Top Tips for Writing a Sales Copy That Converts

by Anna McHenry January 24, 2013

As an online business owner knows – copywriting is the lifeblood of any successful business, website, or product. It is the force that drives your return on investment, and ultimately makes, or breaks, your success. While there are some tried and true methods that can be employed to appeal to potential clients and casual readers alike, copywriting is less a science and more of an art. You will find that what works on one website, may not necessarily work on another. However, perhaps the same concept can be applied to multiple websites, and executed in different ways. A few tips and strategies that you can use to improve your copywriting, increase your return on investment, and improve the prospects for your business include;

 

 

Don’t Sell the Product, Sell To the Readers Needs

 

Although it can be tempting to attempt to sell your product by outlining all of the awesome features that it provides, you have to remember that they are not buying the product because it is awesome; they are buying it because it will fulfill a need within their lives. Selling a weight loss product? While you should, of course, mention the positive outcomes that others have seen, sell them on the fact that it will improve their love life or help them to be more outgoing with new people. The weight loss is just a side effect of what the product truly provides – confidence, great looks, and better health.

 

 

Space Things Out

 

Have you ever searched for something online, only to be taken to a webpage that has three, huge blocks of text? When your average reader runs into this they will hit the ‘back’ button immediately. Who wants to sift through huge chunks of text in order to find the two to three tidbits that interest them the most? Sales copy isn’t a news article, and shouldn’t be delivered in a format that a typical article would. With copywriting, and especially sales copy, it is important that you make the entire text as easy to read as you possibly can. If they want to know how your product can benefit them, there should be an easy to find, bulleted list that outlines how it will. If they want a feature list, that should be easy to find as well. Perhaps they want to see what your other users have to say – which means that your testimonials need to be identifiable and easy to read.

 

 

Proper Underlining, Bolding, and CAPS

 

If you have done even a small amount of searching for products online, you likely have come across some sales copy that makes gratuitous use of the underlining, bold, italicizing, and CAPSing of words. All of these tools can be essential for drawing the eyes of the reader to the sections and phrases of your text that give you the biggest chance to complete the sale. The key is to use them whenever a new, important point or reason to buy is made within the text. Make sure not to overuse them, as this can look sleazy and off-putting to potential customers. Sell your product without sounding like a used car salesman that’s two cars away from his monthly quota.

 

 

Be Personable

 

Who do you think the average consumer is more likely to buy from – a passionate individual that created a product that they love, or a faceless company that created a product that they love? For your sales copywriting, it is best if you put a relatable face to the product so that they can feel like they are getting to know you as they read your sales copy and research your product. Provide a personal story about your product. Explain why you developed it, and what led to your passion for the subject. By making your product, and the reasons it exists relatable to the average person, you will see a huge increase in sales over time.

Anna McHenry
Anna McHenry is the Director of Client Services here at McKremie. She tweets from @McKremie so stop by and say "hi" on Twitter.

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