"Sometimes you come up with an idea that requires creative and technical wizardry to provide an internal client with exceptional value. Then, after the initial excitement has worn off, the scale and difficulty of the task becomes apparent.
5 Essential Copywriting Tips If You’re Serious About Selling
Every business depends on effective copy. It’s salesmanship in print. Which means it’s one of the most powerful and influential of marketing weapons. If you want your reader to buy your product or service you need your copy to work at selling 100%.
Think of your copy as a member of the sales team. It needs to deliver results. But before it can, you need to teach it a trick or two.
Here are 5 copywriting tips:
1. Know Who You’re Talking To
Before you write a word make sure you know exactly whom you’re talking to. You need to be able to answer all of the questions that are going on in the head of your potential customer. If you can’t do that you risk being too general in what you say. Instead you need to be specific.
2. Attention Grabbing Headlines
You can write the best copy in the world but it won’t be read unless it has a headline that grabs attention. It’s 95% of the battle. And contrary to expectation your headline doesn’t have to be short – make it as long as you need it to be.
3. Use the ‘You’ word
Most copy is littered with the ‘we’ word. If you want to engage your reader, be more conversational and talk to them directly. You get what I mean? Do a ‘you-check’ on this page….
4. Be Big On Benefits
A benefit is what your product or service is going to do for the reader personally. So, if you’re selling acne cream the benefit is not just that it clears up spots but that it makes you feel better about yourself and more confident.
5. Have A Call To Action
It’s a cardinal sin not to try to get your reader to do something positive once they’ve got to the end of your copy. Try to get them to call you or take you up on an offer. Everyone needs a bit of encouragement, so tell them what to do and how.
Try wrapping it all up with AIDA….:
Pod Copywriting Services
If copywriting is not for you, then don’t waste your time and energy on it. Instead focus on what you enjoy and are good at. I love to work on:
Web-copy that guarantees a visitor will land on a page perfectly matched to their needs - Continue Reading
Direct Mail that is part of a sustained marketing campaign. It will help raise your game by using multiple types of marketing media so that response rates increase dramatically - Continue Reading
Sales Letters that are not flimsy one-pagers but which are two, four or even eight pages long. They are written using my 21-point checklist so that they are read - not torn up after 6 seconds - Continue Reading
An Irresistible Offer
Up to 1July 2009, you can have free access to my Copywriting Questionnaire. This provides you with all the essential questions you need to ask yourself and answer before you write a single word.
I use it as part of my copywriting discovery sessions and it's guaranteed to get you thinking in the right way about your business and where you are heading.
All you need to do is sign up for my report 21 Different Marketing Channels and then e-mail: info@podcommunications.co.uk with the words ‘Free Copywriting Questionnaire’ in the headline. It’s that easy.
