Copywriting for Sales Conversion

copywriting tips No Responses »
Aug 182010

Strong SEO Copywriting will attract customers to your website, sure. This involves researching and including relevant keywords in your site.  Some people think that’s where the story ends.

But if you want people to take the next action step and buy from you, the writing must be strong enough and use emotional appeals. Mr Sturk at Mequoda Daily calls these trigger words:

“Trigger words are words that motivate people to act on something. There are a variety of trigger words, but the strongest tend to make an emotional connection with the reader.” – Mequoda Daily post

Customer Benefits

Using customer benefits is one trick of many successful copywriters to create these emotional appeals. A lot of people have the wrong idea about what is a benefit. I can give you a real example from financial services – a topic that can be dull as dishwater or a real motivator. Headline:

“If Growing And Protecting Your Wealth For Future Generations Is Important To You – Contact The Family Wealth Generation And Wealth Protection Specialists, Bronson Financial Services…”

The ‘trigger words’ in this headline are ‘growing and protecting your wealth for future generations’… this is what gets the reader thinking yes, that’s exactly what I want… however, there is no direct emotional appeal like fear, anger or love. But as this headline clearly relates very well to target market needs and what they provide, I believe it does its job very well.

Some people might be afraid of using a headline in their home page, but on the complete home page we put in eight headlines/subheadings, each relating to different selling points.

Sheep huddle together and all look the same. Be confident enough to stand out – and connect to your audience.

Posted by Gino Lancaster at 12:41 pm Tagged with: , ,

Prevent Marketing Material Project Delays

Small Business, copywriting tips No Responses »
Jul 292010
Power of Words website

Power of Words - our Copywriting site

When business people think of getting a brochure or website developed, they often start by getting a quote from their favoured graphic designer, who then obliges and starts asking about the design. The designer makes a start, but then find he can’t go any further with the project without content.

Unfortunately, business owners are often juggling many balls – and the copy (words) gets overlooked and left… sometimes for months.  The reason for this could be lack of time (busy on earning activities), or lack of knowledge of how to approach the writing.

Either way, the business owner or marketer should not be the sole person who is responsible for the copy and content. Just as designers exist to ensure artwork is balanced, attractive and print ready (or web ready), editors exist to ensure your grammar is perfect, consistent, and correct in voice. People wanting professional material hire an editor.

But if you struggle to write, the solution is hire a copy-writer (that’s a writer of copy). A copywriter is trained to write to get results – so the approach is a little different. If sales conversion from written collateral is important to you, the solution is… a copywriter. Making a document compelling to read is what makes our heart sing.

All you will need to supply is info on your target market, your business proposition, benefits to customers (these can often be found in client testimonials), product features, what you will use the brochure for, and what you want to achieve. Even the desired length and form of the piece can be worked out collaboratively from what you say about its purpose (with a mind for practical things like posting through the mail and printing costs).

Posted by Jennifer at 8:28 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Ten Common Email Marketing Mistakes

copywriting tips, marketing strategies 1 Response »
Jul 072010

As a recipient of a barrage of daily emails, all requested, it’s easy to come up with ten common email mistakes from Businesses trying to sell me something…

  1. Promoting a live event but not mentioning WHERE it is in the email… hello, I don’t want to get on a plane for a two hour seminar?
  2. Jabbering on about yourself first, and burying the goodies for ME (that is, the reader) way down the email. (Had one today about Ms Entrepreneur’s exciting trip overseas; a benefit for the reader was four paragraphs in).
  3. Not using bold and headings, if using HTML. Studies show that readers prefer use of boldface and colours actually.
  4. Only using graphics, as some of us can’t be bothered downloading the graphics if we don’t know what it’s all about. Try to have ‘alt’ text for every image.
  5. Forgetting to put your business PHONE number and general location, with no links to website. Call to action anybody?
  6. Assuming people will remember you (especially if they signed up from a free offer). Make it easier for them with perhaps a head & shoulders picture of yourself and a standardised header/logo (with a tagline to explain what it’s all about). It’s easy to put in the line “You signed up for Read By Design newsletter at www.information.com.au” at the top.
  7. Not bothering to READ your own email, which possibly contains typos. I suggest you print out the email and have your other half read it, especially if grammar is not a strong point.
  8. Not testing your email in different viewers (Gmail, Outlook, Entourage) and not ‘spam testing’ the words – all can be done inside Email Marketer or similar (an email marketing system here in Australia).
  9. Blasting untargeted emails out with offers, and forgetting to build relationships through great value advice. Also get feedback about desired communication frequency.
  10. Forgetting to test and measure the campaigns. Which newsletters had the best open rate? Test your email subject lines (e.g. half with your standard type of subject lines, and half with intriguing but not misleading subject lines).

Thanks for reading, and remember the copywriting code: What’s in It For Me?

