A successful website is one with compelling content. It showcases the brand, adds personality, and makes the reader want to stay on the site and see more. Most businesses use content as a way to fluff their own ego and talk about their products and services with buzz words in a way that brags to the world why’re they’re the best. Naturally you want to be the best, but when it comes to copywriting it’s not about you — it’s about the reader.
My Copywriting Is ALL About Me! No.
Copywriting services can take content about your company, products and/or services and spin them in a way that is about the reader, even though it’s really about your company. This effective method is what drives conversion rates and makes customers stay on your site. After all, why would they stay on a site that doesn’t benefit them?
So how does a copywriting service turn your content into something that isn’t about your company?
By answering three important questions:
What problem do you solve?
Why should the reader pick your solution over competitor solutions?
Does the content really solve the problem?
These questions are crucial to conversion rates and it takes skill to answer them. It requires your content to interact with the world, understand what the consumer’s issues are and offer a solution that they cannot pass up.
Creativity is important. You need to captivate your readers and inform them while entertaining them in the same piece of content. Copywriters are skilled at being sociable and informative. They get to know your products from an outsider’s perspective and write to the customer about you, while making the customer feel as though it’s all about him.
What’s the Problem? How Do You Solve It?
Your company solves something — if it didn’t, you wouldn’t have a company. Before you can sell your product or service, you need to decide what problem you’re solving. Do you offer financial advice for struggling consumers? Are you a fitness guru helping people lose weight? Define the problem and solution based on your company and the products/services you offer first.
A copywriting service can take the “problem” and help connect to readers who are suffering from that problem. They write content that is geared toward your ideal customer and make the reader feel as though you “get it.”
Then, the copywriter packs in the solution — all bundled up pretty and ready to buy. This solution comes at the perfect time within the content — usually after the writer has developed a rapport with the reader. By the time the reader sees the solution, they’re already amped and ready to purchase.
How Do You Solve It Better?
Just because your company has a solution doesn’t mean the customer will think your solution is the better one. It is up to your content to sell the customer on your solution and a copywriting service can help with that. Copywriters can highlight how your products benefit the customer and how it improves the customer’s life. Instead of telling the customer a long list of features, copywriters can spin the features of your products and answer the customer’s question of “Will this help me?”
Does Your Content ReallySolve the Problem?
Just because you have a problem and a solution doesn’t mean your content conveys that to the reader. Readers need to walk away from your content thinking that your solution is for-sure and will solve their particular issues. Copywriting services identify what your readers are struggling with and provide empathy, support and write content that makes the reader truly believe your solution is the only solution out there.
A Balance Between You and the Customer
Copywriting services can strike an equal balance between talking about you and talking about the customer. Copywriters do this by giving insight into the company, so that readers have a sense about who is behind the products or services they’re buying. But, copywriters don’t write about you directly, because you don’t solve the problem — your product or service does.
Copywriting services can also help build your authority and reputation with the readers. They can integrate your expertise and help build trust with customers, but in a way that benefits the customer — not your ego.
Don’t Forget the Search Engines!
While it’s all about the customer when it comes to your “solution,” your website must also be about the search engines. It is hard to find a balance between content and SEO, but search engines do consider a website’s content when ranking a page
(see more about how search engines rank on Search Engine Watch). According to Search Engine Land’s “Local Consumer Review Survey,” only 15% of consumers don’t use the Internet to find potential products, services or business.
That means potential customers see your website first, before they contact you or visit you in person. You’ll need SEO to attract the search engines and get traffic, but from there you need high-quality content to keep the customer on your site and interested in what you have to offer. Copywriting services can help you do both by integrating targeted keywords into your content, but still marketing the benefits of your services to human readers.
If you want more traffic or higher conversions, copywriting services is a valuable investment that can do just that. Copywriters know how to make content about the target customer — making them crave your products/services. And, copywriters know how to attract search engines so that you can take advantage of the potential 85% of customers out there trying to find a solution just like yours for their current problem.
You’ve probably heard the term “call to action” a thousand times. Maybe you’ve even tried to write your own calls to action, but found them less than inspiring. If you’re like most marketers, you’ve often wondered if the call to action, or CTA, is just a fancy name for something that isn’t that important.
