While copywriting is all the rage in the digital business world, online content is only worthwhile if it can drive real results.
Copywriting that sells is worth its weight in gold, and it has the potential to overhaul a company’s online presence entirely. From driving more conversions to helping businesses rake in the cash and build their bottom lines, persuasive copywriting is a powerful sales machine, and every company wants it.
The catch, though, is that not many people know how to craft copywriting that sells.
To be persuasive and compelling, content needs a precise mixture of things, and copywriters and businesses who understand how to create this are at a distinct advantage.
With that in mind, read on for our top five tips to develop copywriting that sells.
Copywriting that Sells: 5 Stellar Tips to Start Creating Conversion-Oriented Copy Today
Think about a brand like Apple.
Among its followers, Apple can do virtually no wrong. People rave about its products, its phones practically began the smartphone era, and every time it has a product launch, people sleep in tents on sidewalks for days in preparation.
Now that is a company that knows how to create material that sells.
Of course, it’s true that Apple has developed a premium product, and that you can’t enjoy such widespread evangelism without it, but it’s also true that Apple knows a thing or two about copywriting that sells.
While Apple is one of the most prominent examples of a brand that does this well, it’s far from the only one. For many marketers, the prospect of becoming a sales machine like these major brands feels out of reach.
Fortunately, that’s not the case at all. Whether you work in e-commerce or you have a local, brick-and-mortar business that’s in need of a sales boost, creating compelling copy is an excellent way to reach your goals, and these five tips can help you do it.
1. Create a headline your readers want to click
When it comes to copywriting that sells, your headline is, without a doubt, the single most important piece of your content.
If you think about it for a minute, a headline is a gatekeeper. It tells people what your article is about, and then invites them in. If your headline is a magnificent one, it brings people in in droves. If it’s not, people get bored and go looking for other content.
With this in mind, you need to the time to craft incredible headlines.
While learning to develop click-worthy headlines can be a challenge, it’s one investment is virtually guaranteed to earn a high ROI. By asking your readers a question in the headline, inserting power words, inspiring curiosity, or using a negative headline to inspire a reader’s sense of risk aversion, there are dozens of ways to ensure that your headlines are doing what you want them to do with your content: drawing readers.
Although headlines are frequently overlooked in online content, they’re easily some of the most important pieces for promoting conversions and bringing in new traffic – all of which helps promote big sales down the road.
2. Break your content into short chunks
If we’re honest, we can all agree that content that looks and feels like an unabridged dictionary isn’t very fun to read. And if you click onto a web page that’s just one long string of unbroken text, you’re probably going to click “back” in a hurry.
When you evaluate copywriting that sells, you’ll notice that 100% of it is broken up into short, succinct sentences. Again, Apple is a fantastic example of this.
Heck – the iPhone 7 announcement on their website is only four words long!
By breaking your text up into short chunks, you do two things: you make it easier for readers to scan and you set your most important ideas apart.
This, in turn, allows users to navigate swiftly through your content and can help your viewers make more sense of the information within it.
3. Keep your content credible with facts and statistics
For copywriting to be compelling, it has to be credible, and there’s virtually no better way to ensure this than to add relevant facts and statistics to your copy. Well-researched facts pack a punch that almost nothing else does, and you can bet that readers will be much more willing to bite if they know there’s a financial, social, or emotional reason to do so.
With this in mind, use facts and statistics to back up your statements. If you’re claiming a product will improve a person’s quality of life, add a bit of research to demonstrate your point. If you’re solving a common problem, add a statistic to prove just how common it is.
People who are going to purchase anything from you must first be able to trust what you say, and quality stats are some of the best ways to inspire consumer confidence.
Additionally, inserting relevant facts and statistics can help improve the authority of your copy and serve to position you as an expert in your industry.
4. Focus on the benefits rather than the features
In the world of sales, this is an oldie but a goodie.
When people make purchasing decisions, they tend to focus on the benefits first and the features second. For example, if you are looking for an in-home voice assistant system, you might want one that would help you streamline your days and stay organized. If a company appealed to those desires with copywriting meant to showcase the benefits and the lifestyle a voice assistant would offer, you’d probably bite.
When you’re crafting your online copy, focus on selling a lifestyle or a feeling first, and the actual tangible facts about the product second.
To revert to the Apple example once more, Apple doesn’t sell phones and computers – it sells efficiency, beauty, creativity, and “buck the man” rebellion. If it only focused on the features of each of its products, it’s safe to bet that the company wouldn’t have grown into the globe-dominating enterprise it is today.
5. Tell an irresistible story in your copy
Great storytelling is inexorably linked with compelling copy.
People love exciting stories, and this is exactly why you see so many brands migrating to storytelling in their advertising.
Need an example? Look at any of the Budweiser puppy commercials the company has done in the last several years.
While it’s true that puppies have very little to do with beer, these commercials tell a story, and they’re among the best-loved I know of.
If that doesn’t make you want to purchase Budweiser beer, I’m not sure what will.
All too often, making a sale is simply about appealing to a reader’s emotions. People want to do business with companies they believe in, and a great story is a powerful tool for fostering connection and excitement.
So whether you’re using puppies or human interest pieces, telling a story in your online copy is a wonderful way to make the sale and close the deal.
Turn Your Content Into Copywriting that Sells
Content inspires, educates, and excites, but great copywriting sells, too.
When it’s functioning well, online copywriting serves many purposes, and brands that understand how to craft copywriting that sells can enjoy a virtually unlimited potential for growth.
With this in mind, it’s time to start crafting copywriting that sells.
By taking the time to craft quality headlines, format your content correctly, input valuable facts and figures, tell a story, and sell a lifestyle, you can easily create compelling content that sells by making your reader want to engage with your product, rather than by tricking them into believing they need something that they don’t.
Today, great sales copy is all about connection, and the writers and marketers who take the time to understand how to build this relationship are in a good position for upward mobility both now and in the future.
Copywriting isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to be impossible, either. If you need quality copywriting that sells, visit our Content Shop today.