Top 10 Copywriting Tips

Top 10 Copywriting Tips

1. Be Emotionally Compelling
Your words must have power so people take action and buy. Don’t be dry, stuffy or boring. Rock their world. What you think is a little “over the top” is probably just right. Show them empathy, caring and concern that makes them feel connected and helps them quickly suspend their rational disbelief.

2. Learn to Write Great Headlines
This valuable skill is not to be taken lightly. You need to use numerous headlines in a sales letter. They need to grab your customer’s attention. Look at advertising headline in major magazines. Experts say a good headline can result in 8-10 times more sales than a so-so headline.

3. Use Magic Words not Tragic Words
Use words like “amazing, discover, breakthrough, free, happy, money, you, yes, incredible and others. Magic words positively pre-dispose people to your message. Don’t overuse but don’t underestimate how far a little hype can go. Also, use vocabulary at an eighth grade level or less.

4. Ask Questions
Questions draw readers in and make them get involved. The smart money is on asking only questions you know will get a “yes” answer. Get potential customers in the habit of saying “yes” so when you ask them to buy they are positively prone to say “yes” again.

5. Write to One Individual Reader
Address your copy to one person. “You” not “the public” or the mythical “they.” You’ll create a more personal relationship. People buy more from people they feel they have a relationship with.

6. Brevity the Soul of Wit?
Your copy must take reader through the natural buying steps of attention, interest, desire and action. So brief may not be best. Answer every question in your marketing message so they can naturally take action

7. Share Your Triumph over Tragedy Story
People are drawn in by stories of others who have triumphed over adversity. We tend to root for the underdog. Most entrepreneurs have a story of how their product or service helped them. Don’t hide that story from view. Take it out, dust it off and watch the magic that happens.

8. Build Urgency and Scarcity
We’re bombarded with thousands of marketing messages daily. Build a marketing message that includes a sense of urgency and scarcity so people have a reason to say “yes” now. Say “limited quantities” and offer an early bird special for early sign up. Give customers a reason to say “yes” now.

9. Use Strong Testimonials
You can say great things about you, but a satisfied customer can really brag. To get testimonials just ask. Testimonial should be 4-6 sentences in length and tell a quick story. Each testimonial should answer a different objection.

10. Offer a Powerful Guarantee that Reverses Risk
Many new entrepreneurs worry if they offer a guarantee people will rip them off. In fact you’ll gain far more business with a strong guarantee than you’ll lose from returns. Make your guarantee simple. Amazingly, the longer the guarantee time, the less likely a person will ask for money back.

BONUS : Top 10 Website Copywriting Secrets

Successful website copywriting is very different than traditional copywriting.

Based on what actually works best --and does not work-- from writing dozens of websites for our clients, here are our Top 10 website copywriting secrets. If you apply them, your website will be a major marketing success for your business and its bottom line.

1 What’s in it for me? Why should I believe you? What do you want me to do and why should I?

Answer these questions immediately. The reader will leave your website unless these three questions are clearly answered in the beginning seconds

2. You must have a strong, reader-benefit headline. The headline is by far the most important part of your website as far as its effectiveness. The words used (ie the copywriting) must give a reader-benefits of your product or service , a big promise, a reward that the reader wants badly and as specific and concise as possible.

3. Focus your copywriting to accomplish one main goal, which should be to get the interested reader to call you or place their order.

By laser-focusing on one action you’d like to reader to do most, your copywriting will be targeted, specific and powerful.

Of course there will be other information and details on your website and you can have a secondary goal for the reader to email you or sign up for your newsletter or download a report … but focus mainly on te one specific action you ant the prospect to take.

4. Be exciting, informative, to the point, interesting. People will not read something that is is boring if they don’t have to. Make sure you avoid “corporate talk” that is loaded with “we” and general information the reader already knows.

5. Write mainly to get sales or leads; and not for the search engines. Your website may be listed high by search engine, but what good is that if it does not bring you leads and sales.

6. Encourage interested readers to telephone you. A good salesperson can sell much more effectively by talking to a prospect than by just emailing. Talking builds rapport, trust, and questions asked so it is customized to the prospects specific needs and wants.

7. Words Sell and graphics are secondary, so be sure to invest properly in the copywriting on your website.

8. Answer the concerns and objections the reader has. Make a list of frequently asked questions. Answer them for the reader on your website. Overcoming objections and concerns is what often clinches the sale.

9. Use proven winners for successful copywriting. These include reader benefit copywriting, be specific, tell the full story of why you are the best choice for the reader, use customer testimonials, make an offer, use a guarantee, get action now.

10. Hire the best copywriter you can afford because the copywriting on your website has the greatest effect on its success or failure. This is not the time to be cheap.