19 Copywriting Tips for Writing Sales Copy That Converts

Powerful Copywriting Tips To Transform Your Sales Copy

Copywriting can be one of the most effective ways of generating leads and sales for your business. It can also be one of the most difficult marketing methods to master.

When it comes to writing sales copy it is important to understand the psychology behind the words you are using. After all, the right words can be quite persuasive in themselves, without the need for any other fancy marketing techniques.

With this in mind, we have put together 19 of the best copywriting tips for writing copy that sells. By the end of this in-depth guide, you should be a pro at persuasive copywriting.

1. Headlines Are Key

Before you even consider writing content for any type of marketing material, including leaflets, web copy, blog posts and newsletters, you need to focus on the headline.

People will make a pretty quick decision as to whether they are interested in what you have to say, based on the title or heading.

Your headline should always be the first priority, before getting down into the nitty gritty of your content.

Keep this in mind before you start typing away hundreds of words of ‘compelling copy’.

The title in your copy can make a huge difference as to whether people will want to read on or not. If you’re not sparking interest or providing something compelling in those first few words, then the rest of your copy won’t matter.

Learn how to write titles which entice scarcity, interest, guilt or controversy. Note, numbered posts work really well online as many readers scan content for important facts, rather than reading every word.

Take a look at the following titles and think about how the words make you feel.

1. 8 Massive Benefits of Using YouTube For Business

2. Data-Backed Strategies For Dealing With Money Stress For Good

3. 5 Content Marketing Mistakes That Are Killing Your Business (And How To Fix Them)

4. How Eating Pumpkin Seeds Regularly Will Make You Smarter Than Your Peers

Always ask yourself, if you saw your title in a magazine or national newspaper, would you be compelled to read it?

2. Pick A Principle Selling Proposition

Once you have an incredible title that is going to draw the masses in, you now need to work out what it is you want to feature within the copy.

Although you may be covering a wide range of topics in your content, such as in a blog post, it is important to have one principle selling position.

This is the one product or service you want to highlight above any others, including a particular feature or benefit.

Focusing on just one key theme within the content will reduce any unnecessary waffling or confusion. It will also encourage potential customers to learn more about whichever product or service you’re focusing on – which means the potential for more sales.

3. Important Information First

When you’re writing sales copy you need to ensure that the most important information comes first. This is completely different from other types of writing you may have done in the past, which allow the reader time to find out what the key information is.

If you want to generate interest in your copy then you will need to start off with something important and eye-catching. A summary of what you’re going to cover in the content, a shocking fact or statistic, or even a question all work well in persuasive copy.

Take a look at the first few lines of Basecamp for an idea of how to start a sales page – these guys have got it down to a tee.

For example, if you were selling an online confidence and self-esteem course, you could start your sales page with an important fact like the following:

“85% of the world’s population is suffering from low self-esteem and anxiety – don’t let it ruin your life too.”

4. Benefits Not Features

A big mistake that businesses make when writing copy about their products or services, is listing features.

The issue with this is that most customers aren’t that fussed about the features, they simply want to know how those features will benefit them.

So, if you’re writing a whole ton of facts about what your new product does and how it works, you’re not going to keep readers interested.

Instead, focus on how those particular features will benefit your potential customer. What problems does your product solve? Tell them how it will make their life better.

This is one of the most important copywriting tips you will learn.

For example, if you’re selling supplements, nutritional meal plans and exercise routines to people who wish to lose weight, don’t tell them that they will get a 250-paged pdf explaining the best exercises of the month. That is not what you’re selling!

What you’re selling is a better body – a body they can rely on.

Communicate these benefits to them in a way they can understand, and your sales will skyrocket.

5. Don’t Make Things Overcomplicated

We’re all in a rush nowadays. Nobody has the time to sift through your copy and work out what it is you’re trying to say. Those who focus on overcomplicated content will lose out on potential customers pretty quickly.

Essentially, you want to write as though you are a child. We don’t mean copy that is rife with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, we mean short sentences that are to the point and get your information across.

6. Bullet Points, Paragraphs and Numbered Lists

According to research, a whopping 79% of people scan read websites. They will find the important pieces of information that they’re looking for and then move on.

If you want people to find that information quickly then make your marketing copy easy on the eye. This means breaking it up into easily digestible paragraphs, along with the use of bullet points and numbered lists.

This will ensure that potential customers find what they’re looking for, without becoming disinterested and going elsewhere. Put all of your key selling points in bullet point lists for the perfect persuasive copy.

Take a look at our most popular blog here. It receives the most organic traffic across our entire site. Pay attention to how the post is organised and structured. Users will read content which is easy to digest and consume.

Visitors spend an average of 8 minutes reading that blog post which signals to Google that it is a piece of relevant, high-quality content.

7. Write For People First and SEO Second

If you want to get the most out of online copywriting, then you need to include search engine optimisation. Writing with SEO in mind will boost you further up the ranks of Google, making it easier for people to find your particular product or service.

However, you need to strike a fine balance between the amount of keywords and other SEO methods you use, along with creating copy that is easy for people to read. After all, search engines don’t possess credit cards!

Using a tool such as Yoast’s SEO plugin makes it easy to ensure your target keyword is placed in the most important parts of your web page.

To learn how to do SEO effectively, take a look at this blog here.

8. Show off your personality

There’s been a rising trend in businesses creating personal copy to persuade their potential customers to buy. Long gone are the days of boring and monotone content, which used to be found in every leaflet and on every website.