The truth is, though, that your call to action is critical.
By compelling your audiences to (you guessed it) take action, a great CTA can spell the difference between thousands of conversions and a few ho-hum reads.
Lights, Camera, Call To Action!
The reason your call to action is so important is that it performs a job that no other part of your website does. By inspiring your visitors to take a desired action, like clicking your content, filling out a form, or entering their email addresses, a great CTA helps make your content more compelling and interactive.
Still not convinced CTAs are all that critical? Let’s look at some statistics.
Unbounce reports that 90% of the visitors who read your headline will also read your CTA. As if that weren’t enough, WordStream reports that emails featuring just one call to action increased click-through-rate by 371% and sales by 1617%. HubSpot has also found that personalized CTAs convert a whopping 42% better than standard CTAs.
The good news is that there are many ways to create a successful call to action, but you’ve got to create a good foundation first. This involves having enough web content to input a CTA, developing a quality product, and having some level of social following. Once these things exist, you can get to work optimizing and improving your CTAs.
10 Essential Ingredients for an Irresistible Call to Action
Every call to action must contain certain elements. These elements make them more compelling, interesting, and exciting for readers. Here’s what each great CTA needs:
1. Images
One dilemma many business owners face is whether to use text or graphics in their call to action. While text is critical to a good call to action, many people assume visuals aren’t. Wrong!
Visuals are an essential part of the most effective CTAs.
The human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than textual information, so including a great visual in your CTA can be exactly what it needs to tip readers over the edge.
For best results, look for an image that’s relevant to the CTA (a picture of the cover of the offered book or guide, for example, is a great option) and won’t be distracting to the reader. Remember: visuals should enhance rather than detract from your CTA.
2. A Powerful Color Scheme
To be as successful as possible, your CTA needs to fall in line with the rest of your brand’s color scheme. For an example of what this looks like, check out this HubSpot CTA:
HubSpot is known for its orange and white color scheme, and the CTA buttons throughout the site are generally blue. This CTA aligns with that color scheme and provides a sense of continuity and reliability for the reader.
If your brand doesn’t have an established color scheme yet, now is a good time to consider how colors are used in marketing, and to pick a few options that convey the messages you’re aiming for. Once you’ve got your color scheme hammered out, be sure to integrate it into your current and future CTAs. Here’s a color diagram from HelpScout to help you decide:
No matter what you choose, remember that color, like visuals, should accent rather than overwhelm your CTA. While you may love lime green and orange together, few people want to click on a CTA that looks like a mess of melted glow sticks.
3. The Right Words
The wording of your call to action matters. The best way to do this is to use actionable language. Distinct and hard-hitting verbs like “find,” “download,” “discover,” and “get” will help improve your CTAs conversion rates and make it more exciting to readers. Don’t go overboard though: you want to use fewer than four words in your CTA to keep the reader’s interest.
4. The Right Placement
Where you place your call to action can make all the difference. What if your page is already full of important information that you want your visitor to see? The general rule of thumb is to place the call to action in a spot that’s easily accessible, uncluttered, and highly visible. This enhances the likelihood that your readers will see it and that they’ll act, as a result.
5. An Understanding of the Reader’s Questions
Regardless of what you’re selling, your visitors will be asking one thing as they make buying decisions involving your company: “What’s in it for me?” Your CTA should anticipate this and respond accordingly.
When developing your CTA copy, think about what you’ll need to give your reader to justify their action. For example, would they be willing to share your Facebook page with 10 of their friends for the chance to win a contest you are putting on? Is the promise of a complete guide enough to win their email address?
By tailoring your CTA offering to your CTA “ask,” you can make your material more compelling and exciting for your readers. What’s more, you brand your company as one that understands and cares about your customers, which makes you more appealing to work with.
6. A Consistent Tone
Today’s customers are smart, and they’ll get confused if the content of your CTA is drastically different than the content elsewhere on your page or social profiles. With this in mind, keep the voice of your CTA consistent with that of the rest of your content. In addition to strengthening your brand perception, this will also help your visitors make sense of your CTA and take the action it’s proposing.
7. Personalization
The more you can personalize your CTA, the better. When you think about it, CTAs are asking your reader to do something (click, download, etc.) and to give you something valuable (their personal information). If you don’t personalize these requests, they can seem like excessive asks. When you personalize your CTAs, you show your readers you care.
