passive voice. This will make your copy sound stronger. Active constructions are much easier to understand. Passive voice, sounds weaker and not so direct. Upon reading sentences completed in active voice, your customers will get the message faster and better.
Try to highlight the most important idea about three times in your copy. Make a good start and mention it at the beginning of the text, then come back to it in the middle of the writing, and finally stress it one more time in the ending part of the article. This way, on one hand, the whole piece will be coherent and, on the other hand, you will focus readers’ attention on a key point of the message.
Be honest and specific. Include numbers in your copy, introduce proofs, and suggest reliable data. Be unbiased by adding information regarding the results of independent agencies, years of experience, relevant publications, reliable guarantees, etc. Objective figures and arguments make a text look memorable and credible. So, after reading it, the interest of prospects toward the product will most likely raise.
Conclusions
Doing a brief analysis of content is a good way to see whether copy is strong enough to raise interest and inspire customers to act. If after revising the text you realize it still doesn’t sound that convincing, use one of the techniques suggested in this article. They can help you make the text engaging and customer-oriented. Moreover, this will contribute to the value of your writing piece and, as a result, convince potential buyers to purchase, order, hire, or whatever your call to action motivates them to do.
We believe that upon following the given pieces of advice, you will grow into a successful copywriter and you will reach your targets pretty soon.
