No matter what you’re selling or where you are selling it – ads, webpages, video sales letters, email campaigns and so forth – these 3 techniques will help you sell more products with less effort. And they’re easy to learn and implement, too.
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Persuasive Copywriting Technique #1: The Elephant
Back in the days when a circus would roll into town, they would walk an elephant down the main street to grab everyone’s attention. Notice they weren’t walking 10 magician’s rabbits or a hundred trained mice down main street, but rather one very large, impossible to miss elephant.
In copywriting one good idea or benefit, clearly and convincingly presented, is better than a hundred little ideas or benefits.
Readers can’t grasp a hundred or even just ten ideas or benefits. It’s too much, causes confusion and prompts the prospect to “think about it later” when it doesn’t hurt so much.
And later never comes.
But one great idea or benefit, told with one captivating story, stirring one emotion, and offering one clear way to achieve a goal or overcome a problem will direct the prospect to one inevitable response – buying the product.
To use this technique, decide on your core idea before you get started. What is the one benefit you’re going to extoll?
Once you have the core idea, weave it through the entire promotion, from the ad or email to the sales page and even on the checkout page, too.
Persuasive Copywriting Technique #2: AIDA and The 4U’s
I’ll bet you already know the first half of this headline writing formula. A great headline is crucial for success, which is why you want your headline to:
- Grab Attention
- Arouse Interest
- Create Desire
- Motivate Action
Yup, that’s the old AIDA formula and it’s as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.
But today if we want our headlines to be super effective in all the noise of the internet, we need to go a step further and employ the 4U’s as well. This is a review technique that will tell you if your headline is going to hit sales out of the park or if you need to make some adjustments to it first.
The 4U’s Formula
1: Useful – does your headline offer something useful to the prospect? For example, if your target market is salespeople, then “7 Magic Words to Close Any Sale” would be useful to them.
2: Ultra-specific – does your headline employ specific details to make the promise real, believable and achievable? Instead of, “Make More Sales” you can say, “Improve Your Conversion Rate by 36% Overnight.”
3: Urgent – does your headline indicate this message is time sensitive and cannot be left until later? “5 Stocks that Will Double by May 29th” is a good example.
4: Unique – does your headline sound like nothing else out there? For example, instead of saying “How to Lower Your Cholesterol,” your headline might be, “3 Kitchen Ingredients that Lower Cholesterol by 33.3%.”
Persuasive Copywriting Technique #3: 4Ps in the Body
Okay, we’ve handled the overall concept of the copy and the headline, but what about the body of the copy?
This is where the 4P’s come into play. They act as the framework to build your sales message and persuade your reader to take action.
1: Picture – here’s where you get the reader to visualize the positive benefits your product will have on their life.
Paint a picture with words that illustrates the dramatic difference your product will make for the reader.
2: Promise – this is the specific promise of the best benefit of your product. This single promise needs to recur throughout your copy.
For example, “New breakthrough in heart health could help you feel that you have a brand new heart in 60 days.” The benefit is improved heart health, and the promise is feeling like you have a brand new heart.
3: Proof – to make your copy effective, you’ve got to prove you can deliver on your promise. This means you need to offer solid proof of your claims to create believability in the prospect.
Use things like quotes, expert testimonials, user testimonials, track records, charts, diagrams and so forth to boost credibility and convince the reader this product really works.
4: Push – this is where you get your reader to take action. Remind your reader of the urgency to solve the problem, tell them exactly what to do and remind them of how easy it is to take action.
Top it all off with reasons for them to act immediately, such as scarcity, a limited time offer or an external deadline (such as Christmas).
Finally, reverse the risk with a guarantee that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by acting now. Tell them about your trial offer if you have one, let them know about the return policy or money back guarantee, and also give them methods to contact customer service if they have a question or need help.
7 Effective Places To Use These CopywritingTechnique as a Coach
Seven Surprising Places You’re Using Copywriting (And You Probably Don’t Realize It)
When you hear the word “copywriting” do you immediately think of long sales pages, squeeze pages, and unwanted bulk mail?
You’re not alone in that thinking, but the fact is, copywriting is more than just sales messages. In fact, as an online business owner, most of the content you produce could be called copywriting at least in some sense. After all, if you’re creating content with the ultimate goal of selling something, that is by definition copywriting.
Sure we all like to hang out on Facebook and chat with friends, catch up on the latest funny videos, and enjoy a mindless “quiz” or two. But for coaches, Facebook is much more than that. It’s a place to connect with potential clients, and that means that when you’re sharing your latest blog post or program with your business friends, you have to keep good copywriting in mind.
LinkedIn Profile
What makes you stand out from the other coaches in your niche? Your LinkedIn profile is where you share what makes you the best person to solve your ideal client’s problems. It’s where you shout about your credentials and let your ego run the show. Think of your LinkedIn profile like a resume, and be sure to list your most impressive credentials.
About Page
Here’s your chance to have some fun while blowing your own horn. It’s important to know that the about page is often the most visited page on a website, so it’s a critical piece of your overall brand and message. The purpose of your about page is to entice people to want to learn more about your services, so be sure to include a call to action on the page.
Blog Posts
All blog posts have a job to do. Maybe they’re meant to lead your reader to a sales page. Perhaps you’re asking for readers to subscribe to your mailing list. Maybe your blog post is designed to start a conversation. Or maybe it’s just sharing great content and inviting readers to learn more by clicking on related posts. Whatever the job, it’s copywriting that entices your reader to take that next action.
One hundred and forty characters is precious little space for creating compelling content, yet that’s exactly what you must do if you hope to use Twitter as part of your overall marketing strategy. Think of tweets like email subject lines, and craft them to convey as much information as possible while still enticing readers to take action.
Whether you’re sending an email about a new product or service or simply letting readers know you have a new blog post up, your email definitely qualifies as copywriting. In fact, even the personal emails you send to prospective clients contain what we would call copywriting.
The fact is, copywriting is everywhere in your business, from your sales pages to your invoices. Whenever you ask a reader to take some action, you’re writing copy, and the more comfortable with the idea of it, the better (and more natural) you’ll become.
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