While you don’t need to go overboard with the personalization, it’s smart to use words like “you” and “your.” This makes the ask more personal and helps your reader feel like an integral piece of the puzzle, rather than a dispensable customer.
8. A Direct Approach
Adults don’t communicate effectively through hints, and your CTA needs to take this into account. Instead of whispering that you want your reader to do something, make your request (and its benefit) clear. The more direct, intentional, and obvious your CTAs are, the better they’ll be for your brand and your readers.
9. Emotional Appeal
While CTAs are foundational marketing tools, they’re also a study in psychology. HubSpot recently studied CTAs on more than 40,000 websites, and found that ones with bland language, like “click here” didn’t perform nearly as well as CTAs with stronger, more direct language.
With this in mind, make your CTA a study in emotional appeal. Tapping into emotions like fear (“Are you doing X wrong?”), inclusion (“Join X other people”), and freedom (“Risk-free trial”) can be incredibly effective for compelling on-the-fence readers to take the leap.
10. Simplicity
CTAs don’t have room for jargon. Keep your language, ask, and message simple for the best conversion rate and the clearest request. This will help your readers feel more interested in taking action and more trusting of your brand.
Your Brand Lives and Dies by its CTAs
Great CTAs can improve your bottom line, draw more attention to your company, and enhance your reputation on the web. Poor CTAs, on the other hand, just waste your marketing budget and produce disappointing results. By taking proactive steps to improve your CTAs and make them more compelling to your readers, it’s easy to enjoy more traffic and a more streamlined sales process while also improving your relationships with customers across the board.
Although many marketers overlook CTAs, the fact of the matter is that they’re essential parts of your sales and marketing funnel, and putting the time and effort into improving them is well worth your while!
To learn more about the value of great CTAs or to find the team who can help you create them, contact Express Writers, or visit our Content Shop today!
Company owners strive to create a fresh, modern, unique image for their brands, hoping to gain new followers and maximize their return on investment in record time.
Compelling content writing plays an important part in this puzzle, representing the bridge between an online business and its segment of potential buyers.
In most cases, words are cleverly combined to create beautiful tales for every single product currently available on the market; but are these stories convincing and inspiring enough to stimulate sales, to harness client engagement, or to grow the online presence of a particular brand?
7 Awesome Tips To Help You Create Compelling Content Writing
Somewhere along the road to awesome web content writing, most writers get stuck. What exactly triggers their failure and how can one deliver compelling content writing that serves a higher purpose, generating traceable improvements over a short period of time? Apply a few simple tips helping you avoid major mistakes that could easily compromise your online credibility and your previous efforts.
Deliver 100% accurate, fresh informative content on a regular basis
Remember that fans usually stop following a company that does not benefit from a solid online presence and neglect the fact that meaningful Web content should be posted and updated regularly.
1) Share and promote only 100% original content, presented in a personalized, appealing manner
Your readers have the ability to recognize stolen ideas, especially if they are copy-pasted from your main competitors; not to mention the fact that this practice is penalized by search engines and could even get your site banned.
2) A narrow focus can attract a larger segment of visitors
Most readers tend to avoid so-called “generalist” bloggers who seem to have an informed opinion about everything these days. Develop your content writing skills, choose topics that represent you and reflect your purpose in business, and come up with truly remarkable ideas tailored to the expectations of you core audience after doing extensive research and conducting brainstorming sessions. Before trying to address the needs of your readers, discover who you really are, identify and list the attributes that you are trying to highlight, and establish goals that you would like to attain in the near future.
3) Share credible information and define yourself as a trustworthy source
It goes without saying that honesty is a non-negotiable term when it comes to delivering excellent content writing. Don’t lie and don’t exaggerate your strengths. For example, don’t affirm that you are the best/most-trusted/most-popular plumbing company in your state, unless real numbers extracted from unbiased statistics can back up your statement.
4) The execution of your content piece is essential
Your content writing should display a clear, simple, scannable structure. People don’t want to waste time trying to find the main idea of your text. They want to get to the point fast and with minimal effort. Learn more tips on compelling content at Copyblogger.
