Write Great Sales Copy in 10 Steps
When you embark on copywriting, it usually involves a product, person, service or concept that you want to deliver content about in a persuasive manner the reader feels compelled to read. If you are selling anything, or if you want your users to sign up for an opt-in email list, you’ll need to master some basic copywriting principles to achieve your goals.
1. Your headline has got to be catchy - it can exploit a situation (e.g., reflecting on the current economic scenario), can be direct and straight (e.g., making a fixed offer), or can start off as a story. The bottom line is that the headline has to be catchy enough to hook the reader and make him feel compelled to read through the rest of the narrative that follows logically therefrom and finishes with a “call to action”.
2. After grabbing the reader, your body copy should convey a casual and informal tone that is both conversational and confident. As the reader goes along, he should be shaking his head mentally in agreement. Just like you would talk to a friend, it is all about building rapport. Watch your grammar and punctuation, however, because the fastest way to break a mood is by misspelling a word that jumps out or misplacing a punctuation point. You can emphasize sections by using the one paragraph - one line approach.
3. There has to be a section that talks about the advantages of your product and each advantage must be written in brief, preferably formatted in a bullet form.
4. The writing needs to be kept clear, concise and easy to understand. You never want to confound your reader with words and phrases they need to stop and go look up on dictionary.com. In other words, avoid humungous words, long sentences and anything that equals confused message delivery. This is not the place to demonstrate how many sentences you can string together by combining commas and semi-colons.
5. The copy should always emphasize on the reader’s wants and desires. So, before writing the copy, put yourself in reader’s shoes and ask what is it you’d like to see written.
6. Have a commitment or promise made by the end of the second paragraph. It needs to be made early on to have the copy start building and leading the reader where you want them to go.
7. We’re repeating this again: The flow of the paragraphs must be smooth and logical. If there is any dither, the reader will quickly lose interest. Remember, web visitors are not famous for their patience or perseverance.
8. Avoid making claims and promises that have no basis in fact, just because they sound good. Your reputation is built upon honest delivery of fact. This is not creative writing. It’s copywriting and if you have a “magic ingredient” that makes your chocolate taste incredible, you’d better be able and prepared to back that up with facts and testimonials.
9. Once you reach a point when everything sounds persuasive and is backed by adequate testimonials, you must make an offer. Understand that the buyer is only interested in a good deal - so, if you make him a good offer he cannot refuse, you will strike gold.
10. If there are any questions left in the readers’ mind, any doubts, this is where you quash them. You need a finale, just like in the movies, but in this case it compels the reader to take action. Whether you offer a truckload of extras, promise a secret formula only for buyers or some piece of free software they get in addition to their main order, this is where it’s offered. You want to spice it up to the point where it is irresistible. In some cases, I’ve actually heard of people who bought because the bonus was so good and the product was just okay. That’s the excitement you want to bring to your closing copy.
These were some principles of good copywriting. If you are starting off, look up the Internet for sales letters that have worked in the past and try to model your pitch based on them. Slowly, you will get a hang of copywriting, and from then on you can only get better.
Learn tips for marketing an online business, or how to start a home based internet business. Visit the website marketing tips blog at http://www.nitromarketing.com/blog
- Kale McClelland
