One of the things that can have a huge impact on your sales conversion rates is your copy. By copy I mean the actual words that you use to share your message with your audience and compel them to buy. And you use copy on your website, in your emails, on your sales landing pages and so much more.
I know sometimes it can be tough. Struggling to find the right words to use. How do you share all the amazing things you have to offer with your audience in a way that’s not cheesy or salesy, but actually gets money into your pockets? The following are a few tips to help you master the copywriting basics. These tips will to help you write better copy and ultimately, make more money.
Research Your Customers
The very first step in writing good copy is to do your research. Most people have an idea of what their target audience is into, but you probably aren’t 100% clear on it. It’s tough to get inside of someone else’s head, and that’s the reason why you should always study your ideal customer, or avatar. You need to know more than what they like or dislike. Understanding your avatar goes beyond figuring out which size shirts they’re most likely to buy. One great question I always encourage people to ask themselves is “what is your avatar searching for when they are looking for solutions like the ones you provide?” What are your ideal customers core issues? What trigger words do they use when they describe the solutions they want to the problems that your business helps solve? Research this in detail and create a list or spreadsheet. This list of keywords and terms that your ideal customer would use when searching for you should be sprinkled throughout your copy regularly.
Be Conversational
Write the way you speak. No really. This is extremely important. A lot of times I read copy on sales pages, websites and emails, that sounds like the person was trying to prove they had a Ph.D. But if no one can understand what it is that you’re saying because your copy is so convoluted with graduate level language, then the copy is going to have a hard time convincing people to buy— and that’s the ultimate goal. You may feel like want to edit to sound more professional or sprinkle in those key terms like we talked about, but your very first version of text should be written the way you would say it. At the end of the day, one of the reasons why your customers buy from you and not your competition is because they like you! So allow YOU to shine through in your copy. Be personable. You don’t ever have to try to write the way you think the “experts” would say it. In the end that kind of writing just comes off as disingenuous and doesn’t convert well.
Be Concise- More is Not Better
No seriously. If you can make your point in 3 words, or with one sentence do it. It’s your web designers job to make your words look pretty on your site. But having too many words can make this task literally impossible for them. Besides that, the number one reason why you want to convey your message with as few words as possible is because most people will be intimidated by the amount of text on the page and skip reading it all together. I know you think your audience loves you and wants to carefully soak up every single word you speak, and that may or may not be true. But I can guarantee you that if you show you audience you value their time by getting straight to the point they will reward you with their dollars.
Be Clear
And by this I mean clearly state what you mean. This goes back to being conversational, but there is something to be said for a copywriter that actually says what he or she means. A lot of business owners turn their customers away by not clearly stating what they mean— whether its the terms of the contract, the exact product or services they offer, or how they actually help. Embellishing your words and your work may be good to get customers in the door at first, but overtime it will diminish your know, like and trust value, and cost you your bottom line.
Proofread… After 1-3 Days
This tip is for all of the people (like me) who think they are immune to typos and often “edit” their own work. If you must do so, I understand. But give yourself one to three days to actually step away before you try to edit any copy. Now this means that you can’t wait until the last minute to get your sales page up or draft that email 5 minutes before you want to send it out (unless you have another set of eyes that did not write the original content to look over it). Taking 1-3 days to step away from the content before proof reading will allow you the time you need to not force read, as I like to call it. This is what happens when your eyes see a typo but your brand doesn’t interpret it and instead forces you to see what you really meant to say. It happens to me all the time. Then when someone else comes along and reads it, they find the typo with no problem, because they had no clue what I was trying to say.
Another great tip for proofreading is to print out whatever it is your editing on actual paper and read it with an actual pen in hand to edit. I know it sounds tedious, but it will help you to convey a clearer, stronger message to your audience.
I know that copywriting sometimes sounds like your writing to impress people. But at the end of the day your customers want to buy from someone that they know like and trust, and that they can understand. Besides, before you can master the fancy copywriting techniques, you need to master the basics. Start incorporating these tips into your copywriting and I’m pretty sure you’ll start seeing an increase in sales in no time.