Posted by Jennifer at 4:40 pm Tagged with: , ,

Writing Content for Engineers, IT people, and Logical Thinkers

Small Business, copywriting tips No Responses »
Jun 182010

Content marketing is a strong force today – that is, offering free white papers and niche content instead of pure advertising. Of Marketers surveyed by Target Marketing magazine (US), 83% said either that content marketing compliments or works in tandem with traditional marketing communications. Even 12% agreed that content is replacing traditional marketing as the primary selling tool. Only 15% of marketers said they don’t really do content marketing.

So How Do you Sell to the Technically Minded?

Certainly not with the usual advertising copy and emotional appeals. You see, these types of people like to rationalise first and they need a sound basis on which to judge a firm’s offerings. Hence the need for a white paper or similar report.

Thanks to ex-engineer and copywriter Bob Bly, you can receive a free 18-page report giving you some great tips on how to sell technology business-to-business. The direct link is here:
www.bly.com/content/Marketingwithcontent.pdf

Writing from Engineers to Other Business / Government Officials

While most Australian engineers can easily write technical data, when it comes to writing a winning tender submission many highly-intelligent, highly-qualified people struggle to write tenders effectively. Recently I had the opportunity to rework an engineering company’s Expression of Interest document, and I found many areas that could be subtly improved. Every time I came to a point which explained that they were the best for the job (so to speak), I put in a sentence that proves WHY they are the best – as specifically as possible.

I can just imagine the head honcho looking through several of these tender submissions, with his cynicism arising if any superlatives or unsubstantiated claims are put into the text. Never mind also having little time to wade through poorly written verbage. With tenders, your company ultimately wants to win, so the text must wake them up, not put them to sleep.

So you see it’s not black and white – you don’t just apply the usual advertising appeals when writing for technical professionals, but you don’t make it mindlessly monotonous either. There is room for true user benefits to be weaved in. You also want to satisfy the logical side of their brain and back up any claims.

Posted by Jennifer at 11:38 am Tagged with: , , ,

What’s the Number 2 Thing Businesses Neglect in their Copy?

copywriting tips, marketing strategies No Responses »
May 252010

Following on from the Number 1 thing missing in business promotional material (empathy with the reader), the number 2 thing which will MAKE or BREAK your advertising and online results is the CALL to ACTION.

Look at the way you ask and what you ask them to do. Even though we Australians tend to abhor hype, you cannot bore customers into action. But you can motivate them.

You yourself may not be motivated to sign up, or pick up the phone to call a business, unless the business offers a freebie, a deadline, and/or a motive. For example, “If you want instant results with your marketing, go to Power of Words now, and receive FREE monthly tips on marketing a small business”. (Hey that’s a real offer!)

A specific offer should always have a deadline and/or a supply shortage (e.g. you only have 23 remaining stock). Research studies have shown much more compliance (and greater results) when you give a good REASON to discount or make an offer. e.g. We have over-ordered 400 widget Xs, so we are offering a FREE widget X with every order. Order by 5 pm Friday 23rd to receive your free widget X.

Recently I received a promotion for a free Laser Printer (worth $500 they say) with a yearly print cartridge order, and I thought WOW that offer really is good. Try to make your customers think WOW. Don’t offer a 10% off discount for no reason!

Create a compelling call to action and your phone will ring off the hook.

Posted by Gino Lancaster at 2:45 pm Tagged with: , ,

What’s the Number 1 Thing Businesses Often Neglect in their Copy?

Small Business, copywriting tips No Responses »
May 142010

To the detriment of their sales, I believe the primary thing missing from most website home pages, advertising copy, and brochures is… empathy (often called the emotional connection).

Sure you have to also be specific, credible, and visually appealing to gain attention, but to keep that attention and gain respect from a prospect – you need to sound like you are helping them.

Some Real Life Website Examples

Some engineers are doing it right on their website, and some engineers are doing it all wrong:
“As an innovative and cost effective structural design team, Mills Engineers Pty Ltd have established an excellent reputation for resourceful structural solutions.”

As a first paragraph I give this a 2 out of 10. There is no mention of the client, it’s all about them: “we” talk. Everyone likes to use buzzwords like innovative and cost-effective, but it’s more important to show people how you are innovative… perhaps a bit later on in the copy. So even though the copy may be 100% grammatically correct, it lacks imagination and “you” focus.

Beach Wagner has a ‘you’ focus and two benefits weaved into the first paragraph – 9 out of 10.

“If professional engineering service is what you are looking for, Beach Wagner can provide a one stop service where you deal directly with a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) experienced in your area of need.”

Reader benefits are like gold because everyone loves reading about their own interests. Their focus may differ widely from yours, so every time you look at your marketing materials, remember this.

“A copywriter should have ‘an understanding of people, an insight into them, a sympathy toward them.”

– George Gribbin

Do you agree?

Posted by Gino Lancaster at 11:22 am Tagged with: , , ,
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