Now, the focus is on being open, honest, friendly and enticing. If your business has a bubbly personality, then let that shine through in the content. If your CEO has a penchant for cracking jokes, then that needs to show in the copy as well.

Potential customers and clients will feel as though they are being treated like a good friend, as opposed to just another number. To write copy with personality, take a leaf out of the Innocent team’s book.

9. Copy is visual too

It’s not just all about what your content says, it is also about how it looks. The best marketing campaigns in the world combine sleek design with compelling copy – think Apple, for example.

Whether you’re writing online content or copy for offline marketing materials, make sure you consider the visual aspects too.

You can do this in a number of different ways, depending on your time, skills, and budget. Even just playing around with new font styles or highlights, such as bold or italic, can make a huge visual impact. This website here, for example, is how not to make copy visual. Whereas this website here is how you do it right.

10. Remember who you are writing for

Amidst all of this careful planning and persuasive writing, you need to remember who it is that you’re writing for. Establishing who your audience and target market are is key to creating successful copy that sells.

When you created your business or marketing plan you should have thought long and hard about who your target audience will be. Use that information to work out what they want to read, what is going to excite them, and what is going to encourage them to buy.

11. Establish an emotional connection

If you can instill an emotion in someone with your content then you will be one of the best copywriters in the business.

Establishing an emotional connection between you and a potential customer is a tough thing to do, but will equate to a huge rise in leads and sales.

Remember when we spoke about what problem your product or service is solving? Well, what type of emotions does this problem conjure up in potential customers? Use that knowledge to your advantage in order to write truly persuasive copy.

Remember to strike a fine balance between something like this which provides well thought out advice and answers, with something like this which establishes more of an emotional connection.

12. Treat potential customers with respect

If you want people to buy from you then you have to treat them with the utmost respect and dignity. However charming and endearing your sales copy may be, remember that all potential customers want you to do is solve their problem.

With this in mind, it is important that you treat the buyer as an equal. In fact, you could see yourself as even lower than them seeing as you’re the one trying to make a sale! Show the potential client or customer that you have respect for them within the copy, in order to hold their interest.

13. Carry your compelling copy throughout

Every part of your marketing efforts needs to include the same compelling copy throughout – from leaflets and brochures, to website content and blog posts. You never know whereabouts a potential customer is going to find you, which means that all of your copy should be well written and persuasive.

Your website for example, doesn’t read like a book. Potential customers will land on whichever page they think will solve their needs, not necessarily work their way from the home page all the way to ‘contact us’. It is therefore imperative that your compelling copy is found on every page and in every piece of marketing material.

14. Always include a call to action

This is easily one of the most important tips that we have for you, yet one that still so many businesses forget to include in their copy.

If you want people to actually buy from you then you need to include a call to action within every little bit of content.

It could be something simple such as “Call us now on…” or you could opt for something more interactive, such as a newsletter sign up form. This will give the potential customer clear directions when they’ve finished reading what it is you have to say.

15. Tackle potential objections

Following on from the above point, you always need to consider any potential objections before, during, and after your call to action. For example, “I’m not sure I trust this business” or “I don’t think I have the money”.

Use every tool in your arsenal to tackle these objections, from discount vouchers to testimonials and plenty of persuasive copy.

Show that you can be trusted, show that you’re offering incredible prices, and show that the customer really does need your product or service.

16. Create a sense of urgency

Again, this follows on from the last two points. If you want to write copy that sells you will need to create a sense of urgency. Many people will try to come up with objections once they’ve got down to the call to action, and these can be overcome by making the product or service seem limited.

It doesn’t have to be the obvious “Stock is running low”, it can be a little bit more subtle, if necessary. Whatever you can do to create a sense of urgency will also help create those emotional connections we talked about earlier.

If a potential customer feels as though they might miss out if they delay, then they’re far more likely to get in touch with you.

For example, we’ve designed a high-converting pop-up which appears to visitors who attempt to leave our website from our key landing pages.

This allows us to capture customers who had an objection and decided our offering wasn’t for them. Giving them less than 24 hours to take up an offer at a highly discounted rate, makes them more inclined to act now rather than later.

17. Keep an eye on your website copy conversions

By the time you have got to this point you should already have some excellent ideas about how to ensure your website copy works for your business. However, how do you know if all the changes you’ve made are working? You need to be keeping an eye on your copy conversions to see what is working, and what isn’t.

Make sure you’re using handy tools, such as Google Analytics, to see which pages are creating the most sales. You can even set up particular conversion goals on Analytics, to keep track of the ‘best selling pages’. If there’s a page that’s not doing so well, despite having plenty of visits, you will have to do A/B testing to optimise it for conversions.

18. Always update and improve

Keeping an eye on your copy conversions is one thing, but it is how you react to them that will make all the difference. If you notice a page isn’t doing so well then this needs to be looked at, updated and improved. Go back to the drawing board and start again, if you have to.

Compare the content that is making sales with the content that isn’t. What is different? Does it not have a strong call to action? Is it missing something visually? You can put this into practice with all of your marketing copy, including leaflets, brochures and mailouts, as well.

19. Remember, writing sales copy is no easy feat

Lastly, it is important to remember that writing sales copy is no easy feat – that’s probably why great copywriters are some of the highest paid marketing experts in the world.

It may take several attempts to get things right, which is why it is important you analyse and compare what’s working and what’s not working.

Print this page off, stick it on your wall, refer back to it when all seems lost. You’ll get there in the end and you’ll soon be seeing the fruits of your labour.