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6 Copywriting Tips Guaranteed to Convert
  • Contest Factory
  • April 6, 2021

Copywriting testing is paramount

Great copywriting is the powerhouse of any marketing campaign, and when done right, can ramp up 3 times the amount of leads over other marketing hacks for 62% less cost.  Great copywriting provides great content which fuels most of the marketing we do.

Regardless of what your official title is, if you are creating content to raise brand awareness, increase following, and generate revenue, you are, in fact, copywriting.

Copywriting does require a certain level of skill, but the secret to mastering it is in the approach. As David Ogilvy, points out, “The trouble with many copywriters is that they don’t really think in terms of selling.”

Yes, you want to connect with and engage your audience, but ultimately, you want your reader to take action towards your desired goal. This touches on another subject we have covered, pre-framing, where we prepare our reader for what we want to happen next. Like we said, copywriting touches almost every part of marketing.

Don’t know where to start? Here are 6 proven copywriting strategies to turn your marketing campaigns into profit-generating machines.

1. Clear, Magnetic Headlines

Your headline is one of the most critical components of your copy, because if it doesn’t grab your customers’ attention, your content won’t get read. This means you have to both pique your reader’s curiosity and convey authority on the subject at hand in about 6 to 8 words. You’ll learn in email marketing that your “headline” is your subject line and determines where your customers click in your email.

So how do you craft killer headlines that will entice your readers to read on?

Clarity is key. It’s tempting to conjure up something clever, but if people don’t immediately know what they are investing their time in, they won’t. For example “How to beat the bulge in a pinch” might seem catchy, but “10 tricks to lose belly fat in 2 weeks” tells the reader exactly what they are getting. Time and again this proves true online driving journalists crazy that are used to writing magazine headlines that are put in front of folks at a check out stand. You have to understand the internet folks are searching for content whereas in a store it is push marketing where it is presented to the reader; very different context and marketing initiative between push and pull marketing.

Here’s a great example of a clear, concise headline that instantly draws the reader in (presented on cbr.com):

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Start collecting a list of headlines that catch your attention and incorporate these tips to help guide you:

  • Limit your headline to 6-8 words
  • Include targeted keywords for clarity and SEO
  • Include specific numbers at the beginning of the headline
  • Use power words like “Secret, Tricks, Free, Fail-proof, etc.”

2. Write Copy that is Easy to Digest

The good news is, 8 out of 10 people will usually read your headline. The not so good news is only 2 will keep reading. And since the average person’s attention span has dropped to around 8 seconds, you need to work fast.

This means you need to hook them in the first few sentences with intriguing offers, interesting stats, or thought-provoking statements.

And although you want to present yourself as an expert, research shows that content written at a third-grade level receives 36% more responses. This does not mean, however, that you can write like a third-grader. Fifty-nine percent of consumers claim they avoid doing business with brands that have spelling and grammatical errors in their content.

Basically, you just want to write in a way that is accessible to your readers. Keep vocabulary simple, paragraphs and sentences short, and avoid jargon or technical terminology that’s not widely used.

3. Separate Features From Benefits

This can be a tricky one but learning how to distinguish between features and benefits can be the difference between a sale and a bounce.

Features can sound like benefits, but here is the main difference: features are what your product does and benefits are how your product will improve the lives of your customers.

Many businesses make the mistake of showcasing how awesome their product is and forget to demonstrate how it will impact the consumer. Great copywriting brings the reader into the experience of a product and the positive emotions that come with that experience.

For instance, let’s say you sold a unique blend of coffee from Peru. You could list off the rich aromas and unique flavors (features). Or, you could transport readers to a tropical paradise where every sip invigorates their senses and rejuvenates their spirit (benefits). See the difference?

4. Focus on The Customer & Their Desires

Marketing guru, James Gilbert, claims that good marketers don’t sell products, they create desire.

Our emotions have more power over our decision-making than any other factor. And our emotions are what fuel our desires. Writing persuasive copy comes down to understanding what your audience truly wants and then eliciting the right emotions to inspire a call to action.

Get inside your readers’ head- identify their dreams, challenges, and pain points- and use strong trigger words to provoke an intense reaction (like bold, daring, overcome, reclaim, safe, helpless, etc.)

5. Craft a Compelling CTA to Inspire Action

One of the most unfortunate mistakes marketers make is neglecting their CTA, which should be one of their primary motivations for creating copy in the first place.

Creating a compelling CTA doesn’t have to be hard, just make sure it includes these 4 components:

  • Says exactly what the reader will get
  • Reiterates how/why the reader will benefit
  • Tells the reader exactly what to do next
  • Removes any hesitation or last-minute doubt

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6. Measure Your Copy for Maximum Performance

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how amazing your writing or copy is if you can’t demonstrate what was effective and why. Even if it feels like yet another task, sometimes changing just one word can mean the difference of thousands of dollars.

Black & Decker’s DeWalt demonstrated the difference a word can make by changing their CTA from “Buy Now” to “Shop Now.” After running an A/B test, the marketing team discovered the change resulted in 17% less click-throughs, which would have cost them six figures in revenue over the course of a year. “Buy Now” is the winner and relates back to pre-framing. Preparing your customer for the next step is essential and why words matter.

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Whether you are writing a social media ad or your quarterly newsletter, these 6 copywriting tips will help you become a modern marketing master- harnessing the power of words to ramp up your traffic, engagement, and revenue.

 

 

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