5) Turn some of the most common questions into brilliant answers and solve the daily problems of your readers
Your readers might comment on your blog posts, asking you to provide the simplest, fastest, most-effective solution to their problem. If it’s a common issue, experienced by most of your clients, you can provide a detailed answer in a future blog post, which will definitely be received with great enthusiasm by your followers.
6) Explore fertile social media ground, looking for new sources of inspiration
Find out what has gone viral recently in your field of activity, keep an eye on your fierce competitors, measure their progress, and anticipate their next moves. Spot new trends and become a trendsetter yourself by simply being active on some of the most popular social media platforms.
Start out with these tips, grow your knowledge, and keep reading – you’ll be awesome at content writing in no time!
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.
You see it circulating and gaining popularity like a snowball, and that makes you wonder (if you’re an Internet user, let’s say), how exactly did that person do it?
Content ROI: Copy that Sells
Well, it didn’t happen by chance. That little piece that raked in feedback was written by someone who knew how to get content ROI (that’s content return-on-investment, folks).
Content ROI is the skill of the copywriters. It’s when someone knows how to create copy that sells. It will either sell the product on someone’s home page, a service from a creative expert, or an idea in a blog. Creating copy that sells is when you have content ROI.
Now content ROI doesn’t happen by chance, and it sure doesn’t happen by someone who sat down at their desk and decided they’d write their own copy with no previous experience. It happens when a skilled copywriter takes a pen to paper for their client, when a writer gets inspired with a muse on fire, and when a journalist finalizes a PR going to launch.
Always, always remember…the job of a copywriter can’t really be “DIY”, or done at home. I’d like to use Si from Duck Dynasty to illustrate that point:
Rule No 1, folks…
Content ROI is what it takes to create content that makes it to Google’s page one. It’s made up of:
Awesome headlines
Informative, well-written content with no grammar errors
Introduction and ending that ties in together
Search engine optimization with a few keywords sprinkled in
Note how keywords come last. A good content ROI expert knows that she/he can’t sit down and write with the starting point as the keyword. The foundation must be a good idea and informative writing.
Content ROI In Action: Clientele Case Study — A Business Topic that Was Successful
Let’s go over a little case study here.
Wendy, one of our staff writers, wrote a blog for a client in the entrepreneurial and business space. He returned the feedback that not only was it very good, but it sparked discussion and feedback from his social media fans.
Title of the blog: Business Ownership: Do I Have What it Takes to be a Successful Entrepreneur? This is actually 12 words, 6 or less is “optimum”, but really in content ROI topics that hit on key points of your interested followers are the ones that will go most viral. We like to go outside the rules. Do not try this at home (unless you’re born with copywriting blood).
Intro of the blog: Just about everybody has a good idea that can be turned into a business, but only a small percentage of people successfully convert their fabulous idea into tangible results. Wendy took a problem that can appeal to a universal group of people who would be following the blog, and directly addressed them. She basically looked at the crowd and said, Hey, Jim, I’ve got something that will interest you.
The meat of the blog consisted of a list of 20 questions that the reader, an assumed wannabe entrepreneur, had to read to answer.
Wendy wrapped it up with this: If you answered 15 of the 20 questions above with a yes, you may be a successful entrepreneur in the making! If not, then you may not be equipped to handle the immense challenges of running your own business. While success or failure can be determined by external factors such as the market, economy, and luck, underlying personality traits and soft skill sets are often the most influential determiners in an entrepreneur’s success. Hey, Jim! Want some more of this? At this point, Jim is definitely hooked and will now follow and perhaps even return with some feedback to the source of interest.
Your Content ROI: The Client
Compelling content that serves for ROI helps you, the marketer, tell a story (YOUR story)—but it can be difficult and expensive to create, if you don’t find the writer people to tell it right away. To avoid expenses and save on time, knowing which content strategies get the best ROI for you is important.
Emarketer, from a study conducted and verified in 2013 by CopyPress, says that the best content strategies for ROI are the following:
1. Articles
2. Video
3. White Papers
Note how items #1 and #3 require a writer—and a good one, if the end point is to sell your services.
For best content ROI, it’s wise to invest in a versatile copywriting service that can offer exactly what you need.
Download your Free copy of Why You Shouldn’t Make Your Copywriting About You
